Lyn Innes (born 1940) is an Australian-born British academic and author, who is Emeritus Professor of Postcolonial Literatures at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Her interest is in studies of cultural nationalism, with her work focusing on Irish, African, African-American and Caribbean literatures, in which field she has been a scholar of note for more than five decades. As a great-granddaughter of the last

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal (, ) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the mod ...

Mansur Ali Khan Nawab Sayyid Mansur Ali Khan (30 October 1830 – 4 November 1884) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1838 until his abdication in 1880, whereupon he renounced his titles and position as Nawab. During his reign, he instituted various policies in th ...

, Innes is the author of a family memoir entitled ''The Last Prince of Bengal: A Family's Journey from an Indian Palace to the Australian Outback'' (2021).

Background

Catherine Lynette Innes was born in Australia and, living on a remote mountain farm, was educated at home, before going to boarding-school and university in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. After receiving her BA degree from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, in 1963 she moved to North America to do postgraduate studies, earning an M.A. from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. She also taught at several American universities, including

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was f ...

, a

historically black Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

college, founded by

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

in 1881. There she developed her interest in cultural nationalism, focusing on Irish, African, African American and Caribbean literatures, on which topic she earned a Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1973. From 1973 to 1975, she taught at the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

, where she became associate editor of ''OKIKE: An African Journal of New Writing'', founded by

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel ''Things Fall Apart'' ( ...

, with whom she also co-edited two volumes of African short stories. In 1975, Innes moved to England and taught postcolonial literatures at the

. She was the founding President of

ATCAL The Association for the Teaching of Caribbean, African, Asian and Associated Literatures, or ATCAL, was founded with the aim of familiarizing British teachers with the range of "Black" writing that was available for school use. In the 1980s ATCAL ...

, the Association for the Teaching of African, Asian and Caribbean Literatures, which published the literary magazine ''

Wasafiri ''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari ...

'', of which Innes has remained a board member since 1984. Books she has written include ''The Devil's Own Mirror: the Irish and the African in Modern Literature'' (1990), ''Chinua Achebe'' (1990), ''A History of Black and South Asian Writing in Britain'' (2002), ''The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English'' (2007), and ''Ned Kelly'' (2008), as well as editing the autobiographical narratives of Francis Fedric, a fugitive slave who lived in England between 1857 and 1865 (''Slave Life in Virginia and Kentucky'', 2010). Most recently, ''The Last Prince of Bengal: A Family's Journey from an Indian Palace to the Australian Outback'' (2021) is a family memoir that tells "the stories of her antecedents, using both family history and source materials from the time, while giving a fascinating insight into the British Raj in India from the perspective of a local prince who was mistreated, and ultimately deposed, by the British authorities. Charting the course of two diverse and multiracial generations of the family, which stretches from the palace in Murshidabad to London and rural Australia, Innes found a commonality in their lives." As described by the reviewer for ''Indian Link'': "It is an eye-opening saga not only for its compelling plot but also for the truths it uncovers about the British Empire and the injustices faced by millions as a result of their regime."

Personal life

Innes is a great-granddaughter of

– the Nawab Nazim of Bengal from 1838 until his abdication in 1880 – from his marriage to Sarah Vennell, an English hotel maid; they lived together in London for 10 years and had six children. The youngest child emigrated to Australia in 1925, and was Innes' grandfather, whose story she told in her 2021 book, ''The Last Prince of Bengal: A Family's Journey from an Indian Palace to the Australian Outback''. She has said that she thinks of herself as "an Australian of Scottish, Indian and English descent". Innes and her husband Martin Scofield have two daughters.

Works

* (Co-editor with Bernth Lindfors) ''Critical Perspectives on Chinua Achebe'' (Washington: Three Continents Press, 1978), ISBN 978-0-914478-45-4. * ''Arrow of God: A Critical View'' (1985) * ''The Devil's Own Mirror: the Irishman and the African in Modern Literature'' (1990) * ''Chinua Achebe: A Critical Study'' (1990) * ''Woman and Nation in Irish Literature and Society, 1880–1935'' (1993) * ''A History of Black and South Asian Writing in Britain, 1700–2000'' (2002, 2008) * ''The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007), . * ''Ned Kelly: Icon of Modern Culture'' (Helm Information, 2008), . * ''The Last Prince of Bengal: A Family's Journey from an Indian Palace to the Australian Outback'' (Saqi, 2021), .

References

External links

"The Last Prince of Bengal , Lyn Innes in conversation with Shrabani Basu"
JLF International, 21 July 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, Lyn 1940 births Academics of the University of Kent Australian women academics Cornell University alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Tuskegee University faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty University of Oregon alumni