A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice

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At the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), life at Newcastle changed a little. The British regiment was replaced by Canadian regiments which remained at Newcastle for the duration of the war. With hostilities over in 1945, the Canadians left and once again a British battalion was stationed there.

Louise Bennett-Coverley

a b Nwankwo, Ifeoma Kiddoe (1 January 2009). "Introduction (Ap)Praising Louise Bennett: Jamaica, Panama, and Beyond". Journal of West Indian Literature. 17 (2): VIII–XXV. JSTOR 23019943.

Laugh with Louise: A pot-pourri of Jamaican folklore. Kingston: City Printery. 1961. OCLC 76815511. In Jamaica, Miss Lou taught speech and drama at Excelsior High School. She also found time to write her poems, folk songs, short stories and perform in plays and pantomimes. Although she lived in Toronto, Canada for the last decade she still receives the homage of the expatriate West Indian community in the north as well as a large Canadian following.

Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett – a life in books Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett – a life in books

and for me - authors mentioned I’m intrigued to read) > Alan Sillitoe, Clarice Lispector, Friedrich Nietzsche, Anna Kavan, Anais Nin. In 2011, photographs, audiovisual recordings, correspondence, awards and other material regarding Bennett were donated to the McMaster University Library by her family with the intention of having selections from the fonds, which date from 1941 to 2008, digitized and made available online as part of a digital archive [16] A selection of Bennett's personal papers are also available at the National Library of Jamaica. Launched in October 2016, the Miss Lou Archives contains previously unpublished archival material including photos, audio recording, diaries and correspondence. [23] The holdings of the Miss Lou Archives were donated to the Library by Bennett as she prepared to take up residence in Canada. [17] Awards and honours [ edit ] There were 7 chapters to this book. I don’t know if some of it was about the author’s life or not. It certainly seemed like that to me...but that’s not super-important. The chapters were interconnected but there was not a clear flow to it. And perhaps grasping the book as a whole isn't the point - as the narrator reminds us Sometimes all it takes is just one sentence. Just one sentence, and there you are, part of something that has been part of you since the beginning, whenever that might rightly be. Miss Lou moved to New York in 1953. Later that year, Eric Coverley went to New York on assignment with the Jamaican delegation to the United Nations. He reconnected with Miss Lou and there they co-directed a folk musical called Day in Jamaica. In the months that followed, Miss Lou and Eric spent much time in each other’s company at performances and parties. This resulted in their getting married on May 30, 1954. The ceremony was held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Harlem.Through her studies at RADA, Louise was able to develop her skill as a performer. The Birmingham Post commented that ‘she learnt the sophisticated technique which has given a second dimension to her natural exuberant ability.’ Claire-Louise Bennett’s second novel, like her first book, Pond, enacts a quest for quiddity – the syntax that embodies a cast of mind, the phrase that nails a sensation, the narrative structure that feels like life as it is lived or anyway processed. At times the effect is exhausting. Bennett’s unnamed, 40-ish narrator, raised in south-west England but resident in Ireland, holds forth in fevered, looping, breathless prose, and displays a tendency to travel long and far down the blindest of alleys. She can be arch and even twee. But whatever challenges the book poses to breezy reading are the product of unswerving fidelity to its own raw spirit. On her return to Jamaica she taught drama to youth and adult groups both in social welfare agencies and for the University of the West Indies Extra Mural Department. Sometimes the writing seems sharp and evocative - – an examination of the writing of Ann Quin and her “fidgeting forensic polyvocal style as a powerful and bona-fide expression of an unbearably tense and disorientating paradox that underscores everyday life in a working-class environment – on the one hand it’s an abrasive and in-your-face world, yet, at the same time, much of it seems extrinsic and is perpetually uninvolving” is both interesting and shows how the narrator is considering both Quin’s own life and how such a style is appropriate to her own writing. In 1945, Louise won a British Council scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. The National Archives holds a range of records related to Louise’s application and time at RADA. These offer an insight into her studies, aspirations and artistic craft. Many of these records are written by Louise herself, showing how rich personal stories exist within official government records.

Hon. Dr. Louise Bennett Coverley (1919 – 2006) - The Rt. Hon. Dr. Louise Bennett Coverley (1919 – 2006) - The

Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou) renowned poet, actress, social commentator, comedienne, folklorist was born on Sunday, September 7 1919 at 40 North Street, Kingston to parents Augustus Cornelius Bennett a baker and Kerene Robinson, a dressmaker. Bennett received numerous honours and awards for her work in Jamaican literature and theatre. In recognition of her achievements, Harbourfront Centre, a non-profit cultural organisation in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has a venue named Miss Lou's Room. [24] The University of Toronto is home to the Louise Bennett Exchange Fellowship in Caribbean Literary Studies for students from the University of West Indies. [25] [26] Her other awards and honours include: Louise went on to have a varied and successful career in the arts. She hosted two radio programs for the BBC – Caribbean Carnival from 1945 to 1946 and West Indian Night in 1950. She also performed with repertory companies in Coventry, Huddersfield, and Amersham. In 1954, Louise married Eric Winston Coverley (becoming Louise Bennett-Coverley) and they had a son called Fabian. Bailey, Carol (1 January 2009). "Looking in: Louise Bennett's Pioneering Caribbean Postcolonial Discourse". Journal of West Indian Literature. 17 (2): 20–31. JSTOR 23019946.Morris, Mervyn (1 August 2006). "Louise Bennett-Coverley". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 November 2015. Louise Bennett Exchange Fellowship in Caribbean Literary Studies University of Toronto – University of West Indies". University of Toronto. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 . Retrieved 1 May 2016.

book to shake the world anew’ Sebastian Barry Checkout 19: ‘A book to shake the world anew’ Sebastian Barry

In addition to her studies at RADA, Miss Lou hosted a weekly thirty-minute radio programme, Caribbean Carnival at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). She also worked with repertory companies in other parts of the United Kingdom before returning to Jamaica. Miss Lou went to London in 1950 and again worked at the BBC hosting a one-hour show called West Indian Guest Night. Louise and Eric returned to Jamaica in 1955. They were both involved in the performing arts. Louise continued to write, broadcast and act. She worked for the Jamaica Welfare Commission as a drama officer. This job provided her with the opportunity to garner much information about Jamaican culture as she travelled to towns and villages across the country. She shared her insights with audiences at lectures, demonstrations, on radio, on television and on stage both locally and overseas. It is no wonder that Louise Bennett has been described as ‘Jamaica’s most cherished national treasure’. Her many awards include: After graduating from RADA, Bennett worked with repertory companies in Coventry, Huddersfield and Amersham, as well as in intimate revues across England. [9] During her time in the country, she hosted two radio programs for the BBC – Caribbean Carnival (1945–1946) and West Indian Night (1950). [7] I admire Claire-Louise Bennett and recognize she has an impressive vocabulary and can definitely write. That said, the first and last chapters made me cringe. Bennett wrote several books and poetry in Jamaican Patois, helping to have it recognized as a " nation language" in its own right. Her work influenced many other writers, including Mutabaruka, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Yasus Afari, to use it in a similar manner. [2] [12] She also released numerous recordings of traditional Jamaican folk music and recordings from her radio and television shows including Jamaican Folk Songs, Children's Jamaican Songs and Games, Miss Lou’s Views (1967), Listen to Louise (1968), Carifesta Ring Ding (1976), and The Honorable Miss Lou. She is credited with giving Harry Belafonte the foundation for his 1956 hit " Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" by telling him about the Jamaican folk song "Hill and Gully Rider" (the name also given as "Day Dah Light"). [13] [14] Personal life [ edit ]The other chapters are in some ways riffs around the same ideas, linked by narrator and recurring ideas, themes and incidents – all underpinned by literature – writing and reading. a b c Johnson, Linton Kwesi (March 2007). "Louise Bennett, Voice of a People". Wasafiri. 22 (1): 70–71. doi: 10.1080/02690050601097773. S2CID 162314187. Well, I had a real déja-vu moment when I read those words, and I remembered the experience I had when reading Bennett's earlier book, Pond, and which I mentioned in the review: An odd thing happened as I was reading Claire-Louise Bennett’s book, a paper and ink book, it is relevant to mention, because as I read, it was as if the words were appearing on a screen, each one being completed just slightly in advance of my eager eye (in fact exactly as is happening now while I’m typing), the thoughts rolling out, the punctuation slotting into place just where I expected it...