Join us in welcoming UK author Alex Wheatle discussing his novel Cane Warriors with Tanya Batson-Savage!
Irresistible, gripping, and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky's War in Jamaica in 1760. A powerful young adult tale told through the eyes of Moa, a fourteen-year-old slave, this fictionalized account of the most significant rebellion of the time is rarely mentioned in history books or taught in schools.
The story begins as Moa is awoken in the middle of the night by one of the rebels, who informs him that the revolt will begin on Easter Sunday. Moa's father doesn't like the idea of his son joining the rebellion, but his mother gives Moa her blessing. Together, Moa and his sixteen-year-old best friend Keverton take up arms, learning about brotherhood, courage, faith, and sacrifice along the way.
Alex Wheatle's brilliant storytelling and characterization vividly bring to life the issues, pain, and the power structure of the era, along with the hopes and the dreams of the people. In writing this story, Wheatle's meticulous and extensive research evokes the stories and legends passed down by word of mouth over the centuries.
About the author:
Alex Wheatle is the author of several novels, some of them set in Brixton, where he grew up. Born in London of Jamaican parents, Alex Wheatle’s fiction focuses on a dimension of postwar black British culture that has been surprisingly neglected in available literary representation: the black male underclass. He was awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2008, MBE for services to Literature and the London Arts Board New Writers Award and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the YA book prize (2018) and recently named a finalist for the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature!
About the moderator:
Tanya Batson-Savage is a Jamaican author and publisher and has written for the page, the stage and the screen. Her work has appeared in BIM, Riddim, Jamaica Journal, Small Axe, Moods of Jamaica, and Caribbean Beat.
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