Jean Constance D'Costa (born 13 January 1937) is a Jamaican children's novelist,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, and professor emeritus. Her novels have been praised for their use of both

Jamaican Creole Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with West African influences, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican diaspora. A majority of the non-English wo ...

and Standard English.

Early life and education

Jean Constance Creary was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, the youngest of three children to parents who were school teachers. Her father was also a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

minister. They moved to the capital, Kingston in 1944, and then to St. James and Trelawny. She attended rural elementary schools, and then St. Hilda's High School in Brown's Town, St. Ann from 1949 to 1954 on a government merit scholarship. She earned another scholarship to pursue a bachelor's degree in English literature and language at University College of the West Indies (now UWI, Mona) from 1955 to 1958, and another scholarship for a master's degree in literature at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Career

In 1962, after Oxford, she returned to teach

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and linguistics at University College of the West Indies. She also served as a consultant to Jamaica's Ministry of Education on education in Jamaica in the newly independent country, and served on various education committees. D'Costa continued her creative writing while teaching and consulting. Her two most popular novels, '' Sprat Morrison'' (1972) and '' Escape to Last Man Peak'' (1976), have been used in schools throughout Jamaica and the Caribbean region. Her novels are geared primarily towards children aged 11 to 13. She researched and wrote extensively on Jamaican creole

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

., and published handbooks for service agencies in Jamaica, including the Kingston office of the United States

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. In 1980, D'Costa received a professorship at Hamilton College, New York, where she stayed until 1998. She taught Old English,

Caribbean literature Caribbean literature is the literature of the various territories of the Caribbean region. Literature in English from the former British West Indies may be referred to as Anglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts, as West Indian literature. Most o ...

, creative writing, and linguistics.

Themes

Writing for children on the cusp of teenhood, D'Costa addresses "their need to relate to actuality ... and their need to retain some of the comforting illusions of childhood". To satisfy the latter need, she draws from Jamaican folklore and

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...

s for the plots, themes, and tone of her works. Prominent in Caribbean folklore are "

duppy Duppy is a word of African origin commonly used in various Caribbean islands, including Barbados and Jamaica, meaning ghost or spirit.

stories", in which ghosts or unsettled spirits return to haunt the land of the living. In her third novel, ''Voice in the Wind'', for example, D'Costa addresses children's perceptions about death and the supernatural. She also references the oral tales that were traditionally told "at wakes and nine-nights". D'Costa paints a vivid picture of historical and contemporary Jamaican countryside. D'Costa often uses Jamaican Creole for dialogue alongside Standard English. Her use of language, together with her understanding that her works are models for children's own literary attempts, makes her books natural subjects for classroom discussion. ''Sprat Morrison'' has been required reading in the "first grade" of Jamaican high schools since 1972, while ''Escape to Last Man Peak'' and ''Voice in the Wind'' are assigned by many teachers. Students have corresponded with D'Costa and she has accepted invitations to speak in schools. Her works have been lauded for preserving and conveying Jamaican speech rhythms and dialect.

Personal life

D'Costa retired from Hamilton College in 1998, with the title of professor emeritus. She married David D'Costa, a journalist, in 1967. They relocated to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1997.

Awards and recognition

*Children's Writers Award (Jamaican Reading Association, 1976) *Gertrude Flesh Bristol Award (Hamilton College, 1984) *Silver

Musgrave Medal The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature.Webster, Valerie J. (2000), ''Awards, Honors & Prizes, Volume 2'', Gale Group, , p. 447. Originally conceived in 1889 a ...

(Institute of Jamaica, 1994) for contributions to children's literature and linguistics

Selected works

Novels and short stories

* * (with Hazel D. Campbell) * * * * * (2nd edition, 1990)

Anthologies

* (with Velma Pollard)

Books

* (with Barbara Lalla and Velma Pollard) * (with Barbara Lalla) * (with Barbara Lalla) *

Linguistic handbooks

* * * * (with Jack Berry)

References

External links

"Great read for children"
'' Jamaica Gleaner News'', 23 April 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Costa, Jean 1937 births Recipients of the Musgrave Medal Living people Women anthologists Jamaican women children's writers 20th-century Jamaican women writers 21st-century Jamaican women writers 20th-century Jamaican novelists 21st-century Jamaican novelists People from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Jamaican women novelists