Director's Message

In October 2011 the University of the West Indies Press marked its nineteenth anniversary as a scholarly book publisher. Since its inception the Press has published over 350 high-quality books in thirteen academic disciplines and is particularly well known for its lists in Caribbean history, Caribbean cultural studies, Caribbean literature, gender and economics. We will continue to publish in these fields but will diversify our publishing list by adding new titles in environmental and medical studies. In the catalogue for 2010-2011, we introduced a general interest category to promote four exciting trade titles with wide popular appeal: Jamaican Gold: Jamaican Sprinters, edited by Rachael Irving and Vilma Charlton; Cascade: A Novel, written by Barbara Lalla, the first work of contemporary fiction published by the Press; Haiti Rising: Haitian History, Culture and the Earthquake of 2010, edited by Martin Munro; and Jamaican Theatre: Highlights of the Performing Arts in the Twentieth Century, a comprehensive and lavish coffee-table book, written by Wycliffe and Hazel Bennett.

Over the last nineteen years, UWI Press books, authors and staff have been honoured with nearly sixty local, regional and international awards. Among them are B.W. Higman’s Jamaican Food: History, Biology, Culture, which was a finalist for the 2008 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence, and Maureen Warner Lewis’s Central Africa in the Caribbean and Archibald Monteath, which both received the Gordon and Sybil Lewis Prize from the Caribbean Studies Association.

We will continue that tradition of publishing excellence even as we expand our lists in new fields. To our authors, library and bookstore partners we extend a special thank you for your commitment to UWI Press over the years. To all, please enjoy our new website, which features the books we have published over the last eighteen years, and join us as we continue to celebrate the rich and diverse culture of the Caribbean.

Linda E. Speth

Lspeth@cwjamaica.com