I just finished the long-postponed task of cataloguing all the titles listed in this book, so I thought I’d share the list here.

Jump to the full book list below.

The idea behind the book This is The Canon – Decolonize Your Bookshelf in 50 Books is to offer an alternative to the traditional literary canon, which has long been dominated by European and American voices. I’ve done data analysis on so-called “essential” lists like 100 Essential Novels and the New York Times’ 100 Books of the 21st Century, and I can confirm: they’re extremely Euro-American-centric.

So when a list like The Other Canon comes along, it almost makes me jump with joy.

At least, until I take a closer look.

I should say I haven’t finished reading the full book yet—I’m mostly using it as a guide for future reading—but here are my first impressions based on the book list:

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1. South American and Arab authors are largely absent

If the goal is to decentralize the literary conversation and challenge the traditional canon, then the absence of entire regions is disappointing. There are no South American authors on this list and only one Arab author.

If we’re serious about decolonizing our bookshelves, we need to acknowledge that South America—like many parts of the world—has been deeply shaped by colonialism. And the Arab world, composed of many former colonies, continues to be affected by what many describe as modern-day neocolonialism, particularly by the United States.

Which leads me to my next point.

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2. The list is very U.S.-centric

Even the authors themselves acknowledge this:

“Over a third of the authors profiled in this book were born or live in the United States.”

So why include so many U.S. writers—especially American-born ones—on a list that claims to be decolonial?

To be fair, most of the American authors included are from historically marginalized communities—Black, Indigenous, Latinx. That’s important. But those groups already have significantly more access to visibility, literary awards, and canonization than, say, a Black author from Brazil.

If this list truly aimed to shift the spotlight to the margins, why not give 100% of the space to authors from the countries in the margins?

Even the countries represented reflect a U.S.-adjacent bias: heavy on the Caribbean and African diaspora—regions with closer historical and political ties to the United States.

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3. The African diaspora is the main theme

Which is, honestly, fantastic.

We do need to read more African and African diaspora literature, and I’m excited to have such a rich list of titles to explore.

But maybe the book could have framed its purpose more clearly. A better title might have been something like “Great Voices of African and Diaspora Literature”. That would be a list I’d love to explore, and I wouldn’t have so many broken expectations.

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4. Japan was included—but why?

You know my issues with Japan’s brutal imperialism and the fact that nobody talks about it. The authors themselves say that

“We should also remember the imperialism of other empires, such as Russia and Japan.”

Then why include two Japanese authors on a supposedly decolonial list?

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Final Thoughts

I know I might sound like I’m nitpicking. And truly—I’m thrilled that initiatives like this exist. It’s meaningful that readers are opening their minds to voices outside the traditional canon.

It’s also really important to mention that they feature some indigenous authors from Oceania, and references to literature from that part of the world has been really hard to find for me.

In a nutshell, I think this is a great initiative, and that you should copy the list and explore it to your heart’s content. But could we have at least one South American author in there?

Without further ado, here’s THE CANON, divided by continents.

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THE CANON

(Titles I’ve read are marked in blue – I’ve added most of them to my All Books by Countries list)

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🌍 Africa

1. 🇩🇿 Algeria – Children of the New World by Assia Djebar (1962)
2. 🇧🇼 Botswana – A Question of Power by Bessie Head (1974)
3. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia – How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu (2010)
4. 🇬🇭 Ghana – The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah (1968)
5. 🇬🇭 Ghana – Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo (1977)
6. 🇰🇪 Kenya – A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1967)
7. 🇳🇬 Nigeria – Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)
8. 🇳🇬 Nigeria – The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta (1979)
9. 🇳🇬 Nigeria – Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006)
10. 🇳🇬 Nigeria/UK – The Emperor’s Babe by Bernardine Evaristo (2001)
11. 🇸🇳 Senegal – So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ (1980)
12. 🇿🇦 South Africa – Between Two Worlds by Miriam Tlali (1975)
13. 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe – Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (1988)

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🌏 Asia

1. 🇦🇫 Afghanistan – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)
2. 🇨🇳 China – Love in a Fallen City and Other Stories by Eileen Chang (1943)
3. 🇮🇳 India – All About H. Hatterr by G. V. Desani (1948)
4. 🇮🇳 India – The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997)
5. 🇮🇳 India – The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008)
6. 🇯🇵 Japan – Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata (1952)
7. 🇯🇵 Japan – Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima (1979)
8. 🇵🇰 Pakistan/US – In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (2009)

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🌎 Caribbean & Central America

1. 🇦🇬 Antigua & Barbuda – Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid (1985)
2. 🇨🇺 Cuba – The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier (1953)
3. 🇩🇲 Dominica – Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (1966)
4. 🇬🇵 Guadeloupe – The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart (1972)
5. 🇬🇵 Guadeloupe – Segu by Maryse Condé (1984)
6. 🇭🇹 Haiti – Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat (1994)
7. 🇯🇲 Jamaica – Discerner of Hearts by Olive Senior (1995)
8. 🇯🇲 Jamaica – A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (2014)
9. 🇯🇲 Jamaica/UK – Small Island by Andrea Levy (2004)
10. 🇲🇶 Martinique – Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau (1992)
11. 🇵🇦 Panama – The Years with Laura Díaz by Carlos Fuentes (1999)
12. 🇰🇳 St. Kitts & Nevis – Dancing in the Dark by Caryl Phillips (2005)
13. 🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago – The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon (1956)
14. 🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago – Salt by Earl Lovelace (1996)

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🌍 Europe

1. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland – Trumpet by Jackie Kay (1998)
2. 🇬🇧 UK – NW by Zadie Smith (2012)

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🌍 Middle East

1. 🇪🇬 Egypt – Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (1975)

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🌎 North America

1. 🇨🇦 Canada – Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson (2000)
2. 🇺🇸 US – If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin (1974)
3. 🇺🇸 US – Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (1979)
4. 🇺🇸 US – The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)
5. 🇺🇸 US – Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)
6. 🇺🇸 US – Shell Shaker by LeAnne Howe (2001)
7. 🇺🇸 US – Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros (1991)
8. 🇺🇸 US – The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015)

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🌏 Oceania

1. 🇦🇺 Australia – The Swan Book by Alexis Wright (2013)
2. 🇦🇺 Australia – The White Girl by Tony Birch (2019)
3. 🇳🇿 New Zealand – Dogside Story by Patricia Grace (2001)
4. 🇼🇸 Samoa – The Best of Albert Wendt’s Short Stories by Albert Wendt (1999)

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Read more about “Essential Books Lists”:

• Why NOT Read the Classics
• Analyzing the NY Times 100 Books of 21st Century List