Excuse the geekish introduction of technology into the discussion, but it
seems to me that small press runs are the reason there's not a lot of hard
copy literature in print (and changes in the US tax law a couple of years
ago results in quicker liquidation of publisher's inventories).

Getting some publishers to permit reprinting of out-of-print works on the
web is a good way both to provide more access to the literature, and to
stimulate the market (I don't think print publishers understand this, but
it's true....).

The marginal cost for some university web server to store a few dozen books
is trivial; scanning and editing works is great under-graduate scut work.
Why can't we have our own westindian gutenberg project??

bruce potter

---------------

>Hello Sandra --
>
>I think you "hit the nail on the head" when you bemoaned out-of-print
>Caribbean materials restricting what students can learn about!  I am
>particularly frustrated by the unavailability of so much great Caribbean
>literature.
>
>I recently came across copies of "Pitch Lake" and "Black Fauns" by
>Alfred Mendes and grabbed them like lightning.  They are reprints by a
>German (I think) firm: Kraus-Thomson Organization Limited.  They are
>dated 1970, but look brand new.  Anyway, when I come across such
>classics, I grab them today because they will likely not be there
>tomorrow.  And I am just one person.  How do you supply a classroom?
>
>Having heard about Mendes' novels over a period of years, I have now
>read them for the first time (actually, I've read each of them twice,
>because I didn't want them to end), and can't imagine a course in
>Caribbean literature not including them.
>
>Coincidentally, a friend of mine, Professor Nancy Cirillo at University
>of Illinois-Chicago (post-colonial specialist), gave a paper at last
>November's International Conference on Caribbean Literature in Nassau
>which brought forward the same issue.  She suggests supporting, through
>course adoptions among other things, the nascent indigenous Caribbean
>publishing industry which would have the interest, and hopefully the
>capacity, to produce reprints of valuable Caribbean works.
>
>Ian Randle of Ian Randle Publishing, Kingston, Jamaica has his heart
>fully committed to such an endeavor.  His offerings are currently all
>non-fiction, but his list is exciting.
>
>Eastern Caribbean Institute of Frederiksted, USVI, publishes one of my
>personal favorites (a recent work): "Sonny Jim of Sandy Point," a
>novelized memoir of growing up 40 years ago in St. Kitts.  But just try
>to find it in the U.S.!
>
>What do you think of urging Caryl Phillips, now in that nice position at
>Faber and Faber, to promote Caribbean reprints?
>
>It is a supremely frustrating problem.  Sometimes I think the answer is
>to go into the publishing business myself - but THAT'S another project.
>
>Looking forward to more from you, and the group.
>
>Regards,
>
>Janice Buslik
>
>
>
>
>
>Sandra Courtman wrote:
>>
>> Hello Janice,
>>
>> Just to say that I too am working on rare Caribbean publications, literary
>> and non-literary from women writers of  the 1960s and 1970s. I have just
>> completed my PhD entitled 'Lost Years': West Indian Women Writing and
>> Publishing in Britain, c. 1960-1979'. I am interested in Caribbean writing
>> about migration, though not exclusively. I do hope that we can share some
>> ideas/information. I am just trying to get an article finished which will
>> include my original year by year bibliography with a header article about
>> its provenance. I work as a lecturer in English Literature at the University
>> of Birmingham and try to get as much of my research stuff into the teaching
>> programmes as I can but the problem is that most of the material is out of
>> print and photocopying is punishable by death since the new copyright laws
>> have been enforced on us. It means we are restricted as to what students can
>> learn about. Do you have this problem?
>> Sandra Courtman
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Janice <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: Caribbean Studies Group <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: 29 March 1999 18:18
>> Subject: New Member Intro
>>
>> >Hello everyone --
>> >
>> >I am a businessperson in the Chicago area with a deep
>> >and abiding interest in the Caribbean region.  I have traveled
>> >extensively throughout the area for the last 20 years.
>> >
>> >My academic degree is in cultural anthropology.
>> >
>> >I am involved (as a volunteer, not on the payroll) in establishing a
>> >Caribbean Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
>> >Derek Walcott will be on campus tomorrow (March 30) and
>> >Rachel Manley will be here at the end of April.  Our cornerstone
>> >Caribbean collection at the UIC library is the H. D. Carberry (of
>> >Jamaica) Collection, housed in the Special Collections Division, which
>> >contains a range of Caribbean fiction and non-fiction from roughly the
>> >1940's to the 1980's.  A short-version bibliography is now available and
>> >we're still working on getting it online.  E-mail inquiries to Gretchen
>> >Lagana, head Special Collections librarian:  [log in to unmask], or her
>> >associate John Cullars: [log in to unmask]
>> >
>> >My personal interests are Caribbean literature, history, rare and
>> >out-of-print travelogues (endlessly fascinating perspectives) and the
>> >support of Caribbean cultures in all of their diversity and commonality.
>> >
>> >I became aware of this group through the Montserrat group, Electronic
>> >Evergreen, and look forward to the exchanges.
>> >
>> >Janice Buslik
>> >

best wishes

bruce potter
Island Resources Foundation
27 Years of Environmental Planning for Development

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