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 Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, OJ, MBE - Ocho Rios, Jamaica Posted by:  neoc1
N 18° 24.943 W 077° 08.253
18Q E 274207 N 2037510
A marker celebrating six Legends of Jamaica includes poet, writer, and folklorist Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, OJ, MBE. It is located in the entrance plaza to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios.
Waymark Code: WMQQHM
Location: Jamaica
Date Posted: 03/19/2016
Views: 1
Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, OJ (Order of Jamaica), MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) was born and raised educated in Kingston, Jamaica and attended the Friends College in Highgate, St Mary where she studied Jamaican folklore. She was one of the most influential Jamaican poets. She preserved the practice of performing poetry and folk songs, performing her poems in Jamaican Patois, Jamaica's natural language, or Creole.
The Legends of Jamaica marker contains a photo of Louise Bennett-Coverley and the following biographical information.
Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, OJ, MBE
Folklorist, Writer, Educator and Cultural Ambassador
7 September 1919 - 26 July 2006
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica
Louise attended Ebenezer and Calabar Primary Schools St. Simon's College , Excelsior High
School and Friends College, in the 1940's she went to England and trained at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Arts on a British Council Scholarship.
She first appeared in pantomime in 1943/44 "Soliday and the Wicked Bird" in the chorus role-
Big Sambo Gal. As the decade came to a close, joined by Ranny Williams, she became an
integral part of the process to "Jamaicanize" the pantomime. She drew upon her wealth of
knowledge of folk songs and tales and wrote "Anancy & Pandora" in 1949. Perhaps one of her
most lasting efforts was the song "Evening Time" - a song from the 1949/50 Pantomime
"Bluebeard and Brer Anancy" which has become a Jamaican classic. She co-wrote "Queenie's
Daughter" which proved so popular it was revived twice.
Her vast folk knowledge led to the publication of several collections of poems, short stories, and
songs and was recognized by the University of the West indies with an Honorary D. Litt. in 1983.
She was awarded the Institute of Jamaica's Musgrave Gold Medal (1979). She died in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 26 July 2006.
Examples of Her Poems in PatoisVisit Instructions:
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