In episode 94 (Season 5 finale), The Boston Sisters talk with Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes (2007), a novel inspired by an 18th-century British military ledger of African Americans who gained freedom serving the British in the Revolution. Hill’s novel was adapted by the CBC into a miniseries in 2015. Hill discusses the novel's creation, Canada's complex history of slavery, shared African American/African Canadian history, and how book bans affect historical narratives.
Content Note: “The Book of Negroes” is a 1783 historic document of names of Black Loyalists who fought for the British and later settled in Nova Scotia. This history was the inspiration for the title and story for the novel by Lawrence Hill published in 2007. The original title was changed in the U.S. to “Someone Knows My Name,” but went back to the original title following the success of the 2015 miniseries adaptation. In the podcast, “Negroes” is only mentioned in this context (1783 ledger, book and series titles).
Lawrence Hill is the author of eleven novels and nonfiction works published worldwide and translated into many languages. His bestsellers include The Illegaland The Book of Negroes, which he adapted into an award-winning CBC/B.E.T. miniseries, and his memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice, the first book-length exploration of Black and white, mixed-race identity in Canada. A professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph for thirty years, he has earned The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, an NAACP Image Award, CBC's Canada Reads (twice), a Canadian Screen Award, and for Aminata (the French translation of The Book of Negroes), Le combat des livres de Radio-Canada and Le Prix Folio-Télérama des libraires 2023. Lawrence Hill is a Member of the Order of Canada.
------
favorite podcast platform
ENJOY past podcasts and bonus episodes
SIGN UP for our mailing list
SUPPORT this podcast SHOP THE PODCAST on our affiliate bookstore
Buy us a Coffee! You can support by buying a coffee ☕ here — buymeacoffee.com/historicaldramasisters
Thank you for listening!
