Revolutionary Power of Storytelling: Children's Literature

We invite you to a special event:

The event will take place on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, and many of the activities also will be available online.

Smathers Library, University of Florida. 1508 Union Road, Gainesville, FL 32611

A linguist and author of children’s literature, Jean D’Costa has revolutionized the curriculum in Jamaica and the anglophone Caribbean by introducing literature about Jamaican young people written from their perspective in language Jamaican people speak. Her 1972 novel Sprat Morrison was the first such Jamaican work introduced to the national Jamaican school curriculum and then to the regional curriculum of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). A leading scholar of Jamaican Creole, D’Costa’s representation of Jamaican language made reading her novels a transformative experience for students and helped to transform the curriculum to meet the needs of Jamaica after political independence. As the first West Indian faculty member at the University of the West Indies department of English, D‘Costa introduced the first course on creole language to the UWI curriculum in 1964, thus bringing similarly revolutionary change to the region’s university curriculum. For her work in the fields of children’s literature and linguistics, she was awarded the Children’s Writers Award from the Jamaican Reading Association in 1976, the Gertrude Flesh Bristol Award by Hamilton College in 1984, and the Jamaica Silver Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica in 1994.

This Symposium is dedicated to illuminating the form, content, and impact of D’Costa’s literary oeuvre with special attention to questions surrounding creole language. Literary scholars, Betsy Nies (U of North Florida) and Tzarina Prater (Bentley University) will address the significance of the content and form of D’Costa’s novels for young adults as well as the impact of their introduction to the Jamaican and regional curriculum. The editor of Caribbean Children’s Literature, Nies will place D’Costa’s oeuvre in the larger context of Caribbean children’s literature. As editor of a special journal issue on D’Costa’s work, Prater will address on the impact of D’Costa’s work on Jamaican society and current efforts to document and archive her contributions. Jean D’Costa will give a lecture explicating the history and politics of children’s literature. Analisa Chapman and Tanya Batson-Savage who are producing a film adaptation of D’Costa’s novel Escape to Last Man Peak will show the trailer to the film and discuss the impact of the novel and its relevance today. Additionally, Jamaica’s Poet laureate and fellow author of children’s literature, Olive Senior will join D’Costa in a reading of their work and a discussion of their experience and aims in writing children’s literature. Their discussion will place particular emphasis on the use of creole language in their work as well as on the historical significance of introducing children’s literature written in creole to the Jamaican and regional Caribbean curricula.

Nikkolas Smith will join the other speakers with an Artivism talk. Through his powerful Artivism and his experiences as a Black Artist, Nikkolas Smith takes the audience into a visual journey to talk about how Art can spark important conversations around our society's greatest broken bones and inspire us to make positive changes. From his beginnings at Walt Disney Imagineering to creating compelling viral art and best-selling picture books focused on history and social justice, to crafting concept art and posters for Oscar winning movies, to collaborating with important organizations to shed a light on important topics, Nikkolas Smith combines talent, passion and activism to inspire the world.

This special event is sponsored by the University of Florida Department of English; the UF Department of Special & Area Studies Collections in the Smathers Libraries; the UF Center for Latin American Studies; the UF African American Studies Program; the UF Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures; the UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere; the UF Imagining Climate Change initiative; and the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

For more information visit the Revolutionary Power of Story Telling website or contact Prof. Leah Rosenberg.

Info: Betsy Nies, University of North Florida: “The Contribution of Jean D’Costa to Caribbean Children’s Literature”. Tzarina Prater, Bentley University: “The Art and Archive of Jean D’Costa”.

Info: This presentation will not be available for online participants. It will only be available for attendees in Smathers Library.

Info: Light lunch provided for attendees in Smathers Library. This event will not be available for online participants.

Info: Tanya Batson-Savage and Analisa Chapman, founders of Have a Bawl Productions and producers of the film adaptation of D’Costa’s novel "Escape to Last Man Peak" (Via Zoom). They will show an excerpt from the film and discuss the production and their reasons for making the film.

Info: A reading and discussion with authors Olive Senior and Jean D’Costa, moderated by Dr. Courtney Moore Taylor.

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