Neil Armstrong
Gleaner Writer

Soon after attending the unveiling of a statute in honour of Jamaica’s cultural icon, Louise Bennett-Coverley, affectionately known as ‘Miss Lou’, in Gordon Town, St Andrew, her son, Fabian Coverley, held an event in Toronto to showcase his plans to honour her.

A preview of a documentary trailer and a demo of an augmented reality coffee table book were held in Miss Lou’s Room at the Harbourtfront Centre ­ a key cultural organisation on the waterfront of Toronto ­ on September 13.

Ian Xun, director of Miss Lou Say, Walk Good!, a documentary film being produced, said the idea arose after he worked on one for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2012 titled Two Worlds, One Love to mark Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of Independence about the significant contributions of Jamaican Canadians to Canada.

From interviewing Pamela Appelt, co-executor of the estate of Louise Bennett-Coverley, for that documentary he became inspired to make one about Miss Lou.

“It’s time we really told Miss Lou’s story, how she and her cohorts ignited a cultural revolution. If you look at world culture today, Jamaican culture is at the centre of it,” said Xun.

He also mentioned that Miss Lou Say, Walk Good! will be a feature-length film but in the future it will become the first two episodes of a nine-part documentary series for television, exploring Jamaica’s cultural revolution ­ from Jamaica to the world.

The documentary film and augmented coffee table book are expected to ready by the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Miss Lou on September 7, 2019.
Fabian Coverley spoke of the deed of gift that was signed by the Louise Bennett-Coverley Estate and the National Library of Jamaica, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, on September 5 in Jamaica.

COVERLEY COLLECTION

The Coverley Collection, which includes everything belonging to Miss Lou and Eric Coverley from their home in Gordon Town, St Andrew, is now housed at the National Library of Jamaica.

Olivia Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, who participated in the signing ceremony, noted that the collection is organized into ten main series.

This includes “correspondences, legal and financial documents, writings and performance, published and printed material, personal and professional documents, academic papers, artefacts, photographic and audio-visual material, Eric Coverley papers and books and periodicals.

Fabian Coverley, also executive producer of the documentary film, said the National Library of Jamaica will be working with the McMaster University Library to digitize the collection so that it is available to anyone researching Miss Lou.

The McMaster University Library has the Louise Bennett Coverley fonds acquired in April 2010 from Appelt and Coverley, co-executors of the estate of Miss Lou.

“The fonds reflect her life as both a writer, performer, and a promoter of the Jamaican language. It is arranged into the following series: correspondence; legal and financial documents; writing; published and printed materials; personal and professional documents, awards and realia; photographs and audio-visual materials; death, funeral and memorials; Eric Coverley,” notes the library about its scope and content.