A Bibliography of Creative Writing, Literary Criticism, Visual Arts, Social History, Anthropology, Law, Governance, Politics and Journalism, with timelines

Ameena Gafoor

An appreciable number of indentured Indians shipped to British West Indian plantations were literate and brought a number of sacred books (Ramanayas, Mahabaratas, Vedas, Qur’ans) among their paltry possessions. A few were Haffizs who could recite the Holy Qur’an from memory. They were each versed in many dialects. These men kept the literate culture alive among East Indians in those oppressive times.

Yet, a hundred years after the cessation of the indentureship system no listing exists in the Caribbean region of the writings that have evolved by East Indians since their dislodgement from India; no comprehensive listing exists that records the distinctive aesthetics, the substantial scholarly and creative writings, and the intriguing artistic works of the cultural block loosely referred to as the East Indians of Guyana.

This Bibliography attempts to provide a record of the evolution of such writings in English produced by those who chose to remain, as settlers in what was then British Guiana, and their descendants, up to the present generation.

• 216 x 138 mm
• 212 pages
• Paperback

Ameena Gafoor is the Founder of The Arts Forum Inc; the Founding Editor of The Arts Journal; and author of Aftermath of Empire: The Novels of Roy A.K. Heath (2017). She has received two National awards as well as recognition from the Guyana Indian Commemoration Trust and the Guyana Cultural Association of New York for her outstanding contribution to the literary arts of Guyana and the Caribbean. She has also received an award from Caribbean Voice for her social work with Support for Vulnerable People through The Gafoor Foundation. Her critical articles are published in selected Journals.