Writing Jamaica: People, Places, Struggles

Diana McCaulay’s newspaper columns, collected in Writing Jamaica: People, Places, Struggles, deliver a fascinating look at Jamaica, far beyond the island’s image as a tourist paradise.  From the white sand beaches of Jamaica’s north coast – Negril, Montego Bay, Oracabessa, Portland – to the sprawling capital city of Kingston, McCaulay fearlessly tackles politics, the environment, relationships between Caribbean men and women and the complicated struggles of a developing country and its irrepressible people.  Always deeply grounded in the physical place, McCaulay’s articles describe her environmental journey as founder and CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust – her efforts to organize annual beach clean ups, to bring environmental education to young Jamaicans, and to take a stand against the destruction of the island’s world famous beauty.  One section of this lively collection includes McCaulay’s stint at the University of Washington in Seattle.  These pieces describe the wry, often funny impressions of a newcomer to the United States and explore the lifelong debate of the island person – to go, or to stay.  The timeless themes of this sharply observed collection resonate with people anywhere. 
Diana McCaulay is an award winning Jamaican writer and environmental activist.  Between 1994 and 2002, she wrote an acclaimed opinion column for Jamaica’s main daily newspaper, The Gleaner and a selection of these columns is reproduced here with permission.   She has written two novels, Dog-Heart (2010) and Huracan (2012), both published by Peepal Tree Press in the UK, and she is the 2012 Caribbean regional winner of the Commonwealth short story prize, for her story The Dolphin Catcher.  Dog-Heart was shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize for International Writing, the Guyana Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award.