Böcker av Austin Clarke

Now available after over four decades, the first collection of short fiction from bestselling author and Barbadian-born Canadian luminary Austin Clarke ¿ winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers¿ Prize, and the Trillium Book Award for his novel The Polished Hoe ¿ is a vital, lyrical, and provocative exploration of the Black immigrant experience in Canada. Originally issued in 1971, Austin Clarke¿s first published collection of eleven remarkable stories showcases his groundbreaking approach to chronicling the Caribbean diaspora experience in Canada. Characters move through the mire of working life, of establishing a home for themselves, of reconciling with what and who they left behind ¿ all the while contending with a place in which their bone-chilling reception is both social and atmospheric. In lyrical, often racy, and wholly unforgettable prose, Clarke portrays a set of provocative, scintillating portraits of the psychological realities faced by people of colour in a society so often lauded for its geniality and openness.

When Mary-Mathilda, one of the most respected women of the island of Bimshire (also known as Barbados) calls the police to confess to a crime, the result is a shattering all-night vigil that brings together elements of the island's African past and the tragic legacy of colonialism in one epic sweep.Set in the West Indies in the period following World War II, The Polished Hoe -- an Essence bestseller and a Washington Post Book World Most Worthy Book of 2003 -- unravels over the course of twenty-four hours but spans the collective experience of a society characterized by slavery.

In this collection, award-winning author Austin Clarke has caught, in his characters, a sweet longing for youth and an anxiety-stricken rage at old age; an immigrant's longing for a placid, lost home and his lust for a new high-speed motorcar life; and an intellectual's sense of empowerment by black history even as he watches what little he knows about such history engulf him. These are intense and private lives made public by the force of their individual voices, voices that may be rambunctious and fractious but that are, nonetheless, elegant in their intent and humor and their acceptance that is never acquiescence. The volume also includes a prose portrait of Austin Clarke by acclaimed author Barry Callaghan.

Growing up in Barbados, Austin Clarke was surrounded by women in the kitchen. Enveloped in the heavenly smells and smoke of their cooking, he listened to their talk about the food they were preparing. In Pig Tails'n' Breadfruit, he shares his favourite recipes.

An autobiographical account of growing up in colonial Barbados during and after the Second World War.