We Mark Your Memory

Writing from the Descendants of Indenture

Via Commonwealth Writers

Indenture, whereby Individuals entered, or were coerced, into an agreement to work in a colony in return for a fixed period of labour, was a system that was open to abuse from recruitment to plantation. Hidden within this little known system of 19th and early 20th century Indian labour migration are even more neglected stories of exploited and unfree labour under the British Empire. These include indentured histories from Madeira to the Caribbean, from West Africa to the Caribbean and from China to the Caribbean, Mauritius, and South Africa.

The diversity of the men, women and children involved in indentured labour migration is evidenced in literature that bears testimony to the resilience of these communities and their descendants. Writers such as V.S Naipaul (Trinidad), Jan Lowe Shinebourne (Guyana), Agnes Sam (South Africa) and Satendra Nandan (Fiji) have artfully created literary responses to the scars of the system of indenture and its legacies.

To mark the centenary of the abolition of indenture in the British Empire (2017–2020) this volume brings together, for the first time, new writing from across the Commonwealth. It is a unique attempt to explore, through the medium of poetry and prose, the indentured heritage in the 21st century.

The anthology will is published by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with Commonwealth Writers.

Edited by David Dabydeen, Maria del Pilar Kaladeen, Tina K. Ramnarine.

Read more details about this volume via Commonwealth Writers, or purchase it over at Amazon.