Writing Lives: Non-fiction texts by people of colour from the 18th and 19th centuries by Discovering Literature – British Library

Explore more Discovering Literature articles and resources

discovering_literature — 2025-02-27 16:51:23 UTC

Explore 130 of our best loved articles, perfect for teachers of Years 10–13.

Extract 1: Mary Prince

discovering_literature — 2025-03-07 11:44:29 UTC

Extract 2: Olaudah Equiano

discovering_literature — 2025-03-07 11:44:47 UTC

Extract 3: Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

discovering_literature — 2025-03-07 11:44:57 UTC

Extract 4: Frederick Douglass

discovering_literature — 2025-03-07 11:47:51 UTC

Extract 5: Dadabhai Naoroji

discovering_literature — 2025-03-07 11:48:02 UTC

Find out more about the resource

discovering_literature — 2025-05-23 13:22:57 UTC

Writing Lives is a teaching resource that brings together texts by men and women of African, Caribbean and Asian heritage who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has been designed with UK GCSE English Language teachers in mind, but you’ll also find inspiration for students aged 12-18 (Key Stage 3 and A-level) and beyond.

Extract 5: Ignatius Sancho

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:35:40 UTC

Extract 1: Mary Seacole

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:35:50 UTC

Extract 3: Sarah Parker Remond

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:36:11 UTC

Extract 2: Toru Dutt

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:36:17 UTC

Extract 6: Robert Wedderburn

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:36:53 UTC

Extract 1: Ishuree Dass

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:38:49 UTC

Extract 2: William Wells Brown

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:38:56 UTC

Extract 4: Phillis Wheatley Peters

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:39:10 UTC

Extract 1: Pandita Ramabai

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:40:55 UTC

Extract 2: Dean Mahomed

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:41:01 UTC

Extract 3: Mohan Lal

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:41:07 UTC

Extract 4: Behramji Malabari

discovering_literature — 2025-10-28 15:41:14 UTC

A University of Oxford project, supported by Penguin Books - Canon in Colour

discovering_literature — 2026-02-05 09:33:50 UTC

Canon in Colour is a set of resources that provides teachers with expert knowledge to help them explore themes of race and empire in their teaching of key 19th century fiction texts.

Lit in Colour resource - Engaging with Empire: Reflective practice with Nazneen Ahmed Pathak and Sathnam Sanghera

discovering_literature — 2026-02-06 15:15:54 UTC

Authors Nazneen Ahmed Pathak and Sathnam Sanghera discuss empire and how they approached the topic in their children's books, City of Stolen Magic and Stolen History.

Extract 3: Jehangeer Nowrojee and Hirjeebhoy Merwanjee

BL_Learning_2 — 2026-05-19 10:51:42 UTC

Extract 4: Joseph Emin

BL_Learning_2 — 2026-05-19 10:53:16 UTC

British Library - South Asian writing in Britain timeline

BL_Learning_2 — 2026-05-20 13:53:18 UTC

British Library - Black literature timeline

BL_Learning_2 — 2026-05-20 13:53:52 UTC

discovering_literature — 2026-05-28 13:38:53 UTC

Example paper created to support AQA Section A: Reading, in Paper 2 Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives.

discovering_literature — 2026-05-28 14:10:39 UTC

Example paper created to support Pearson Edexcel Section A – Reading in Paper 2: Non-fiction and Transactional Writing.

discovering_literature — 2026-05-28 14:10:45 UTC

Example paper created to support Eduqas Section A (Reading) in Component 2 – 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing.

discovering_literature — 2026-05-28 14:11:47 UTC

Example paper created to support OCR Section A – Reading information and ideas in Component 01: Communicating information and ideas.

discovering_literature — 2026-06-01 10:23:40 UTC

PDF download for Writing Lives: Non-fiction texts by people of colour from the 18th and 19th centuries

discovering_literature — 2026-06-01 11:36:38 UTC

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Equiano's autobiography, book tour, legacy

discovering_literature — 2026-06-30 15:45:44 UTC

In this film, S I Martin and Sandra A Agard introduce Olaudah Equiano and his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African. Discover more about the book, Black and African writers in 18th-19th century Britain, Equiano’s abolitionist campaigning, and his legacy.

African writers and Black thought in 18th-century Britain

discovering_literature — 2026-06-30 15:45:54 UTC

By 1780, Britain had a Black population of at least 20,000 people. S I Martin describes how four writers, taken from Africa as children and sold into slavery, grew up to write works that challenged British ideas about race, called for African brotherhood and demanded the abolition of the slave trade.

discovering_literature — 2026-07-08 14:07:25 UTC

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