There’s nothing like submitting to present at a conference and learning that your paper (a vague idea in the back of your mind) is due TWO MONTHS before the conference takes place. This month was supposed to be dedicated to working on The Deep, but instead I’ve spent much of my time on the BPP site, a faculty grant application, and now this conference paper. Next up is the academic book proposal—the book I no longer think I want to write because I’ve got at least THREE novels that keep getting pushed back by all this other “stuff.” At any rate, I know some Canadians read this blog so please take a look at my list and let me know if I’ve missed anyone. Does anyone know if Tessa McWatt identifies as black? Not sure what to do about Dany Laferriere; it seems only some of his books are translated from French into English—have I left out lots of black Canadian authors who write in French? I’ve excluded short story collections, though I listed them just for your information. I also found (but did not include) two black women authors, Sophia Shaw and Kayla Perrin, who are based in Canada but seem to publish exclusively with US romance publishers.
African Canadian Novelists (2000-2011)
- Dragons Cry by Tessa McWatt (Riverbank Press 2000)
- Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill (HarperCollins 2001)
- Loving This Man by Althea Prince (Insomniac, 2001)
- Behind the Face of Winter by H. Nigel Thomas (TSAR 2001)
- Dry Bone Memories by Cecil Foster (Key Porter 2001)
- The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera (Random House Canada 2002)
- The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke (Thomas Allen 2002)
- Kameleon Man by Kim Barry Brunhuber (Beach Holme, 2003)
- Kipligat’s Chance by David Odhiambo (Penguin Group Canada 2003)
- George & Rue by George Elliott Clarke (HarperCollins 2004)
- Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten by Bernadette Dyer (Women’s Press, 2004)
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne by Esi Edugyan (Knopf Canada 2004)
- This Body by Tessa McWatt (HarperCollins 2004)
- Venous Hum by Suzette Mayr (Arsenal 2005)
- What We All Long For by Dionne Brand (Knopf Canada 2005)
- The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades by Nega Mezlekia (Penguin Canada 2006)
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (HarperCollins 2007)
- Return to Arcadia by H. Nigel Thomas (TSAR 2007)
- Soucouyant by David Chariandy (Arsenal 2007)
- Asylum by Andre Alexis (McClelland & Stewart 2008)
- More by Austin Clarke (Thomas Allen 2008)
- The Reverend’s Apprentice by David Odhiambo (Arsenal 2008)
- Heading South by Dany Laferriere (Douglas & McIntyre 2009)
- Doing Dangerously Well by Carole Enahoro (Random House Canada 2010)
- I Am a Japanese Writer by Dany Laferriere (Douglas & McIntyre 2010)
- Step Closer by Tessa McWatt (HarperCollins 2009)
- Dancing Lesson by Olive Senior (Cormorant 2011)
- Vital Signs by Tessa McWatt (Random House Canada 2011)
- Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (Thomas Allen 2011)
- Monoceros by Suzette Mayr (Coach House Books, 2011)
- The Return by Dany Laferriere (Douglas & McIntyre 2011)
Total: 31 novels by 20 authors
- Lawrence Hill
- Makeda Silvera
- Austin Clarke
- George Elliott Clarke
- Esi Edugyan
- Tessa McWatt
- Suzette Mayr
- Dionne Brand
- Nega Mezlekia
- David Chariandy
- Andre Alexis
- Dany Laferriere
- David Odhiambo
- Carole Enahoro
- Olive Senior
- H. Nigel Thomas
- Althea Prince
- Bernadette Gabay Dyer
- Kim Barry Brunhuber
- Cecil Foster
I was quite surprised to reach 20 titles, and I now know that I’ve got some catching up to do in terms of my reading. You may have heard that McClelland & Stewart was recently acquired by Random House. If my list is correct, M&S has only published one black Canadian author in the 21st century, so I won’t be shedding too many tears for them…
Thank you for your interest in African-Canadian fiction. I’m an award-winning Kenyan-Canadian novelist; please find information about my books, including cinematic trailers and author interview and reading videos, on my site: http://www.ministerfaust.com.
I’d also like to draw attention to acclaimed author Nalo Hopkinson, who is, like me, a writer of SFF.
http://nalohopkinson.com
Hi, Minister! I’m a big fan of Nalo’s work, and I was also directed to your books, but since I’m tracking the Canadian publishing industry, I’m focusing on books published by Cdn presses. I’d love to talk to you, though, about why black Cdn spec fic writers don’t seem to publish in Canada–did you try, or did you know the presses you wanted were in the US?
Hi, EZ. Sorry–I obviously missed the qualification of Canadian press. That being said, my latest novel is published by Narmer’s Palette, which is Canadian.
As to getting work published in Canada, I’d argue that in general, the Euro-Canadian publishing industry has been uninterested in the work of African-Canadian writers. That may be about to change with Edugyan’s success, but I suspect they will not grant the “race flavour of the decade” status upon us that South Asian writers got (East Asians get about as little attention as we do).
You didn’t miss it–I wasn’t clear and the heading of this post is misleading. I am making note of black Cdn authors who publish in the US, and will look for your latest novel. I wonder what Edugyan’s success will mean–there have been comparable “successes” in the past…The Polished Hoe, Book of Negroes…and what has that achieved? In the first decade of the 21st century, only TWO debut novelists were published: Esi and David Chariandy. Canada suffers from the “big fish, small pond” syndrome and I don’t know if there’s any real interest in developing emerging talent.
Great post, love the start of a list here, and loved the discussion in the comments as well. What other rules are you using here? Fiction only? What about author nationality? For example, I’ve been doing some searches and I believe Doing Dangerously Well was published by Random House Canada and they own the worldwide rights, but she only spends some of her time in Canada (http://www.cookeagency.ca/books/Enahoro-C_Doing-Dangerously-Well.htm#bookdetails). I want to make sure I get the base rules straight before check out some more!
Oh, and I just saw this post on BookShy listing two other African Canadian novelists. Not sure where their books were published, but wanted to pass it along just in case: http://bookshybooks.blogspot.com/2012/01/african-canadian-authors.html
Thanks, Amy–I completely forgot about David Odhiambo. He lives in Honolulu but so long as he’s Canadian and published by a Cdn press, he’s eligible. Had never heard of Carole, so thanks for that lead, too! I think that puts us at 24 books over 12 years.
Amazing post. Amy directed me to this post and I’m so glad she did. I’m just discovering African-Canadian novelists and it’s so nice to find a resource that lists so many in one place. Thank you for this. I’ll be bookmarking this page for future reference. It’s also interesting to find out (from the other comments) why Black Canadian authors haven’t received as much attention.
Hi, Bookshy! Amy directed me to YOUR site, which reminded me to add David Odhiambo—so thank you! My conference paper will be published along with all the others, but I’ll probably post more opinion on this subject here on the blog over the next week or so. I’m starting to get interview questions back from black Canadian authors, and their responses are very interesting…
Dry Bone Memories by Cecil Foster (Key Porter 2001) might fit your criteria.
H. Nigel Thomas is another author you might consider. Return to Arcadia was published in 2007 by TSAR.
Thanks, Lindy! I add Dry Bone Memories, Return to Arcadia, and Behind the Face of Winter by H. Nigel Thomas–another author that’s new to me.
[...] the Canadian publishing industry only opens the gate for two black novelists each year, what happens to all the other talented and aspiring writers? Twenty-seven novels written by [...]
[...] novelists each year, what happens to all the other talented and aspiring writers? According to my research, thirty-one novels written by twenty African Canadian authors have been published in Canada since [...]
This may be a little late – I just found your blog post while trying to find romances written by black Canadians set in Canada (not having too much luck yet). Kayla Perrin may count as being published by a Canadian publisher, depending on how you define the nationality of a publisher. She’s published a few books with Harlequin spice and a number of books with Kimani (which is owned by Harlequin). Harlequin itself is a Canadian company (although a number of the different imprints, including Kimani, are acquired out of/edited in either New York or London and not Toronto) – it’s currently owned by TORSTAR (which also owns the Toronto Star).