Selected Essays of Wilson Harris

Book excerpt: Wilson Harris is one of the outstanding literary innovators of the century. His novels date from The Palace of the Peacock to Jonestown . This long-awaited volume matches Harris's career with his critical writings, from 1961 to the present day. Selected Essays of Wilson Harris brings together twenty-one lectures, addresses and essays to make available Harris's full range of writings on subjects including: * the literate imagination * traditions of myth and fable in Central and South America * the North American literary imagination, from Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville and Ralph Ellison, to William Faulkner and Jean Rhys * inheritances and legacies of writers of the postcolonial diaspora This comprehensive collection also comes complete with: * an extensive editorial introduction, providing valuable historical and theoretical context for the essays * a map of Guyana * bibliographies of Harris's fiction and non-fiction * appendices on the legends of El Dorado and the Holy Grail.