Issue 82 (November/December 2006)
Learn about Bahamas Junkanoo, the annual Christmas-season festival; look back at the life and times of the late Louise Bennett-Coverly, the beloved Jamaican writer and performer; discover the origins of Trinidad’s parang music; and hear from Guyanese chutney star Terry Gajraj; plus all our regular departments and a whole lot more.
Richie Spice finally joins the top tier of reggae artists after a decade of hard work, thanks to the success of his hit song “Brown Skin”
Caribbean Bookshelf (November/December 2006)
Marie-Elena John’s debut novel Unburnable, and the glamorous photographs of adopted Tobagonian Norman Parkinson
Kei Miller: daring to intrude
Kei Miller brings Jamaica’s religion, superstition, and magic alive in his stories and poems
Rhythm roundup (November/December 2006)
New albums celebrate the best in Jamaican roots reggae and a Kittitian jazz performer puts his spin on an old artform
Music buzz (November/December 2006)
Mattafix turns on Europe with a cocktail of sounds; St Lucia’s Kalalu festival offers the best of live world music...
Lesley Ann Noel: keeping it chic
Trinidadian Lesley Ann Noel creates ethnic lifestyle chic with sustainable designs from around the world
1, 2…18,611: counting the birds
Keeping track of birds at Trinidad’s annual Christmas Bird Count
Island hopper (November/December 2006)
What’s happening in the Caribbean in November and December
Terry Gajraj: “I miss Guyana so much”
Guyanese chutney star Terry Gajraj on promoting his country from afar — as told to Erline Andrews
40 things to do in Trinidad & Tobago
Racing goats in Easter, starting off the day with hot doubles, visiting a temple in the sea, exploring mud volcanoes & much much more!
Junkanoo rush
In the early twentieth century, Bahamas Junkanoo — or John Canoe — was considered a danger to polite society
Remembering Miss Lou
Louise Bennett-Coverley, affectionately known as Miss Lou, was one of the most influential figures in Jamaican culture
Viva Parang
In Trinidad, the sound of Christmas is parang, a living reminder of the island’s Hispanic heritage
Not just cricket
In 2007, the West Indies will host the ICC Cricket World Cup and the islands’ economies will be boosted
The dream catcher, by Janice Levy
A short story by Janice Levy
Joseph Zobel: voice of Martinique
James Ferguson remembers the late Joseph Zobel, a man whose writings tracked Martinique’s progress from its poverty-stricken past to modern prosperity
Table for one
Anu Lakhan discovers the fears — and joys — of eating alone • Adam Key Raney explores wine making in a bucket and learns the key to making sorrel...
Uncomfortable truth
For many years, Joseph Zobel’s novel La Rue Cases Negres was banned in his home island of Martinique. James Ferguson explains why
No to hate: dancehall & gay-bashing lyrics
Garry Steckles looks at the gay-bashing lyrics of dancehall and reminds us that the true message of roots reggae is One Love
Bets are on
Casinos are big business in the Caribbean, and only getting bigger
Bishop’s girls don’t cry | Last word
At the end of a love affair, Attillah Springer wonders whether Bishop’s girls can really have tabanca. Blame it on her alma mater . . .