The fourth Carcanet collection from Guyanese-British poet Fred D'Aguiar.
Fred D. Aguiar Books
Fred D'Aguiar is an acclaimed poet, novelist, and playwright whose work delves into the complexities of identity, history, and social justice. His writing, shaped by his Guyanese heritage and experiences living between Guyana, London, and the United States, explores the intricate legacies of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. Through vivid narratives and powerful verse, D'Aguiar confronts uncomfortable truths about the past and present. His literary voice offers profound insights into the human condition, transcending geographical and cultural divides.
Year of Plagues
- 336 pages
- 12 hours of reading
In this piercing and unforgettable memoir, the award-winning poet reflects on a year of turbulence, fear, and hope.
The youngest child of a Guyanese family is accidently hit on the head with an axe, and sees the world through a strange visionary perspective. While the family plays and squabbles, an election is brewing in the capital which leads to an unexpected act of violence that destroys the family's world.
Feeding the Ghosts
- 240 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Powerful and poetic, Feeding the Ghosts is an unforgettable testimony to the struggle against oblivion, and a reminder of history overlooked and truth distorted
The Longest Memory
- 144 pages
- 6 hours of reading
From William Styron's The Confessions of Nat Turner to Toni Morrison's Beloved, modern American fiction engaged with slavery has provoked fiery controversy. So will The Longest Memory, the powerful, beautifully crafted, internationally acclaimed fictional debut of prizewinning Guyanese poet Fred D'Aguiar. In language extraordinary for its tautness and resonance, The Longest Memory tells the story of a rebellious, fiercely intelligent young slave, who in 1810 attempts to flee a Virginia plantation - and of his father who inadvertently betrays him. The young slave's love for a white girl who slakes his forbidden thirst for learning and his painful relationship with his father are hauntingly evoked in this novel of astonishing lyrical simplicity. It is a measure of D'Aguiar's achievement and bravery that The Longest Memory is informed not only by the complicities between black slave and white master but also by the tensions among slaves themselves - between stoic survivalists and passionate rebels. Remarkable for its keenness of observation, subtlety, and restraint, The Longest Memory heralds the arrival of a major new voice in the contemporary literature of the African diaspora.
Fred D'Aguiar's new collection connects the condition of namelessness of a famous black jockey with a present-day need to give back to those lost souls the dignity of their names.