THE INDYLIST is coming bigger than ever this year.
ArtsEtc marked twenty years of publication in March last year. As part of our ongoing celebrations, we’ve had the unveiling of anniversary logos; the launch of a chapbook series with Cyndi Celeste’s Girl Before Country; blogs reflecting on our contribution to arts and culture in Barbados and the Caribbean; and the deepening of our contribution to the mentoring of our community with increased sponsorship from the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment.
We won’t be finished feting until March 2024 (just so you know), and even then.
For this year’s IndyList, we’ve assembled twenty books by twenty Bajan authors that have shaped our litscape and the wider world of publishing. Plus two extra titles—one for each editor—to grow on, as Linda would say.
The IndyList, traditionally, has been a selection of 12 Barbadian books to make friends with over the coming year. The list, which first appeared in 2011, is part of the Editors' ongoing "Mapping Our Literature" mission, which promotes awareness of Barbadian books and their authors. Each year, we recommend new, classic, and noteworthy titles in fiction and non-fiction, poetry, and children’s literature.
This thirteenth edition, we leave it to you to decide what the list below says about our growth over the last two decades as a people, a nation of storytellers, as individuals who have continued to explore the meaning and value of their various identities. We’d even encourage you to come up with a list of your own personal twenty, and reflect on what each book has meant to you or your family and friends.
Be sure to browse ArtsEtc’s website for related material from our previous lists, such as our IndyList reviews of past titles. New reviews are forthcoming! All of our IndyLists are available on ourwebsite, including other features about Barbadian literature, culture and heritage. Please visit our online fiction, poetry and artist's studio galleries, too.
The Editors wish to thank the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment and the Bajan Reporter for their ongoing support of the IndyList. We invite schools, reading groups and book clubs interested in learning more about the IndyList to contact us.
Happy reading, everyone!
THE 2024 INDYLIST TITLES: ARTSETC’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Choosing His Coffin: The Best Stories of Austin Clarke, Austin Clarke
2003, Thomas Allen Publishers, Short Stories
Born to Slow Horses, Kamau Brathwaite
2005, Wesleyan University Press, Poetry
The Tree of Youth and Other Stories, Robert Edison Sandiford
2005, DC Books, Short Stories
Mauby and the Hurricane, Peter Laurie, illustrated by H. Ann Dodson
2007, Macmillan Caribbean, Children’s Story
Triangular Road: A Memoir, Paule Marshall
2009, Civitas Books, Essays
Redemption in Indigo, Karen Lord
2010, Small Beer Press, Novel
Sovereignty of the Imagination: Conversations III, George Lamming
2011, House of Nehesi Publishers, Monographs
Island Voices: From St Christopher & the Barracudas, Philip Nanton, illustrated by booops
2014, Papillote Press, Verse Monologues and Dramas
Reader, I Married Him & Other Queer Goings-On, Dorothea Smartt
2014, Peepal Tree Press, Poetry
Leaving Atlantis, Esther Phillips
2015, Peepal Tree Press, Poetry
Barefoot on Ice: A Collection of Poems Inspired by Travel Experiences
and Impressions, Winston Farrell
2015, CreateSpace, Poetry
Tell My Mother I Gone to Cuba: Stories of Early Twentieth-Century Migration
from Barbados, Sharon Milagro Marshall
2016, The University of the West Indies Press, Non-Fiction
Prickett’s Well: A Barbados Murder Mystery, Edison T. Williams
2017, Independently Published, Novel
Panama Silver: A Silver Web, Glenville Lovell
2018, CreateSpace, Stage Play
On Being Committed to a Small Place, Annalee Davis
2019, TEOR/éTica, Essays
My Fishy Stepmom/Josephine Against the Sea, Shakirah Bourne
2019/2021, Blouse & Skirt Books/Scholastic, Novel
The ArtsEtc NIFCA Winning Words Anthology 2019/2020, Various
2021, Foundation Publishing, Prose & Poetry about Before and After COVID-19
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, Cherie Jones
2021, Little, Brown and Company, Novel
Hardears, Matthew Clarke & Nigel Lynch
2021, Harry N. Abrams, Graphic Novel
Shabine and Other Stories, Hazel Simmons-McDonald
2021, The University of the West Indies Press, Short Stories
The Fall of Autumn Leaves, Ronald A. Williams
2021, Archway Publishing, Novel
The Island of Forgetting, Jasmine Sealy
2022, HarperAvenue, Novel
Catch up on your local reading by checking out our previous Lists:
2023://www.artsetcbarbados.com/news/2023-indylist
2021/2022: http://www.artsetcbarbados.com/news/2022-indylist
2020: https://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2020-indylist
2019: https://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2019-indylist
2018: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2018-indylist
2017: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2017-indylist
2016: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2016-indylist
2015: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2015-indylist
2014: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/2014-indylist
2013: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/carrying-our-writers-us-artsetc%E2%80%99...
2012: http://artsetcbarbados.com/news/artsetc-champions-bajan-books
2011: http://aestagerightleft.blogspot.com/2011/
