This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

This is the Canon(Book), 50 Books

This is from a book from Kadija Sesay, Deirdre Osborne, Joan Anim-Addo

The editors description is:

Upending our traditionally white-dominated 'to be read' piles, Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne and Kadija Sesay push to the fore the voices and cultural perspectives that demand a place on everyone's shelves.

From literary giants such as Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie and Chinua Achebe to recent Man Booker Prize winners Paul Beatty and Bernardine Evaristo, the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant. They are books that reflect the wide and diverse experiences of people from around the world, of all backgrounds and all races. They are books that represent voices that have for too long been silenced or side-lined.

The description from the book's first 2 chapters:
Each title has been carefully chosen as a result of our commitment to diversify the traditional literary canon of novels and short stories available in the English language... It should be understood to mean this is a canon, neither replacing nor adding to what has existed previously, but one of many possible selections... Those who oppose or criticize the act of decolonization often fear contamination or a lowering of standards. To reassure readers, we are emphatically opposed to exalting books that are mediocre, or outside the possibility of literary success.

This list was originally published in 2021 and was added to this site about 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
1564 Love In A Fallen City Eileen Chang 1943 Chinese Chinese
1986 All about H. Hatterr G. V. Desani 1948 Indian English
718 Thousand Cranes Yasunari Kawabata 1952 Japanese Japanese
833 The Lost Steps Alejo Carpentier 1953 Cuban Spanish
988 The Lonely Londoners Sam Selvon 1956 Trinidadian English
60 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe 1958 Nigerian English
17008 Children Of The New World Assia Djebar 1999 Algerian French
157 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys 1966 British English
2258 A Grain Of Wheat Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o 1967 Kenyan English
1501 The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born Ayi K. Armah 1968 Ghanaian English
6434 The Bridge Of Beyond Simone Schwarz-Bart 1972 French French
1319 A Question of Power Bessie Head 1973 Botswanan English
4789 If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin 1974 American English
17008 Between Two Worlds Miriam Tlali 1985 South African English
1231 Woman at Point Zero Nawal El Saadawi 1975 Egyptian Arabic
5394 Our Sister Killjoy Ama Ata Aidoo 1977 Ghanaian English
4978 Territory Of Light Yuko Tsushima 1979 Japanese Japanese
513 Kindred Octavia E. Butler 1979 American English
2403 The Joys Of Motherhood Buchi Emecheta 1979 Nigerian English
1278 So Long a Letter Mariama Bâ 1980 Senegalese French
159 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
2559 Segu Maryse Condé 1984 French French
1888 Annie John Jamaica Kincaid 1985 Antiguan English
49 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
745 Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga 1988 Zimbabwean English
17008 Woman Hollering Creek Sandra Cisneros 1991 American English
1796 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
14901 Breath, Eyes, Memory Edwidge Danticat 1994 Haitian English
17008 Discerner Of Hearts Olive Senior 1995 Canadian English
14901 Salt Earl Lovelace 1996 Trinidadian English
358 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy 1997 Indian English
17008 Trumpet Jackie Kay 1998 Scottish English
2656 The Years with Laura Diaz Carlos Fuentes 1999 Mexican Spanish
17008 The Best Of Albert Wendt’s Short Stories Albert Wendt 1999 New Zealand English
10159 Monkey Beach Eden Robinson 2000 Canadian English
4289 The Emperor's Babe Bernardine Evaristo 2001 British English
17008 Dogside Story Patricia Grace 2001 New Zealand English
17008 Shell Shaker LeAnne Howe 2001 American English
891 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini 2003 Afghan English
2481 Small Island Andrea Levy 2004 British English
17008 Dancing In The Dark Caryl Phillips 2005 Dutch English
1157 Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 Nigerian English
2966 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
17008 In Other Rooms, Other Wonders Daniyal Mueenuddin 2009 Pakistani English
14901 How To Read The Air Dinaw Mengestu 2010 American English
1749 NW Zadie Smith 2012 British English
4654 The Swan Book Alexis Wright 2013 Australian English
1389 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
858 The Sellout Paul Beatty 2015 American English
8919 The White Girl Tony Birch 2019 Australian English