Writing Jamaica: People, Places, Struggles

Writing Jamaica: People, Places, Struggles, by Diana McCaulay, delivers 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. Writing Jamaica is a selection of Diana's

most insightful, funny and captivating columns written over an eight year period. Always

deeply grounded in the physical place, Diana’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. Writing Jamaica will make

you think, go "ahah!", laugh out loud, and recognize yourself in universal human themes

of life and love in this account of a person grappling with what life throws her way. When

Diana left Jamaica to go to the University of Washington in Seattle, she continued to submit

her columns, revealing the often hilarious impressions of a newcomer to the United States.

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.