Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, singer, actress, and educator, Louise Simone ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett-Coverley, OM, OJ, MBE, had the wisdom to associate language with identity. As Jamaicans, we have lost our identity, as we continue to deny our own language and our way of expressing ourselves. The book ‘100+ Voices for Miss Lou: Poetry, Tributes, Interviews, Essays’, edited by Opal Palmer Adisa, highlights Miss Lou’s legacy.  

‘100+ Voices for Miss Lou’ was recently published online by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Press and edited by Opal Palmer Adisa. The book is a 452-page anthology of poetry, tributes, interviews and essays honouring Jamaica’s unparalleled cultural icon, the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley.

Award-Winning Poet, Writer, Cultural Activist and Gender Specialist, Professor Opal Palmer Adisa share more about her legacy project ‘100+ Voices for Miss Lou: Poetry, Tributes, Interviews, Essays’ on Sunrise. Watch the full interview here:

Professor Opal Palmer Adisa is the former University Director of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Coordinating Office, University of the West Indies, Mona. She is an award-winning poet, writer, cultural activist and gender specialist. She is also the author of over twenty (20) books embracing poetry, short story collections and children’s literature. She has been anthologized in over 400 journals worldwide. Adisa is also the Founder and Editor of ‘Interviewing the Caribbean’ a creative, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the artistic expressions of the Caribbean published quarterly online by the University of the West Indies Press.

‘100+Voices for Miss Lou’ was conceived by Adisa as a Legacy project in 2019, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Miss Lou’s birth.