EDI in Literature
Staff Picks
The Reason I Jump
This is a first hand account written by someone with autism. It's incredibly insightful and should be required reading for anyone wanting or needing to know about autism and triggers. It's recently been adapted to a series, showing on Disney+ but have not seen it yet.
- Angela, Library
Equal to Everything
This is a children's book about Lady Hale, the former President of the UK Supreme Court. It tells her story through a little girl's day trip to the courts. It's an uplifting and empowering tale of the fight for equality and recognition of what we can achieve if given the opportunity. It's not just for children - it's for everyone!
- Becca, Law Library
Middlesex
My recommendation is one of my favourite novels, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, for its focus on intersex and gender identity issues.
- Aimee, Walton Library
Girl, Woman, Other
This book follows the lives of twelve different characters over a period of years. The stories are cleverly intertwined giving you real insight in the struggles of women who are black and British. One of those books that you start and you never want to end.
- Louise, Library Liaison Services
The Colour Purple
It's a classic that explores identity, religious belief, LGBTQ+ issues, and women's rights.
- Angela, Library
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts
A gripping tale of librarians smuggling out manuscripts under the noses of extreme religious fanatics, on foot and by boat and one man’s determination to show the world what a wonderful rich heritage and lesson in mutual understanding there is in Timbuktu.
- Catherine, Marjorie Robinson Library
Such a Fun Age
This is an unsettling, excruciating and funny read, which explores race, exploitation, guilt, wealth, millennial insecurity and more.
- Lucy, Library Liaison Services
Beloved
Beloved depicts the dark legacy of the history of Slavery, and the Jim Crow Laws responsible for institutionalised racism. In a world where infanticide is perceived as the only way to protect your child from the horrors of slavery, Sethe is haunted by the spirit of her daughter as she comes to terms with the painful memories of her past. Not a light read but a must read, all the same…
- Leigh, Walton Library
Archives and Special Collections
- In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming
Lamming is a Bajan novelist, essayist and poet. This was his critically acclaimed debut novel. An autobiographical coming-of-age novel, set in the 1930s–'40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised, and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives. - The Humming-Bird Tree by Ian McDonald
In essence, a story of boy meets girl but complicated by the issues of race and class in Trinidad colonial society. Considered a classic of Caribbean literature. - Of Chameleons and Gods by Jack Mapanje
Collection of poems by Mapanje about his despair at the political situation in his native country Malawi. Published in the UK and critically acclaimed around the world, it was withdrawn from circulation in Malawi in June 1985 by the government of dictator Hastings Banda. In September 1987, Jack was arrested and detained without charge or trial in Mikuyu Prison in Malawi. During his imprisonment, Of Chameleons and Gods won the Rotterdam Poetry International Award in 1988, and Jack was subsequently also awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award in 1990, recognising his fight for freedom of expression. - The Watchers and the Watched by Sid Chaplin
In the late 1940s and 1950s Chaplin pioneered a new kind of regional fiction dedicated to working-class experience. His finest achievements are usually considered to be his two Newcastle novels from the early 1960s, of which this is one. - Tings an times : selected poems by Linton Kwesi Johnson
This volume of poems by world renowned reggae artist and Johnson is a collection of his politically infused work. His poems ‘New Crass Massahkah’ and ‘Di Great Insohreckshan’, which both feature in this collection, were written in response to the Brixton riots, which took place 40 years ago this year. - Omeros by Derek Walcott
Award winning epic poem is a retelling of Homer’s Iliad in a 20th Century Caribbean setting. The narrative shifts between Saint Lucia the former British colony where Walcott was born and raised, and Massachusetts, where Walcott lived at the time of writing. The poem uses postmodern techniques to explore the legacy of colonialism.
- Drama Online This link opens in a new window
A digital library comprising playtexts from a range of plays and playwrights, from ancient Greek drama to contemporary works; as well as film and audio recordings of productions, and contextual resources relating to drama theory and practice.
- Literature Online (LION) This link opens in a new window
Database containing full-text works of poetry, prose and drama from the 8th century to the present day written in the English language, together with a library of historical and contemporary criticism, and reference resources. LION includes full-text scholarly journals covering all aspects of literary studies alongside literary index, the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL).