When He Was Free and Young and He Used to Wear Silks
Originally issued in 1971, Austin Clarke’s first published collection of eleven remarkable stories showcases his groundbreaking approach to chronicling the Caribbean diaspora experience in Canada. Characters move through the mire of working life, of establishing a home for themselves, of reconciling with what and who they left behind — all the while contending with a place in which their bone-chilling reception is both social and atmospheric. In lyrical, often racy, and wholly unforgettable prose, Clarke portrays a set of provocative, scintillating portraits of the psychological realities faced by people of colour in a society so often lauded for its geniality and openness.
Austin Clarke is a novelist, short story writer and poet born in Barbados.
Other publications from this author include:
- In Your Crib (2015)
- Where The Sun Shines Best (2013)
- They Never Told Me: and Other Stories (2013)
- More (2009)
- Choosing His Coffin: The Best Stories of Austin Clarke (2003)
- The Polished Hoe (2002)
- The Question (1999)
- The Origin of Waves (1997)
- The Austin Clarke Reader (1996)
- Canadian Experience (1994)
- There Are No Elders (1993)
- In This City (1992)
- Proud Empires (1988)
- Nine Men Who Laughed (1986)
- When Women Rule (1985)
- Prime Minister (1977)
- The Bigger Light (1975)
- Storm of Fortune (1973)
- The Meeting Point (1967)
- Amongst Thistles and Thorns (1965)
- The Survivors of the Crossing (1964)