Anglo-Indians and Post-Colonial Literature by Keith Butler

Email: sikanderbutler1@bigpond.com

Keith Butler writes post-colonial literature where that term means a critiqueing of colonialism. He foregrounds Anglo-Indians in his work in particular ways. He is as critical of the canonisation of Anglo-Indians seen in recent works authored by Anglo-Indian writers as he is against the derogatory stereotypes of Anglo-Indians portrayed by earlier writers such as Kipling and Niraud Chaudhuri.. He is of the view that Anglo-Indians need to be portrayed in literature without fear or favour. Keith will read an extract from the manuscript of his first novel which is due to be published by Penguin.

Keith Butler was born in Delhi 1948 and educated in Calcutta. He started his teaching career with the Jesuits in Calcutta, immigrated to Australia in 1972 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University. He is currently completing an MA in literature. Keith is the recipient of national and state grants for writing. He won The Age Short Story competition in 1998 and his work appears in various Penguin anthologies such as Australian Summer Stories 2 and A Century of Australian Short Stories He also contributes feature articles to Australian newspapers and magazines such as The Age and Good Week End. He will read from the manuscript of his first novel due to be published by Penguin.