Jane Bryce (born 1951) is a British writer, journalist, literary and cultural critic, as well as an academic. She was born and raised in Tanzania, has lived in Italy, the UK and Nigeria, and since 1992 has been based in Barbados. Her writing for a wide range of publications has focused on contemporary African and Caribbean fiction, postcolonial cinema and creative writing, and she is Professor Emerita of African Literature and Cinema at the

University of the West Indies, Cave Hill University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system. It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, fol ...

. She edited the anthology ''Caribbean Dispatches: Inside Stories of the Caribbean'' (2006), and is the author of a 2007 collection of short fiction, entitled ''Chameleon''.

Background

Early years

Jane Bryce was born in 1951 in

Lindi Lindi is a historic coastal town in southern Tanzania and the administrative center of the Lindi Region, the least populated region in the country. Situated at the head of Lindi Bay along the Indian Ocean, the town is located approximately 10 ...

, Tanzania, and grew up in Moshi. She was educated at schools in Tanzania until the age of 13, when she was sent to school in England. As she said in an interview in ''African Writing'', "I have a British passport, because when I was born in Tanzania, it was a

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

. We were given the choice of citizenship at 'Uhuru' ndependenceand my father opted for British. As he was deported under the Africanization policy, perhaps it's as well, but then again, if we'd been Tanzanian citizens we wouldn't have been deported." As by now her father was working for the UN agency FAO, the family left for Rome in 1968 when she was seventeen.

Further education and career

In the 1980s, Bryce worked as a freelance journalist both in London and while studying for a PhD in Nigeria, where she did doctoral research on Nigerian women's writing at

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...

, from 1983 to 1988, earning a PhD. In 1992, she moved to Barbados, becoming an active member of the Caribbean literary community. She taught African literature and cinema, in addition to creative writing, at the

, and was editor of ''Poui: Cave Hill Journal of Creative Writing'' (first published in 1999) for 20 years, since its founding, and a noted contributor of poetry to the journal. She also founded the Barbados Festival of African and Caribbean Film, of which she was a director from 2002 to 2007, and she was Barbados curator of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival (2009–2016). She has contributed over the years to a wide range of academic journals and essay collections. She compiled the anthology ''Caribbean Dispatches: Beyond the Tourist Dream'' (Macmillan UK, 2006), and is the author of the 2007 collection ''Chameleon and Other Stories'' (

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. Poet Kwame Dawes has said: "Peepal Tree Press's position as the leading pu ...

). In 2023 she published ''Zamani: a Haunted Memoir of Tanzania'' (UK: Cinnamon Press). Bryce has served as a judge for literary awards both locally and regionally, including the Guyana Prize for Literature and the

OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, inaugurated in 2011 by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest, is an annual literary award for books by Caribbean writers published in the previous year.Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. In 2022, she guest-edited an edition of the online magazine ''WritersMosaic'' (an initiative of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

) entitled "Is english we speaking: African/Caribbean dialogue", contributors to which included

Billy Kahora Billy Kahora is a Kenyan writer and editor based in Nairobi. He was commended by the 2007 Caine Prize judges for his story ''Treadmill Love''. His stories "Urban Zoning" and "Gorilla's Apprentice" were shortlisted for the prize in 2012 and 2014 ...

, Colin Grant, Stewart Brown,

Funso Aiyejina Funso Aiyejina (1 January 1949 – 1 July 2024) was a Nigerian poet, short story writer, playwright and academic. He was Dean of Humanities and Education (until his retirement in 2014) and Professor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies. ...

Philip Nanton Philip Nanton (born 1947) is a Vincentian writer, poet and spoken-word performer, based in Barbados. A sociologist by training, who also teaches cultural studies, he is Honorary Research Associate at the University of Birmingham, and lectures at ...

Tendai Huchu Tendai Huchu (born 28 September 1982) who also writes as T. L. Huchu is a Zimbabwean author, best known for his novels '' The Hairdresser of Harare'' (2010) and '' The Maestro, The Magistrate & The Mathematician'' (2014). Tendai Huchu's first no ...

Claire Adam Claire Adam is a Trinidadian author whose first novel ''Golden Child (novel), Golden Child'' triggered critical acclaim. On 5 November 2019, the ''BBC News'' listed ''Golden Child'' on its list of the BBC list of 100 most inspiring novels, 100 ...

and Robert Taylor.

Bibliography

* ''Caribbean Dispatches: Beyond the Tourist Dream'', editor (Macmillan Caribbean, 2006, ) * ''Chameleon and Other Stories'' (Peepal Tree Press, 2007, ) * ''Zamani: a Haunted Memoir of Tanzania'' (Cinnamon Press, 2023, )

Selected articles and book chapters

* Animal can’t dash me human rights, ''

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...

'', volume 18, issue 9, 1989. * "Peter Abrahams: The View From Coyaba", ''

Caribbean Beat ''Caribbean Beat'', founded in 1992, is a bimonthly magazine, published in Port of Spain, Trinidad, covering the arts, culture and society of the Caribbean, with a focus on the region's English-speaking territories. It is distributed in-flight by ...

'', issue 61, May/June 2003. * "Unterrified consciousness" (on ''It Falls Into Place'' by

Phyllis Shand Allfrey Phyllis Byam Shand Allfrey (24 October 1908 – 4 February 1986) was a West Indian writer, socialist activist, newspaper editor and politician of the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. She is best known for her first novel, '' The Orchid Hous ...

), ''

Caribbean Review of Books ''The Caribbean Review of Books'', or ''CRB'', is a literary magazine based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, reviewing books of Caribbean interest—by Caribbean authors or about the Caribbean—and publishing original fiction, poetry, and other liter ...

'', May 2005.
"Poems of Penitence and Pilgrimage"
''

sx salon The Small Axe Project is an integrated publication undertaking devoted to Caribbean intellectual and artistic work, exercised over three platforms—''Small Axe''; ''sx salon'', and ''sx visualities''—each with a different structure, medium, and ...

'', October 2010. * "Riffing on Omeros: The Relevance of Isaac Julien to Cultural Politics in the Caribbean", ''Small Axe'', 14:2, 2010. * Who No Know Go Know': Popular Fiction in Africa and the Caribbean". In

Simon Gikandi Simon E. Gikandi (born 30 September 1960) is a Kenyan Literature Professor and Postcolonial scholar. He is the Class of 1943 University Professor of English and Chair, Department of English at Princeton University. He is perhaps best known for h ...

(ed.), ''The Novel in Africa and the Caribbean Since 1950'', Oxford University Press, 2016. * "Snapshots taken along the way", ''Writers Mosaic''.
"Abdulrazak Gurnah: 'In my mind I live there
''Writers Mosaic'', 5 October 2022.

References

External links

Jane Bryce
at ''

''.
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryce, Jane 1951 births 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British women writers British expatriates in Barbados British women academics British women journalists British women short story writers Living people British women anthologists