Readers of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing will be saddened to hear of the sudden death last November of Professor Geoffrey V. Davis, scholar of Commonwealth literature, and then postcolonial studies, and advocate of many initiatives associated with the literatures from former Commonwealth countries. For years based at Aachen University, Germany, Geoff was three times Chair of the European Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (EACLALS) between 2002 and 2014, and international Chair of ACLALS from 2008–11. For over a decade, he embodied the heart and soul of ACLALS and as its organisational lynchpin, maintained contact between the different branches and with the Commonwealth Foundation, its host institution.
Geoff was author or editor of over 30 books on postcolonial topics, which reflect the sheer range of his knowledge of this field. His first specialism was in the literatures of Zimbabwe and South Africa, and he was founding co-editor of Matatu: A Journal for African Culture and Society. He was also co-editor of the series closely associated with EACLALS and ASNEL, Cross/Cultures: Readings in the Post/Colonial Literatures and Cultures in English, a key resource for scholars. The Chotro project, another ambitious venture, was a social and cultural collaboration between EACLALS and Ganesh Devy and his Bhasha Research and Publication Centre in Baroda. It was based in the Adivasi Academy, which promotes tribal studies and education of the marginalised tribal people in India, the Adivasis. Four Chotro (meaning "brought together") gatherings were held which addressed all forms of marginalisation, and publication of the proceedings with BlackSwan and Routledge India (2009-13) helped situate Adivasi indigenous issues globally. In writing of this collaboration Ganesh Devy spoke of Geoff’s immense patience in dealing with surprises and shocks – invoking Keats’s negative capability – "the ability to live amidst uncertainties" – as what bound the two of them together.
Among the many written tributes and memories of Geoff offered in the memorial session held at the recent ACLALS conference in Auckland what stands out is the appreciation of his boundless creative energy, his modesty and generosity, his commitment to the pioneering spirit of postcolonial studies, and his infectious enthusiasm. Geoff was always ready to talk with conviction about the latest publication, the next project, or the future of ACLALS. Poignantly, just days before he died his latest book arrived with a note, "I thought this might interest you." It was an anthology of Black and South African British Literatures, and Geoff’s engagement with the society in which he grew up, and the changes he witnessed as Britain became multicultural, is visible throughout. Postcolonial studies, and especially ACLALS, have lost one of their most enduring and passionate advocates. Geoff Davis will be enormously missed by all who knew him.