Macmillan Caribbean Writers: Joseph

Description

Joseph is a reggae superstar, admired by his musical peers and adored by women wherever he goes. But, Joseph is also a devout, herb-smoking Rastafarian who dreams of a new life in Ethiopia. Sister Ashanti chronicles Joseph's rise to international stardom, his stormy relationship with the beautiful and passionate Zuleika, his uneasy truce with the press and in particular the intrusive American journalist Sam Bergman. But, for all his peaceable Rasta way of life, in certain quarters Joseph is seen as a threat. The concert that is to seal the peace, ending gang warfare in Kingston, instead ends in the terrible moment when Joseph is shot in the back on stage.""The Macmillan Caribbean Writers"" series (MCW) offers a range of writing, not only in novels, novellas and short stories but also in non-fiction adventures, plays for festivals and poetry. Importantly, it provides a forum for new literary talent - introducing the work of the next generation of Caribbean writers as well as classic favourites and new work by more established authors. Macmillan commissions Caribbean artists to produce the front cover illustrations, which give the series a distinctive and dynamic.

Bibliography

Jamaica-born Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah has been a Rastafarian since the 1970s, and is a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. As well as Joseph - A Rasta Reggae Fable, a novel inspired by the life of Bob Marley, Hannah wrote Rastafari - The New Creation, the first text on Rastafari to be written by a practising member of the faith. Journalist, broadcaster and producer- director of 8 films, she began by working with her father's news magazine, then in 1964 moved to England, where she became Britain's first black TV journalist, on Thames TV's Today programme. Returning to Jamaica in 1972, she worked in a range of media, and also in the Office of the Prime Minister under both Michael Manley and Edward Seaga. She served as an Independent Senator in Parliament from 1984 to 1987. She and her home-schooled son now run TechSchool Jamaica.