Bart Moore-Gilbert
Bartholomew (Bart) Jason Kirsten Moore-Gilbert (8 December 1952 – 2 December 2015) was a Tanzanian-born British academic, orientalist, political campaigner and writer. He was best known for his work in postcolonial literary studies and theory.
Moore-Gilbert studied English Language and Literature at Durham University (Grey College), graduating in 1975 with a first-class degree. He taught at Goldsmiths College, University of London, from 1998. His last major academic work, published by Routledge in 2009, was the first critical study of postcolonial life-writing in English.
In 2014 Verso published his memoir The Setting Sun: A Memoir of Empire and Family Secrets, which blends travel writing, history and personal memoir. It follows his travels in India to uncover his father’s alleged involvement in British colonial brutality and was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize.
Moore-Gilbert died of kidney cancer on 2 December 2015 at Trinity Hospice. During his illness, he kept a blog about his cancer and its treatment.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:05 (CET).