In 1904, West African writer A.B.C. Merriman-Labor moved to London in 1904 to make his mark on the world’s greatest literary stage.
What happened there changed everything he thought he knew.
In a world dominated by the British Empire, at a time when many Europeans considered black people inferior, African writer A. B. C. Merriman-Labor claimed his right to describe the world as he found it. He looked at the greatest city in the greatest empire the world had ever known and laughed. An African in Imperial London is the first biography of this forgotten pioneer of African literature and a rich portrait of a great metropolis, writhing its way into a new century of appalling social inequity, world-transforming inventions, and unprecedented demands for civil rights.
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Latest Blogs
New Play About A.B.C. Merriman-Labor Opens in London in February
A New Play about A.B.C. Merriman-Labor A new play about A.B.C. Merriman-Labor will be premiering at the Vault Festival in London, 28 February to 5 March! The co-writers, Eloka Obi and Saul Boyer have named it "Five Years with the Whiteman," after the title of...
Publication Day: Merriman-Labor’s Britons Through Negro Spectacles–Thank You Penguin!
More than 100 years after his death, A.B.C. Merriman-Labor's Britons Through Negro Spectacles gets the recognition it deserves! So today, Penguin republished Britons Through Negro Spectacles as part of its "Black Britain Writing Back" series. The Booker-Award winning...
#CreativityinChaos
The world seems especially weighty at the moment, and we need our creativity more than ever. Yet, many of us find that creativity continually waylaid. Often the desire to create simply isn’t strong enough to defy a world of distractions, especially if we’re not sure...
Krio History at the Museum of London, Docklands
The Krios of Sierra Leone One of the greatest parts of researching the life and times of A.B.C. Merriman-Labor was the opportunity to learn about Krio history. I was immediately enthralled by the rich past of the Krio people. The Museum of London,...
Merriman-Labor Lives on in New Academic Collection!
I am so proud to announce that a piece I wrote about A.B.C. Merriman-Labor's Britons Through Negro Spectacles is part of a newly published academic book: Rebellious Writing: Contesting Marginalisation in Edwardian Britain. I am so grateful to the editor...
Danell and Melbourne in Conversation on Yellowstone Public Radio
When Melbourne Garber came to Billings for the High Plains Book Awards we did a lot of talking. I loved hearing about life in Sierra Leone, his historical research, and, of course, his personal stories. I would say we spent the better part of three days in...
And the Winner Is…
Last Saturday night, I was sitting in one of the galleries at the Yellowstone Art Museum. The giant hall was filled with people clustered around banquet tables, stacks of new books tumbling over bright white tablecloths, wine-glasses half-filled, happy...
Exciting News About An African in Imperial London!
It's A Finalist for the High Plains Book Award for Nonfiction! As if that were not exciting enough, here's even more wonderful news: Melbourne Garber, Merriman-Labor's great nephew, is coming to Montana! He and I will be having a discussion at This House of Book on...
If You are Lucky Enough to be in London September 7th…
Then you should definitely try to get to the Lambeth Local History Fair. It promises to be a fantastic event focused on Black British history. I promise you will not want to miss writer and historian Steve Martin's talk on A.B.C. Merriman-Labor at 2:30.I had the honor...
Centenary of the Death of A.B.C. Merriman-Labor
A.B.C. Merriman-LaborFreetown, Sierra Leone, circa 1904 One hundred years ago today, July 14, 1909, A.B.C. Merriman-Labor died of tuberculosis in the Lambeth Workhouse Infirmary, age 41.The building still stands in South London. I remember the...
My first book, The Virginia Woolf Writers’ Workshop,
takes an imaginative look at the iconic British writer. Although there are numerous biographies of Woolf, mine is the only one to focus on her ideas about the craft of writing. Keenly aware of the joy, labor, and mystery of the writing process, Woolf took pains to record the practices she found most valuable. Through scrupulous research across the body of her work—including her diaries, letters, essays, and fiction—I sought to create a fresh vision of this famous writer as a woman with an enchanting sense of humor whose observations about her craft are as relevant today as they were when she wrote then nearly a century ago.
A little bit about me.
I grew up in the Mojave Desert just east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a land of alfalfa farms, dirt bikes, rattle snakes, one-gas-station towns, and big sky. Now I live in Montana, just north of the Beartooth Mountains, a land of sage-brush prairie, ATVs, cattle ranches, one-gas-station towns, and very, very big sky.
Although I am now a full-time writer, I still teach a class or two at Montana State University Billings, lead a regular seminar on Shakespeare’s plays for community members, and offer creative writing workshops throughout the year.