Calypso in London

by Sam Selvon

Introducing Little Clothbound irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Sam Selvon is now widely considered to be one of the greatest chroniclers of the West Indian emigrant experience. His evocation of voice, of place, of longing, defined for many the experience of a generation. Describing life in the Caribbean and day-to-day adventures in London, this collection features many his most acclaimed stories, including 'The Village Washer', 'A Drink of Water' and 'The Cricket Match'.

Genres: London, Fiction

160 pages, Hardcover

Published May 25, 2023

About the author

Samuel Dickson Selvon was born in San Fernando in the south of Trinidad. His parents were East Indian: his father was a first-generation Christian immigrant from Madras and his mother's father was Scottish.He was educated at Naparima College, San Fernando, before leaving at the age of fifteen to work. He was a wireless operator with the Royal Naval Reserve from 1940 to 1945. Thereafter, he moved north to Port of Spain, and from 1945 to 1950, worked for the Trinidad Guardian as a reporter and for a time on its literary page. In this period, he began writing stories and descriptive pieces, mostly under a variety of pseudonyms such as Michael Wentworth, Esses, Ack-Ack, and Big Buffer. Selvon moved to London in the 1950s, and then in the late 1970s to Alberta, Canada, where he lived until his death from a heart attack on 16 April 1994 on a return trip to Trinidad.

Selvon is known for novels such as The Lonely Londoners (1956) and Moses Ascending (1975). His novel A Brighter Sun (1952), detailing the construction of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway in Trinidad through the eyes of young Indian worker Tiger, was a popular choice on the CXC English Literature syllabus for many years. Other notable works include Ways of Sunlight (1957), Turn Again Tiger (1958) and Those Who Eat the Cascadura (1972). During the 1970s and early 1980s, Selvon converted several of his novels and stories into radio scripts, broadcast by the BBC, which were collected in Eldorado West One (Peepal Tree Press, 1988) and Highway in the Sun (Peepal Tree Press, 1991).

After moving to Canada, Selvon found a job teaching creative writing as a visiting professor at the University of Victoria. When that job ended, he took a job as a janitor at the University of Calgary in Alberta for a few months, before becoming writer-in-residence there. He was largely ignored by the Canadian literary establishment, with his works receiving no reviews during his residency.

The Lonely Londoners, as with most of his later work, focuses on the immigration of West Indians to Britain in the 1950s and tells, mostly in anecdotal form, the daily experience of settlers from the Caribbean. Selvon also illustrates the panoply of different "cities" that are lived in London, as with any major city, due to class and racial boundaries. In many ways, his books are the precursors to works such as Some Kind of Black by Diran Adebayo, White Teeth by Zadie Smith and The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. Selvon explained: "When I wrote the novel that became The Lonely Londoners, I tried to recapture a certain quality in West Indian everyday life. I had in store a number of wonderful anecdotes and could put them into focus, but I had difficulty starting the novel in straight English. The people I wanted to describe were entertaining people indeed, but I could not really move. At that stage, I had written the narrative in English and most of the dialogues in dialect. Then I started both narrative and dialogue in dialect and the novel just shot along."

Selvon's papers are now at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, Austin, USA. These consist of holograph manuscripts, typescripts, book proofs, manuscript notebooks, and correspondence. Drafts for six of his eleven novels are present, along with supporting correspondence and items relating to his career.

Reviews

[Bloodorange · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really glad I picked this small collection of stories on the whim, seeing it in my bookstore and not recognizing the Trinidad-born author. I really liked most of them - the ones that stood out for me are "Wartime Activities", "Brackley and the Bed" and "Obeah in the Grove" for the plot, and "My Girl and the City" for the vibes;)

May pick up Samotne londyńczyki next.

[Emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein paar Geschichten waren sehr gut, ein paar weniger, so wie das bei Kurzgeschichtensammlungen nunmal immer der Fall ist. Es war aber allgemein sehr cool mal etwas von einem Autor aus Trinidad und Tobago zu lesen, kann ich nur weiterempfehlen.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

One morning I am coming into the city by the 287 night bus from Streatham. It is after one o'clock; I have been stranded again after seeing my girl home. When we get to Westminster bridge the sky is marvellously clear with a few stray patches of beautiful cloud among which stars sparkle. The moon stands over Waterloo bridge, above the Houses of Parliament sharply outlined, and it throws gold on the waters of the Thames. The Embankment is quiet, only a few people loiter around the public convenience near to Charing Cross underground which is open all night. A man sleeps on a bench. His head is resting under headlines: Suez Deadlock.

Really good.

[kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

witty and wonderful. for most of the book I thought I would give this 4 stars, for no particular reason other than that it didnt feel like a 5 starer. but then I read the last story.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book of stories, ballads, calypsos. Sam Selvon's prose is, as always, engaging and riveting.

The last story, My Girl And The City, particularly stood out, with a different tone of voice and perspective that served well for the finale.

But I loved it because I thought a section of it could actually beat out my favourite prose passage of all time, from 1984, which is something I have never thought since I first read 1984 five years ago!

My other favourites from this: Holiday in Five Rivers, The Village Washer, Gussy and the Boss

[Neil Challis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally written in 1957 a series of short stories beginning about life in Trinidad and then moving to London where Selvon moved as part of the early West Indian influx known as the 'Windrush Generation'. Not easy to read at first as the dialect style takes so getting used to but gets easier the more you read.Gives you a little insight into the challenges andthe way lives changed for the West Indian community in England (the weather is mentioned a lot in the last story)

[Ruben DG · Rating 3 out of 5]

After three days of sight-seeing in London, my gf and I decided to read a bit in St. James Park. Thing was, we didn't have our readers on hand and the hotel was in Whitechapel. So we decided to head to the Waterstones, stroll through it and find something short to read. I chose this one because it had 'in London' in the title. Was a fun experience, the short-story collection itself was okay: not too hard and to the point.

[isa brosco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished the last page and immediately turned the book over and started reading again

[Nyasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it even though it was a slow start. My favourite stories in the collection were The Village Washer, A Drink of Water, Eraser's Dilemma and My Girl in the City. I think they captured the people and countries of Trinidad and the UK well.