LOUISE BENNETT AND JAMIEKAN LANGWIJ : Commemorations and Critical Perspectives

Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley, Miss Lou (1919-2006) – unwavering champion, creator, performer and icon of Jamaican culture – was the unrivalled ambassador of the Jamiekan Langwij (Jamaican Language) in which she offered poetry, Anansi stories, proverbs and songs to a grateful nation. On the hundredth anniversary of her birth, the contributors to this collection—along with the Jamiekan/Jamaican nation and its many diasporas—paused to honour Miss Lou’s contributions and to engage with the continuing evolution, impact and international influence of the Jamiekan Langwij that lay at the heart of her life’s work.