World Literature: Caryl Phillips (Saint Kitts, England) “Another Man in the Street”

Caryl Phillips has enthralled us over the years with works such as A Distance Shore (winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize) and Dancing in the Dark (winner of the PEN Open Book Award). He returns to City of Asylum after a moving speech at our 2024 Freedom To Create Gala to share his latest novel, Another Man in the Street.

“Another Man in the Street is a perfect example of what Caryl Phillips has been doing better than anyone for a long time now: It’s an examination of the migrations, both without and within, that have reshaped England over the past decades. Like most of his work, it weaves together divergent perspectives and histories—from the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Yorkshire—to create a vibrant tapestry of our times. Phillips is a writer of truly global dimensions who should be celebrated, again and again, for his vision, empathy, and profound resonance.” —Anderson Tepper, Curator for World Literature at City of Asylum

In London’s swinging sixties, Victor Johnson, a young immigrant from the Caribbean, arrives in Britain with big career dreams, only to find himself instead working as a rent collector for Peter Feldman, a landlord equally kind and unscrupulous. Victor soon falls into a relationship with Peter’s lonely secretary Ruth, a migrant from the north of England. Set against the backdrop of a country that is slowly, reluctantly, evolving into a modern, multiracial society, we discover the truth of both Peter’s tragic background and Ruth’s agonizing secret, as we witness Victor, out of his depth, adjusting to the painful realities of life in his new country. Another Man in the Street is both epic in its sweep and devastatingly intimate in its portrayal of damaged lives caught between two worlds.

You can purchase your copy of Caryl’s book, Another Man in the Street, at City of Asylum Bookstore.