THE COYABA CHRONICLES, reflections on the black experience in the 20th century

409pp., paperback, Cape Town & Kingston, 2000.

Philosophical memoir in which Peter Abrahams reflects on black struggle in the Caribbean, the American South and Africa.

"The book’s method is to juxtapose incidents of personal history with events in the larger world of postcolonial politics, in such a way as to illuminate the connections between them. Intimate personal details add flesh to the broad historical sweep Abrahams seeks to dramatise. It is at once a rumination on the key question of race and identity, and a memoir by someone who has known personally many of the century’s leading figures." Jane Bryce, Caribbean Beat

South African writer and journalist Peter Abrahams 1(919-2017) was born in Johannesburg. In 1939 he left South Africa, lived in London and then settled in Jamaica. His books include the novels Mine Boy and The Path of Thunder and the autobiography Tell Freedom.