Jamaican literature is internationally renowned, with the island of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

being the home or birthplace of many important authors. One of the most distinctive aspects of Jamaican literature is its use of the local

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

— a variation of English, the country's official language. Known to Jamaicans as "

patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...

", and now sometimes described as "

nation language "Nation language" is the term coined by scholar and poet Kamau Brathwaite McArthur, Tom,"Nation language" ''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language'', 1998. and now commonly preferred to describe the work of writers from the Caribbean and ...

", this creole has become an important element in Jamaican fiction, poetry and theater. Notable writers and intellectuals from elsewhere in the Caribbean region studied at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

in Kingston, including St. Lucian

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winner,

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

, the late Guyanese historian and scholar

Walter Rodney Walter Anthony Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic. His notable works include ''How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'', first published in 1972. Rodney was assassinated in Georgetow ...

, and Grenadian poet and short story writer

Merle Collins Merle Collins (born 29 September 1950 in Aruba)" ...

Folk beginnings

The tradition of storytelling in Jamaica is a long one, beginning with folktales told by the slaves during the colonial period. Jamaica's folk stories are most closely associated with those of the

Ashanti tribe The Asante, also known as Ashanti () are part of the Akan ethnic group and are native to the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana. Asantes are the last group to emerge out of the various Akan civilisations. Twi is spoken by over nine million Asante ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, from which many of the slaves originated. Some

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an tales were also brought to the island by immigrants, particularly those from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In folktales, the local speech style is particularly necessary. It infuses humor into the stories, and is an integral part of the retelling. Perhaps the most popular character in Jamaican tales,

Anancy Anansi ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is an Akan folktale character and the Akan God of Stories, Wisdom, Knowledge, and possibly creation. The form of a spider is the most common depiction of Anansi. He is also, sometimes considered to ...

(also spelled Anansi, 'Nancy Spida, and Brer Nansi) is an African spider-god who makes an appearance in tales throughout the Caribbean region. He is a trickster god, and often goes against other animal-god characters, like Tiger and Donkey, in his stories. These stories are thought to be one way the slaves told about outsmarting their owners as well.

Development of the literature

Jamaican

Thomas MacDermot Thomas MacDermot (26 June 1870 – 8 October 1933) was a Jamaican poet, novelist, and editor, editing the '' Jamaica Times'' for more than 20 years. He was "probably the first Jamaican writer to assert the claim of the West Indies to a distinc ...

(1870–1933) is credited with fostering the creation of Jamaican literature (according to critic Michael Hughes, MacDermot was "probably the first Jamaican writer to assert the claim of the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

to a distinctive place within English-speaking culture"),Michael Hughes, ''A Companion to West Indian Literature'', Collins, 1979, p. 75. and his ''Becka's Buckra Baby'' as the beginning of modern Caribbean literature. Jamaican-born

Claude McKay Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay OJ (September 15, 1890See Wayne F. Cooper, ''Claude McKay, Rebel Sojourner In The Harlem Renaissance (New York, Schocken, 1987) p. 377 n. 19. As Cooper's authoritative biography explains, McKay's family predated ...

(1889–1948) is credited with inspiring

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

's Negritude (“Blackness”) movement, as well as being a founding father of the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

. Having established himself as a poet in Jamaica, he moved to the U.S. in his 20s and proceeded to travel to France, but never returned to his birthplace.

Una Marson Una Maud Victoria Marson (6 February 1905 – 6 May 1965) was a Jamaican feminist, activist and writer, producing poems, plays and radio programmes. She travelled to London in 1932 and became the first black woman to be employed by the BBC d ...

(1905–1965) was also well known for her poetry, her activism as a feminist, and for her role as producer of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

literary radio programme ''

Caribbean Voices ''Caribbean Voices'' was a radio programme broadcast by the BBC World Service from Bush House in London, England, between 1943 and 1958. It is considered "the programme in which West Indian literary talents first found their voice, in the early ...

'' in the 1940s.

Louise Bennett-Coverley Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou (7 September 1919 – 26 July 2006), was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator. Writing and performing her poems in Jamaican Patois or Creole, Bennett worked to preserve the practice of p ...

(1919–2006) was a Jamaican poet and folklorist celebrated for her unique voice as "Miss Lou". Writing and performing her poems in Jamaican patois, Bennett was instrumental in having this "dialect" of the people given literary recognition in its own right ("

"). Other Jamaican writers who have gained international acclaim include

Hazel Dorothy Campbell Hazel Campbell (1940 – 12 December 2018) was a Jamaican writer, notably of short stories and children's books, who was also a teacher, editor and public relations worker. Biography Hazel Dorothy Campbell was born in Jamaica, where she attended ...

(1940–2018),

Mikey Smith Michael Smith, usually referred to as Mikey Smith (14 September 1954 – 17 August 1983), was a Jamaican dub poet. Along with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and Mutabaruka, he was one of the best-known dub poets. In 1978, Smith represented Jamaica at t ...

(1954–1983) and

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His ...

. In 2014,

Mervyn Morris Mervyn Eustace Morris OM (born 21 February 1937) is a poet and professor emeritus at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. According to educator Ralph Thompson, "In addition to his poetry, which has ranked him among the top West In ...

was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica. He was succeeded in 2017 by

Lorna Goodison Lorna Gaye Goodison CD (born 1 August 1947)Debo ...

Notable Jamaican writers

Opal Palmer Adisa Opal Palmer Adisa (born 6 November 1954) is a Jamaica-born award-winning poet, novelist, performance artist and educator. Anthologized in more than 400 publications, she has been a regular performer of her work internationally. Professor Emeritu ...

, writer, poet, performance artist *

Lindsay Barrett Carlton Lindsay Barrett (born 15 September 1941), also known as Eseoghene, is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist and photographer, whose work has interacted with the Caribbean Artists Movement in the UK, the Black ...

, poet,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, journalist *

Edward Baugh Edward Alston Cecil Baugh (born 10 January 1936) is a Jamaican poet and scholar, recognised as an authority on the work of Derek Walcott, whose ''Selected Poems'' (2007) Baugh edited, having in 1978 authored the first book-length study of the ...

, poet and scholar *

, poet, folklorist, actress, educator * James Berry, poet, anthologist *

Eliot Bliss Eliot Bliss (12 June 1903 – 10 December 1990) was a Jamaican-born English novelist and poet of Anglo-Irish descent, whose literary friendships encompassed Anna Wickham, Dorothy Richardson, Jean Rhys, Romer Wilson and Vita Sackville-West.Virgini ...

, novelist and poet * Jonathan Braham, novelist *

Erna Brodber Erna Brodber (born 20 April 1940) is a Jamaican writer, sociologist and social activist. She is the sister of writer Velma Pollard. Biography Born in the farming village of Woodside, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, she gained a B.A. from the Unive ...

, novelist, poet *

Margaret Cezair-Thompson Margaret Cezair-Thompson is a Jamaican writer. Author of novels ''The True History of Paradise'' and ''The Pirate's Daughter'', short stories, articles, and a screenplay about a female Jamaican athlete, ''Photo Finish'', purchased by Oprah Winf ...

Colin Channer Colin Channer (born 13 October 1963) is a Jamaican writer, often referred to as "Bob Marley with a pen," due to the spiritual, sensual, social themes presented from a literary Jamaican perspective. Indeed, his first two full-length novels, ''Wait ...

, novelist, short-story writer *

Kwame Dawes Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born 28 July 1962) is a Ghanaian poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and former Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of South Carolina. He is now Professor of English at the University of N ...

, poet, critic *

Jean D'Costa Jean Constance D'Costa (born 13 January 1937) is a Jamaican children's novelist, linguist, and professor emeritus. Her novels have been praised for their use of both Jamaican Creole and Standard English. Early life and education Jean Constance ...

, novelist, scholar * Herbert de Lisser, journalist and author *

Ferdinand Dennis Ferdinand Dennis (born 18 March 1956)"Ferdinand Dennis"
,

...

, novelist, journalist and broadcaster *

Nicole Dennis-Benn Nicole Dennis-Benn (born 1982) is a Jamaican novelist. She is known for her 2016 debut novel, ''Here Comes the Sun'', which was named a "Best Book of the year" by ''The New York Times'', and for her best-selling novel, ''Patsy'', acclaimed by ''Ti ...

, novelist *

Marcia Douglas Marcia Douglas is a novelist, poet, and performer. Life and education Douglas was born in the United Kingdom to Jamaican parents. Her family returned to Jamaica when Douglas was six, and she grew up in Kingston. Douglas received an MFA in cre ...

, novelist, poet, performer *

Gloria Escoffery Gloria Escoffery OD (22 December 1923 – 24 April 2002) was a Jamaican painter, poet and art critic active in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Born in Gayle, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, the youngest of three children of Dr. William T. Escoffery, ...

, painter, poet and art critic * Esther Figueroa, novelist, environmental activist, filmmaker *

John Figueroa John Joseph Maria Figueroa (4 August 1920 – 5 March 1999) was a Jamaican poet and educator.Pamela Beshoff"Obituary: John Figueroa" ''The Independent'', 11 March 1999. He played a significant role in the development of Anglophone Caribbean lite ...

, poet, educator *

Honor Ford-Smith Honor Maria Ford-Smith (born 1951 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Jamaican actress, playwright, scholar, and poet. The daughter of a brown Jamaican mother and an English father, Ford-Smith is sometimes described as "Jamaica white," signalling a person ...

, actress, playwright, scholar and poet * Ifeona Fulani, novelist, educator *

Lorna Goodison Lorna Gaye Goodison CD (born 1 August 1947)Debo ...

, poet * John Hearne, novelist, journalist and teacher * A. L. Hendriks, poet and critic *

Nalo Hopkinson Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels ('' Brown Girl in the Ring'', ''Midnight Robber'', '' The Salt Roads'', ''The New Moon's Arms'') and short stories such as thos ...

, science fiction writer * Marlon James, novelist * Evan Jones, poet, novelist *

, poet * Barbara Lalla, novelist, scholar *

, poet, novelist and editor *

Roger Mais Roger Mais (; 11 August 1905 – 21 June 1955) was a Jamaican journalist, novelist, poet, and playwright. He was born to a middle-class family in Kingston, Jamaica. By 1951, he had won ten first prizes in West Indian literary competitions.Ha ...

, novelist *

Rachel Manley Rachel Manley (born 1955) is a Jamaican writer in verse and prose, born in Cornwall, England, raised in Jamaica and currently (as of August 2020) residing in Canada. She is a daughter of the former Jamaican prime minister, Michael Manley. She was ...

, memoirist, poet *

, poet, playwright *

Shara McCallum Shara McCallum is an American poet. She was awarded a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry.Diana McCaulay, novelist, short story writer, environmental activist *

, poet and novelist *

Anthony McNeill Roy Anthony "Tony" McNeill (1941 – 2 January 1996) was a Jamaican poet, considered one of the most promising West Indian writers of his generation, whose career was cut short by his early death. Biography McNeill was born in Kingston, Jamaica ...

, poet *Una Marson, poet, playwright, journalist *

Kei Miller Kei Miller (born 24 October 1978) is a Jamaican poet, fiction writer, essayist and blogger. He is also a professor of creative writing.Pamela Mordecai Pamela Claire Mordecai (born 1942) is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, short story writer, scholar and anthologist who lives in Canada. Biography Born in Kingston, Jamaica, she attended high school in Jamaica, and Newton College of the Sacred ...

, poet, novelist, short story writer *

, poet, scholar, essayist *

Mutabaruka Allan Hope (born 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Steppin' Razor''. His ...

, poet *

Rex Nettleford Ralston Milton "Rex" Nettleford, OM, FIJ, OCC (3 February 1933 – 2 February 2010), was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading research university ...

, scholar, social critic *

Cyril Palmer Cyril Everard Palmer (15 October 193016 June 2013) was a Jamaican writer. Early life Palmer was born on 15 October 1930 in Kendal, Hanover. He attended Kendal Elementary School and became a teacher after graduating from the Kingston-based Mico Te ...

, writer *

Orlando Patterson Horace Orlando Patterson (born 5 June 1940) is a Jamaican historical and cultural sociologist known for his work regarding issues of race and slavery in the United States and Jamaica, as well as the sociology of development. He is the John Cowl ...

, historical and cultural sociologist *

Geoffrey Philp Geoffrey Philp (born 1958) is a Jamaican poet, novelist, and playwright. Philp used to reside in Jamaica, where he was born and attended Jamaica College, but he relocated in 1979 to Miami, Florida. He is the author of the novel ''Benjamin, My S ...

, poet, novelist, playwright *

Velma Pollard Velma Pollard (born 1937) is a Jamaican poet and fiction writer. Among her most noteworthy works are ''Shame Trees Don't Grow Here'' (1991) and ''Leaving Traces'' (2007). She is known for the melodious and expressive mannerisms in her work. She is ...

, poet, novelist, short story writer *

Patricia Powell Patricia Powell (born 1966) is a Jamaican writer, who has won awards for her novels. Biography Born in Jamaica, she moved to the United States in her late teens. She received her bachelor's degree at Wellesley College, and an MFA in creative wri ...

, novelist *

Claudia Rankine Claudia Rankine (; born September 4, 1963) is an American poet, essayist, playwright and the editor of several anthologies. She is the author of five volumes of poetry, two plays and various essays. Her book of poetry, '' Citizen: An American L ...

, poet, playwright * V. S. Reid, novelist *

Trevor Rhone Trevor Dave Rhone (24 March 1940 – 15 September 2009) was a Jamaican writer, playwright and film maker. He co-wrote, with director Perry Henzell, the internationally successful film ''The Harder They Come'' (1972). Life Trevor Rhone, wa ...

, playwright and film maker * Leopold Anthony Richards, scholar, educator, author *

Leone Ross Leone Ross (born 26 June 1969, Coventry, England) is a British novelist, short story writer, editor, journalist and academic, who is of Jamaican and Scottish ancestry. Biography Early years and education Leone Ross was born in Coventry, England, ...

, novelist, short story writer, journalist * Heather Royes, poet * Gillian Royes, novelist *

Andrew Salkey Andrew Salkey (30 January 1928 – 28 April 1995) was a Jamaican novelist, poet, children's books writer and journalist of Jamaicans, Jamaican and Panamanian origin. He was born in Panama but raised in Jamaica, moving to Britain in the 1952 to pu ...

, novelist, poet * Dennis Scott, poet, playwright *

Olive Senior Olive Marjorie Senior (born 23 December 1941) is a Jamaican poet, novelist, short story and non-fiction writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal in 2005 by the Institute of Jamaica for her contributions ...

, poet, novelist, short story writer * Tanya Shirley, poet, scholar *

M. G. Smith Michael Garfield Smith OM (18 August 1921 – 5 January 1993) was a Jamaican social anthropologist and poet of international repute. Biography Born in Kingston, Jamaica, M.G. Smith was always a brilliant scholar. When he was a schoolboy at J ...

, poet *

, poet * Ralph Thompson, poet *

Anthony C. Winkler Anthony C. Winkler (25 February 1942 – 18 September 2015)

, novelist *

Sylvia Wynter ''The Honourable'' Sylvia Wynter, O.J. (Holguín, Cuba, 11 May 1928) is a Jamaican novelist, /sup> dramatist, /sup> critic, philosopher, and essayist. /sup> Her work combines insights from the natural sciences, the humanities, art, and anti-co ...

, novelist, dramatist, critic, essayist * Kerry Young, novelist"Kerry Young"
Literature British Council.

References

External links

''Becka’s Buckra Baby''
from the

Digital Library of the Caribbean The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners. Partners Current partners continue to grow on a regular basis and are listed on thdLOC Partner Page Partners in ...

(1904)
''One Brown Girl and - a Jamaica Story''
from the

(1909) *Also in the ''All Jamaica Library'', but not written by Thomas MacDermot
''Maroon Medicine,''
by E. A. Dodd (listed as E. Snod) from the

{{North American topic, , literature North American literature

Folk beginnings

Development of the literature

Notable Jamaican writers

See also

References

External links