Descriptive Summary
Selvon, Samuel
Samuel Selvon Papers
1946-1975
TXRC96-A44
2.5 boxes (1.04 linear
feet)
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin
These papers consist of
holograph manuscripts, typescripts, book proofs, manuscript notebooks, and
correspondence. The papers offer an overview of the Trindad-born, British
writer's literary activities, with an emphasis on his published novels. Drafts
for six of his eleven novels are present, along with supporting correspondence
and items relating to his career.
English.
Biographical Sketch
Samuel Selvon, author of novels, plays, film, television, and radio, was
born in 1923 in South Trinidad to an Indian father and an Indian/Scottish
mother. He grew up in Trinidad's multi-racial society and graduated from San
Fernando's Naparima College in 1938.
Selvon began writing fiction and poetry while he served in the Royal
Navy Reserve during World War II. After the war, he began his literary career
as the fiction editor of the
Trinity Guardian's literary magazine until
he immigrated to England in 1950.
In London, his short stories and poetry were published in various
journals and newspapers, including
London Magazine, New Statesman, and
The Nation. His first novel,
A Brighter Sun, was published by Wingate
Press in 1952, and since then he has published several other novels, including
The Lonely Londoners (1956),
I Hear Thunder (1963),
The Plains of Caroni (1970),
Moses Ascending (1975), and
El Dorado West One (1988). Selvon's works
chronicle the West Indian experience in England with recurring themes of
alienation, discrimination, and racial tension.
Selvon has also had success with his writings for other media. He worked
extensively with the British Broadcasting Corporation during the 1960s and
1970s to produce two television scripts,
Anansi the Spider Man and
Home, Sweet India, numerous radio programs,
and a film version of
The Lonely Londoners.
In addition to these accomplishments, Selvon has held a series of
university appointments in the Caribbean, Great Britain, and North America. He
has also received numerous awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships (1955,
1968), Trinidad's Humming Bird Medal for Literature (1969), and an honorary
doctorate from the University of Warwick (1989).
Selvon married Draupadi Persuad in 1947, with whom he has one child, and
Althea Nesta Daroux in 1963, with whom he has three children. He moved to
Canada in 1978 where he currently resides.
Scope and Contents
The Samuel Selvon Papers consist of original holograph manuscripts,
original and carbon copy typescripts, book proofs, manuscript notebooks,
correspondence, and a cash book, ranging in date from 1946 to 1975. The
material is arranged in three series: I. Works, 1958-75 (1.5 boxes), II.
Correspondence, 1946-74 (4 folders), and III. Personal, 1965-67 (one folder).
The Papers offer an overview of Selvon's writing process, with an emphasis on
his published novels. Drafts for six of his eleven novels are present, along
with supporting correspondence and items relating to his career. No materials
relating to Selvon's personal life are present.
Series I, arranged alphabetically by title, consists of holograph
manuscripts, original and carbon typescripts, book proofs, and notebooks for
six novels by Selvon--
The Housing Lark (1965),
I Hear Thunder (1963),
Moses Ascending (1975),
The Plains of Caroni (1970),
Those Who Eat the Cascadura (1972), and
Turn Again Tiger (1958). A few titles are
represented by completed typescripts only, marked with minor holograph
revisions and printer's marks. However, early manuscript drafts of novels such
as
Those Who Eat the Cascadura and
Moses Ascending, initially written in a
manuscript notebook, are present. Of particular note is the way these notebooks
document Selvon's writing technique--first holograph drafts were written from
front to back on the right-hand side of a notebook, and subsequent drafts were
written from back to front on the left-hand side of the notebooks. These
notebooks also contain additional drafts of radio and television plays, and an
untitled, unpublished novel. An additional working notebook contains early
fragments of
Moses Ascending, and drafts of radio and
television plays that were produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation; a
note attached to the front of the notebook by Selvon lists the titles and dates
of each work.
Series II contains correspondence from publishers, broadcasting
companies, literary agents, periodicals, students, and other authors, arranged
alphabetically. There is only one outgoing piece of correspondence in the
collection--a cablegram from Selvon to his English publisher, R. G.
Davis-Poynter. The most comprehensive correspondence in Series II follows
Selvon's association with the British Broadcasting Corporation over ten years,
and contains letters referring to current projects, suggesting story ideas, and
telling him of recent broadcasts of his work. Also of significance are letters
from Marion Saunders, Selvon's literary agent. Her eight letters from 1952 to
1957 trace the process of finding publishers and American magazines for
Selvon's early novels and short stories. Correspondence from West Indian
authors such as Garth St. Omer and John J. Figueroa is also present.
Series III consists of a cashbook listing Selvon's travel expenses to
research background information for upcoming novels, short stories, and
radio/television plays.
Acquisition
Purchase, 1976 (R7293)
Access
Open for research
Processed by
Christopher D. Filippi, 1995; Sarah Demb, 1996; Jennifer Peters,
1996
Sources
Nasta, Susheila, ed.
Critical Perspectives on Samuel
Selvon(Washington, D.C.: Three Continents, 1988).
Wyke, Clement H.
Sam Selvon's Dialectical Style and Fictional
Strategy (Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 1991.)
Index Terms
Correspondents
Covici, Pascal,
1885-1964.
Figueroa, John
J.
Hearne, John, 1925-
.
MacDowell, Marian,
1857-1956.
Parrish, Robert.
Peter, Bruce.
St. Omer, Garth.
Saunders,
Marion.
Swanzy, Henry.
British Broadcasting
Corporation.
Davis-Poynter
Ltd.
MacGibbon &
Kee.
Subjects
Authors,
Trinidadian.
Authors, West
Indian.
Document types
Cashbooks.
Page proofs.
Samuel Selvon Papers--Folder List
Series I. Works,
1958-1975
The Housing Lark
(1965)
1
1
Corrected typescript,
1965
1
2
Corrected 'book proof,' bound,
1965
I Hear Thunder
(1963)
1
3-4
Corrected typescript,
1963
1
5-6
Corrected carbon typescript,
1963
Moses Ascending
(1975)
1
7
Holograph manuscript notebook with additional drafts of
radio and television scripts,
1975
1
8-9
Corrected typescript,
nd
The Plains of Coroni
(1970)
2
1
Holograph manuscript notebook,
1970
2
2-3
Corrected typescript,
1970
2
4
Those Who Eat the Cascadura
(1972). Manuscript notebook with revised holograph and
typescript pages,
1972
2
5-7
Turn Again Tiger
(1958). Carbon typescript,
nd
2
8
Manuscript notebook containing holograph drafts and radio
and television plays, the opening lines of
Moses Ascending, an unfinished
story, and various notes,
1973
Series II. Correspondence,
1946-1974
3
1
Correspondence, A-Z
Series III. Personal,
1965-1967
3
2
Cashbook of Selvon's research and travel
expenses
Samuel Selvon Papers--Index of Correspondents
- A. M. Heath & Company Ltd.--3.1
- Alford, C. E. R.--3.1
- Allan Wingate Ltd.--3.1
- Baker, F. Sherman (St. Martin's Press, Inc.)--3.1
- British Broadcasting Corporation--3.1
- Charles, Patricia (University of the West Indies)--3.1
- Charles, V., Mrs.--3.1
- Collymore, Frank A.--3.1
- Corsbie, Ken (Guyana Broadcasting Services)--3.1
- Covici, Pascal, 1885-1964 (Viking Press, Inc.)--3.1
- Davis-Poynter Ltd.--3.1; see also MacGibbon & Kee
-
Evening Standard (London, England)--3.1
- Figueroa, John J. (University College of the West Indies)--3.1
- Gough, Kathleen, 1925- (Simon Fraser University)--3.1
- Hearne, John, 1925- (University of the West Indies)--3.1
- Hopkins, Charles--3.1
- Jamaica Library Service--3.1
- John Bull (Firm)--3.1
- Keefe, John W.--3.1
- Lehmann, John, 1907- --3.1
- Longman (Firm)--3.1
- MacDowell, Marian, 1857-1956--3.1
- MacGibbon & Kee-3.1
- MacKenzie, Ian (St. Martin's Press, Inc.)--3.1
- Metzger, Kurt L. (New York. Department of Correction)--3.1
- Musia, Felix C.--3.1
- New American Library--3.1
- P. A.-Reuter Features Ltd.--3.1
- Parrish, Robert--3.1
- Peter, Bruce--3.1
- Richardson, Maurice, 1907- (Hulton Press Ltd.)--3.1
- Runnymede Trust--3.1
- St. Omer, Garth--3.1
- Saunders, Marion (Marion Saunders Literary Group)--3.1
- Simon Fraser University--3.1
- Sullivan, Doveton--3.1
- Swanzy, Henry (Gold Coast Broadcasting)--3.1; see also British
Broadcasting Corporation
- Sweeney, James Johnson, 1900- (Edward MacDowell Association,
Inc.)--3.1
-
Trinidad guardian--3.1
- University of the West Indies--3.1
- University of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica). Creative Arts
Center--3.1; see also Hearne, John, 1925-
- Viking Press--3.1
- Voice and Vision Caribbean Ltd.--3.1
- Washington Square Press--3.1
- Yleisradio Oy--3.1