Shifting the focus from poetry to the novel; from Afro-Cuban writing to the representation of Asian-Caribbean women; from the oral tradition to the scribal, this critical anthology develops the debate concerning ways of reading Caribbean women‘s literature. Framing The Word offers challenging perspectives from writers and critics alike writing and/or teaching in the Caribbean, the UK and the USA.

Reflecting on the diversity within that body of literature generally known as Caribbean women’s writing, Framing The Word moves beyond the celebratory to explore and substantiate the central questions of gender and genre. This book will be of special interest to students, teachers and a wider readership interested to become better informed about this remarkable and vibrant new writing.

Isms and Schisms in the Critical Frame

• Framing The Word: Caribbean Women’s Writing 
Merle Collins, Associate Professor in Creative Writing, University of Maryland, USA
• En/Gendering Spaces: The Poetry of Marlene Nourbese Philip and Pamela Mordecai
Elaine Savory, New School for Social Research, New York, USA
• Writing for Resistance: Nationalism and Narratives of Liberation 
Alison Donnell, Lecturer in Post-Colonial Literatures, Nottingham Trent University, England
• Jamaica Kincaid’s Prismatic Self and the Decolonialisation of Language and Thought 
Giovanna Covi, Researcher in English Language and Literature, University of Trento, Italy

Views from Within and Betwixt Genres

• Figures of Silence and Orality in the Poetry of M. Nourbese Philip
David Marriott, Lecturer in Literary and Cultural Studies, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England
• Saint Lucian Lawòz and Lamagwit Songs Within the Caribbean and African Tradition
Morgan Dalphinis, Senior Lecturer/Caribbean Coordinator, Handsworth College, Birmingham, England
• Keeping Tradition Alive
Jean Buffong, Writer
• New Encounters: Availability, Acceptability and Accessibility of New Literature from Caribbean Women
Susanna Steele Senior Lecturer, University of Greenwich. and Joan Anim-Addo in Conversation
• Children Should Be Seen and Spoken To: or ... Writing For and About Children
Thelma Perkins , Teacher, South East London, England
• ‘A World Of Caribbean Romance’: Reformulating the Legend of Love or: ‘Can a Caress be Culturally Specific?’
Jane Bryce, Lecturer in African Literature, Cave Hill Department of English, University of the West Indies
• Houses and Homes: Elizabeth Jolley’s Mr Scobie’s Riddle and Beryl Gilroy’s Frangipani House
Mary Condé Lecturer in English, School of English and Drama, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England.

Beyond the Divide of Language

• Women Writers in Twentieth Century Cuba: An Eight-Point Survey
Catherine Davies, Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Manchester University, England.
• Patterns of Resistance in Afro-Cuban Women’s Writing: Nancy Morejón’s ‘Amo a mi amo’ 
Conrad James, Lecturer, Department of Spanish and Italian, University of Durham, England
• Encoding the Voice: Caribbean Women’s Writing and Creole 
Susanne Mühleisen, Lecturer in Linguistics, Department of English, University of Hanover, Germany.
• Surinam Women Writers and Issues of Translation
Petronella Breinburg, Head of the Caribbean Centre, Goldsmiths’ College, London, England.

Out of a Diverse Caribbean Womanhood

• Frangipani House Beryl Gilroy Writer
• ‘One of the Most Beautiful Islands in the World and One of the Unluckiest’: 
Jean Rhys and Dominican National Identity Thorunn Lonsdale, Researcher, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, England
• Audacity and Outcome: Writing African-Caribbean Womanhood Joan Anim-Addo
• Coming Out of Repression: Lakshmi Persaud’s Butterfly in the Wind
Kenneth Ramchand, Professor of West Indian Literature, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and Professor of English, Colgate University, New York.