Independent VoYces Literary Fair To Honour Jamaican Writers Jennifer Keane-Dawes And Melita Samuels O.D. November 7, 2010

Former Gleaner columnist, Jennifer Keane-Dawes, and the creator of the once popular TV Series  Lime Tree Lane, Mrs. Melita Samuels will be honoured at the inaugural Independent VoYces Literary Fair on Sunday, November 7, 2010 at Strawberry Fields Together in Robin’s Bay, St. Mary.

Jennifer Keane-Dawes, Ph. D. is well known for her frank yet humorous commentaries  in Jamaican dialect which appeared in the Gleaner during the 90’s and early in this decade.  She currently lives in Maryland where she is the Graduate Dean at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore,  chairs the Graduate Council and provides policy and administrative leadership for the university’s eleven Master’s and six doctoral degree programs. A multiple year honoree of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, she is a Fellow of the Organization of American States and of Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.

An international journalist, Dr. Keane-Dawes has received many honors and accolades for her work both at home and abroad for her indigenous literary essays and other published works.  “We are truly excited and honored to have her attend the inaugural staging of Independent VoYces, “ said Judith Falloon-Reid, founder of the event. “We are all looking forward to presenting her with the Independent VoYces Awards, but more so, her reading from her work.”

In addition to her news and magazine articles, Dr. Keane-Dawes is the author of three books: Responses of Jamaican and American Deaf Groups to Stigma: A Critical Interpretive Approach, Embodying the Post Colonial Life (co-authored with Hall and Rodriguez) Prometheus Press (peer-reviewed), and Narratives from the Yard: Expressions of Indigenous Knowledge IUniverse Press.

Independent VoYces was created to promote mostly self-published, new and lesser known authors and their books. The featured books cover a wide range of genres and styles, from humorous real life stories as told in A Jacket or Full Suit, Paternity Testing from a Jamaican Perspective by Sonia King to short stories about Jamaican life found in The Tie Came Back by Veronica Carnegie; Poetry books such as The Day I met Me by Tracey Tucker and Words written by Mitzie McFarlane, who made here submission from Florida to non-fiction works such as Dancehall: From Slave ship to Ghetto by Dr. Sonjah Stanley of the UWI Mona Campus and children’s books such as The Ring and the Roaring Water by Diane Brown, member of the Children’s Writers Circle who will also read her books in the children’s corner.

The authors will share the stage with several featured poets, some up and coming and others who are regulars on the poetry scene.  The Children’s Corner, a highlight of the event, will feature readings by children’s authors, arts and crafts and drumming workshops for kids by Hugh Shim of Jamaica Drums 4 Peace.