Jamaica: Telling our own story

The Cultural Frontline

This week, to mark 60 years of Jamaican independence, Josie d’Arby meets the artists shaping the culture of the country today. Sharma Taylor is an award-winning writer from the island, who has been short-listed no fewer than four times for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Last month, she released her debut novel, What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You. Set in 1980s Jamaica, it’s a story told by a multitude of unreliable narrators and with a mystery about parentage at its heart. Photographer David I Muir looks through his archive to share the story of one photograph that he feels tells a distinctive story of Jamaica: a scene celebrating Jamaica’s bounteous seafood. Film makers Storm Saulter, whose movies include Sprint and Better Mus’ Come, and Gabrielle Blackwood, who works across fiction and documentary, discuss capturing Jamaica’s history on film. And founder of Dubwise Jamaica, the Reggae selector, Yaadcore, shares the philosophy behind his music. Producer: Simon Richardson

(Photo: A still from Better Mus’ Come. Credit: Storm Saulter)