Miss Lou An 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). A scholar, educator, radio and television personality, a foundational contributor to national theatre, Miss Lou embodied the wisdom and joy for life, in the midst of challenges, that so defines Jamaican culture. Through her poetry, humour and the Anansi stories, proverbs, songs that she offered to a grateful nation, she inspired generations of Jamaicans and contributed to their investment in a searing pride in their culture. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of her birth, the Jamaican nation - in the island and across its many diasporas - paused to commemorate Miss Lou’s life and contributions and to offer scholarly perspectives about the Jamiekan Langwij (Jamaican Language), also referred to as Patwa, that lay at the heart of her life’s work. In a series of reflections, poems