Louise Bennett was born on September 7, 1919. She was a Jamaican poet and activist. She was described as Jamaica’s leading comedienne through her poems in Jamaican patois. A British Council Scholarship took her to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she studied in the late 1940’s. After graduation she worked with repertory companies in Coventry, Huddersfield and Amersham as well as in intimate revues all over England.
LISTEN TO MISS LOU TALK 'BOUT FI WI LANGUAGE
LISTEN TO MISS LOU TALK 'BOUT FI WI LANGUAGE
Her contribution to Jamaican cultural life was such that she was honored with the M.B.E., the Norman Manley Award for Excellence (in the field of Arts), the Order of Jamaica (1974) the Institute of Jamaica’s Musgrave Silver and Gold Medals for distinguished eminence in the field of Arts and Culture, and in 1983 the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies. In September 1988 her composition “You’re going home now”, won a nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema ad Television, for the best original song in the movie “Milk and Honey.”
In 1998 she received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from York University, Toronto, Canada. The Jamaica Government also appointed her Cultural Ambassador at Large for Jamaica. On Jamaica’s independence day 2001, Bennett-Coverley was appointed as a Member of the Order of Merit for her distinguished contribution to the development of the Arts and Culture.
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