1 November 2007

Literature, Slavery and the Archive - the abolition of the British Slave Trade

Dundee University’s English department is holding a symposium this weekend, discussing Literature, Slavery and the Archive called A Triangular Traffic. It is being held to mark the bi-centenary of the abolition of the British Slave Trade Act.

On Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd November, there will be a series of fascinating talks and discussions from leading academics. Included will be talks on Scotland and the Slave Trade, Literature and Slavery and the politics and poetics of memory.

There will also be readings by three of the most exciting authors in the UK.

James Robertson’s second novel, Joseph Knight, won two major Scottish literary prizes - the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year. His latest book, The Testament of Gideon Mack has been on the bestseller list for months.

Jackie Kay is one of the best-loved of contemporary poets in Britain today, equally at home in adults and children's literature, in poetry, fiction and drama. Her most recent play, The Lamplighter was commissioned to mark the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.

Caryl Phillips, is Professor of English at Yale University. He writes fiction, drama and travel narratives, and much of his writing has focused on the issues of identity, home and belonging. His most recent novel, Foreigners, retells the tragic lives of three black Englishmen - Frances Barber (Samuel Johnson's slave), Randolph Turpin (Britain's first black World champion boxer) and David Oluwale (a victim of police brutality) who were positioned as foreigners in English society.

For more details on the symposium go to http://www.dundee.ac.uk/english/news/2007/traffic-prog.htm. All symposium events will be held at the Queen Mother Building.

For more details on the readings, which will be held at the DCA, go to http://www.dundee.ac.uk/english/news/2007/writers.htm

For media enquiries contact:
Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk