It's Read Caribbean Month!! :: Jamaica Massive 🇯🇲 🇯🇲

Jul 2

Yesterday was the last day of Read Caribbean month so let’s end it loudly with reel-ups and big energy riddims courtesy of Jamaica.

The Caribbean writers I will honour today are two of my favourite Jamaican storytellers outside of my family. My love for dub poetry truly stems from my studies and admiration of Miss Lou, Jamaican folklorist, singer and poet. Miss Lou (Louise Bennett-Coverley) was born in Kingston, Jamaica and holds great importance in the canon of Jamaican poetry and performance. Miss Lou, was truly an archivist, a lyricist, and I believe one of the key founders that shaped the sound and fusion of dub/spoken poetry. If you need context, a Miss Lou poem recited required full-body participation, otherwise you were not doing justice to the culture, land, or glorious language that Miss Lou used to represent the life and voice of everyday Jamaicans. Ms Lou instilled so much national pride and joy for the language and culture, similar to Belize’s Ms Leela Vernon, that her name, or a line from her poems, still brings a smile to Jamaican faces across the diaspora. This is probably because Patwa found its way on the page and cherished in a Miss Lou masterpiece. Some works include ‘Jamaica Labrish’ and ‘Aunty Roachy Seh’.

Mikey Smith (Michael Smith) was a Jamaican dub poet who, I’ll say, was like no other and has been posthumously hailed as a legendary storyteller. Also a Kingstonian, Mikey Smith’s poems were always on behalf of working-class people and against the poverty that entrapped them. Impeccable timing and perfectly combined storytelling of poetry, comedy and political commentary is what left Mikey Smith as a voice to be remembered. His poem ‘Mi Cyaan Believe It’ is by far one of my favourites. During my uni days, I used to love rewatching the video archives of Mikey Smith performing his poems (always with a little alteration in each performance). His performance, always a conversation (a call and response, really) with the listeners, is an art, one very unique to his style. ‘It A Come’ is another timeless poem that many enjoy and remember him for.

I intend to write much deeper about these writers because they have poured so much into me and ideas about Jamaican heritage, for now, an honouring of what they have put to page and stage.

Here is a documentary series on Mikey Smith which also brings in his admiration of Miss Lou. Afterwards, I recommend watching all parts to get a fuller picture.

This first part of the documentary includes a conversation between Linton Kwesi Johnson, C. L. R. James, and Mikey Smith (what a serious gathering of Caribbean greats)

Watch part two here

Watch part four here

Have you read a Miss Lou or a Mikey Smith poem? What do you know of Jamaican writers or storytellers? Any Jamaican writers here?!

I have deeply enjoyed the conversations that have come out of Read Caribbean Month. I’ll remain here, sharing a few writers and writings monthly. There are so many writers that I want to give space to write about, many more that I’d like to spend more time on. To read the profiles shared through the month of June, check out the Calabash archives, a section I recently archived on the ‘Life Is In Love With Me’ newsletter.

Thanks for being here.

4 Comments

Amar Patel

Bluejeans & Moonbeams

Jul 3Liked by Amara Amaryah

Got this one on the bookshelf: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780872862173/Poems-Smith-Michael-Morris-Mervyn-0872862178/plp

Cover ❤️‍🔥

Pages folded at Revolutionary and Trainer. The latter is great storytelling.

But I'm with you on the videos. Best experienced when performed.

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Amara Amaryah

Jul 3Author

ughhh amazing! I have an anthology featuring Smith’s works (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/453521/verbal-riddim-by-various/9781784878269)but I really want a specific collection, thanks for sharing your one. And yes, both page and stage are incredible experiences but I have a special place in my heart for a Mikey Smith performance.

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