Baldwin and Britain

This exploratory article maps James Baldwin’s time in Britain, from October 1967 to February 1968, when he spent several months living in the West London area of Chelsea. It draws on new archival material from Carole Weinstein, who stayed with Baldwin during this period, and maps Baldwin’s influence on Caribbean writers in Britain, including the Barbadian writer Rudolph “Rudi” Kizerman. It begins by exploring Baldwin’s reflections on language and empire in connection with Britain. Following this, it attends to the writer’s time in the city in 1967 and 1968 and some of the people he knew while living in Chelsea. In doing so, it seeks to suggest further avenues for research in connection with Baldwin’s influence on Britain and the significance of Britain in Baldwin’s work.