Ian Randle Publishers Blog - Buy Caribbean Books

Which One for Christmas?

2008-12-05T08:58:00.002-05:00

With so many books to choose from, you'll have no problems deciding what to give as Christmas gifts this year. New publications for 2008 include:

Lunchtime Medley: Writings on West Indian Cricket
Roving with Lalah: Slices of Everyday Jamaican Life
The Political History of CARICOM
The Manley Memoirs
Trinidad and Tobago Industrial Policy
Daddy Sharpe
In Trinidad
The Caribbean Community in Transistion
Business in BIM
Health and Development in Our Time
Telford Georges: A Legal Odyssey
The World's Finest: Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Truly a Gentleman
Guide to the Blue and John Crow Mountains

Its here!

2008-12-04T14:40:00.003-05:00

Well, you probably already know, but just in case you didn't Roving with Lalah is now available. Visit our website at www.ianrandlepublishers.com to buy your copy, or drop in to see us at our Kingston office to see what else we have on offer for the Christmas season.

150,000 Copies and Counting

2008-12-03T09:08:00.003-05:00

The Real Taste of Jamaica is arguably the best Jamaican cookbook ever published. Having enjoyed unequivocal success, selling over 150,000 copies since its first publication in 1993, this year - 2008 - marks the book’s 15th anniversary. It remains one of Ian Randle Publishers’ best sellers and is probably the bestseller of any book published in the Caribbean.

Written by practicing Jamaican cook of over 30 years, Enid Donaldson, The Real Taste of Jamaica provides recipes that are simple, time saving, and allow for substitution of ingredients. The book is divided into 9 sections:

Starters
Soups
Vegetarian dishes
Fish
Chicken and Meat Dishes
Sauces and Dressings
Traditional Jamaican Baked Goods
Desserts
Beverages

Each section opens with stories and anecdotes that remind you of the good ‘ole’ days when meat was cured by smoking, and sweet potato pudding was baked in an iron ‘dutch’ pot rather than an oven. Jamaicans at home and abroad are reminded of their childhood days and their culture and visitors return home determined to try their hands at a few of their new-found Jamaican favourites.

Abundantly illustrated with photographs, line drawings and water colour images, The Real Taste will make your mouth water for more.

Now Available

2008-11-21T11:29:00.004-05:00

The World's Finest: Jamaica Blue Mountain® Coffee is now available. This beautiful book takes the reader through the early history of coffee and coffee planting in colonial Jamaica, to modern day growing and harvesting techniques. Readers are given a ‘taste’ of what makes Jamaica Blue Mountain® coffee so special and food lovers will delight in the over 90 recipes compiled in the recipe section. Tantalizingly illustrated with specially commissioned photographs and prints of the coffee cultivation process and recipes, this book is as close as you'll get to a cup of the special brew.

To buy your copy click here or visit our website at www.ianrandlepublishers.com.

Coming in time for Christmas!

2008-11-20T11:03:00.005-05:00

Eagerly awaited, Marguerite Gordon's Manners and Entertaining: A Guide to Caribbean Life and Style, is off to press. From what to wear, to what to say, which fork to use and what gifts to give, Marguerite imparts 'how to' advice for the modern Caribbean man and woman. Books will be available in December but if you need advanced information, contact us at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com.

Didn't You Miss Us?

2008-11-19T08:01:00.008-05:00

Dear Blog Faithfuls:

It's been so long since we updated you with news of what's happening here at IRP - that's because we've been so busy making it happen! Over the next few weeks, we'll rectify this by keeping you well-informed of what new books are available and what's in the pipeline.

So we start off with what's new.

In Trinidad: Photographs by Pablo Delano

Introduction by Peter Minshall

Essays by Milla Cozart Riggio and Gordon Rohlehr

With stunning visual imagery, photographer Pablo Delano captures the spirit of post-colonial Trinidad. An extraordinary collection of over 120 black and photographs lavishly reproduced in duotone with full colour accents throughout, In Trinidad conveys the essence of a uniquely inter-cultural multi-racial Caribbean People. From the magnificence of Minshall Mas to the power of children performing Hindu Ramleela plays, Trinidadians are captured at work and at play, at worship and at celebration. More than just a book of pictures, In Trinidad defies the stereotypical depiction of the Caribbean as sand, sea and sun and instead encapsulates the complex energy of an island nation and its people.

For more information and to BUY this book visit http://www.ianrandlepublishers.com/ or call us Toll Free from the US at 1-866-330-5469 and from the Caribbean at 1-800-744-1114.

BUSY BUSY October

2008-10-03T12:23:00.004-04:00

In addition to our usual busy schedule here at IRP, we're gearing up for an especially busy month of activities. Our Chairman Ian Randle and MD Christine Randle will be in the UK for a slew of events centred around the Word Power International Literary Festival and Book Fair. Lisa-Marie, our Marketing Coordinator will be representing the Caribbean Network of Publishers (CAPNET) at the Frankfurt International Book Fair in Germany, Latoya, one of our Editorial Assistants will be making a presentation at the Walter Rodney Conference at UWI, Mona and we'll also be participating in the Commonwealth Lawyers Association 25th Anniversary Conference in Montego Bay.

All of this is in addition to the books that will be coming off press this month:

Roving with Lalah (the pre-orders for this keep pouring in) and Jamaican Houses; and those we're working to send to press this month: Manners and Entertaining and Sex, Power and Taboo.

Keep posted to this site for details of all the books and events. As usual, if you want some more info. contact us at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com.

Getting to Know Sam Sharpe

2008-09-25T16:38:00.003-04:00

This was published in the Gleaner newspaper: Tuesday September 23, 2008
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

WHEN SAM Sharpe was made a National Hero in 1975, not many Jamaicans knew about him. Thirty-three years later, Sharpe, the slave/preacher, who triggered the Kensington Estate rebellion in St James in 1831, remains an enigma.

Next week, historian Fred Kennedy will shed new light on Sharpe's last days with the launch of his book, Daddy Sharpe: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Samuel Sharpe A West Indian Slave Written By Himself, 1832.

Kennedy, a former headmaster at St George's College, said Sharpe's contribution to the emancipation of slavery has been largely overlooked.

"Sam Sharpe was a freedom fighter who had a lot to do with the Emancipation Act passed two years after his death. He never meant for a bloody rebellion but things turned wrong with the burning of Kensington Estate," Kennedy said last week.

Read the full article at http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080923/ent/ent1.html.

REVIEW

2008-09-18T14:39:00.005-04:00

Revisiting Caribbean Labour: Essays in Honour of O. Nigel Bolland was published back in 2005, but has just been reviewed in the July-December 2007 issue of Caribbean Studies (Vol. 35 No. 2).

Melanie Shell-Weiss of the Department of History at Johns Hopkins University states in her review:

A pleasure to read, this book deserves a place on the shelves of labor history scholars, whether they are working in the Caribbean or in borderlands of the US, and Latin America. Sutton is to be credited with creating a welcome book that breathes new life into the study of labor, and which underscores how just how vibrant and exciting the field of Caribbean labor studies remains.

For more information on this title, call us toll free from the USA at 1-866-330-5469 and from the Caribbean at 1-800-744-1114.

Hot off the Press

2008-09-18T14:39:00.003-04:00

Its been over a decade since we produced our last photography book (UWI: A Photographic Journey) so its only fitting that our next venture would be phenomenal.

Pablo Delano's stunning imagery is lavishly portrayed in our newest book off press, In Trinidad. Over 120 black and white photographs capture the heart and soul of the Trinidadian people. Enhanced with colour inserts, an introduction by Trinidadian mas man Peter Minshall and essays by cultural analyst Milla Cozart Riggio and Professor Emeritus Gordon Rohlehr, In Trinidad is a feast for the eyes and the mind.

The book is expected in our warehouses in October.

For more details, contact us at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com.

Congratulations

2008-09-16T16:24:00.003-04:00

At the upcoming Walter Rodney Conference - In Commemoration of the 1968 Student Protests
to be held at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, October 16-18, 2008, our own Latoya West (Editorial) will make a presentation entitled
Assassins of Conversation1- 'Grassroots' publishing as an attack on the dialogue of the philistines.

Ever the activist, Latoya is sure to stir up just the kind of discussion the conference is intended to evoke.

Now Available

2008-09-16T16:08:00.005-04:00

Daddy Sharpe: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Samuel Sharpe, A West Indian Slave, Written by Himself,1832 by Fred Kennedy is now availabe and flying off the shelves.

Eagerly anticipated, Daddy Sharpe recreates the life of one of Jamaica's National Heroes, Samuel Sharpe. Locked in prison awaiting a sentence of certain execution, Sam Sharpe retells the story of his life beginning with his boyhood days and ending with his surrender to the authorities after his defeat in the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831.

Reviting and engaging, Fred Kennedy's Daddy Sharpe is, according to Rachel Manely (author of Drumblair and Slipstream: A Daughter Remembers) 'A story of a man and an era brought vividly and convincingly to life in an irresistible read....'

Roving with Lalah

2008-09-16T11:59:00.002-04:00

Your favourite Gleaner newspaper articles are now a book. Roving with Lalah: Slices of Everyday Jamaican Life hits bookshelves in October. Visit our website to pre-order your copy. Or, if you're in Jamaica, just call us at 978-0739 or 978-0745 to reserve your copy!

Remember, you can always email us at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com

for more information.

Gustav Gone but Creole storm raging on

2008-09-04T10:15:00.003-04:00

Tropical Storm Gustav thankfully passed us with little damage to IRP last week but the storm over Jamaican Creole rages on. Our Teaching Language & Literacy: From Vernacular to Standard English by Dennis Craig is often referred to as a useful text informing the debate.

Taken from the The Gleaner Newspaper, Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Don't Banish Jamaican Creole

published: Wednesday September 3, 2008

The Editor, Sir:
The many opinions on whether Jamaican creole has a place within the education system have generated an inexhaustible discussion.
I have tried to read, with tolerance, the views expressed by many that Jamaican creole's usefulness expires in the face of formality.
Consequently, as the Jamaican classroom is considered to be a formal space, many argue that Jamaican Creole has no place there.
However, it has become increasingly necessary for room to be created for creole, within the English language curriculum, in order to facilitate opportunities to correct language-learning problems caused by creole interference and other types of second-language learning problems.
Useful textbooks

Hence, across the region, especially within the last 10 years, many texts have been published that are geared at improving the methodology used to teach students English in Jamaica, as well as in the rest of Anglophone Caribbean.
Notable among these are texts are From Jamaican Creole to Standard English: A Handbook for Teachers (Velma Pollard 2003) and Teaching Language and Literacy to Caribbean Students: From Vernacular to Standard English (Dennis Craig 2007).
The primary aim of these texts has been to provide Caribbean teachers and students with an environment to suit their particular language-learning needs.
It is pertinent that we, as Jamaicans, recognise that English is not the first language a large percentage of Jamaicans learn to speak. The first language for many is Jamaican Creole. English is their second language and they face language-learning problems that many other second language-learners face.
In theory, and reality, many language-learning problems that our students face could be lessened if Jamaican creole is used as a tool, alongside English, to help students understand some problem areas.
In addition, allowing students to see the similarities and differences, between English and Jamaican creole, has proven to be particularly helpful in vocabulary development exercises.
Improve teaching
However, I must add this caveat: Jamaican creole cannot be used to help students understand all the areas of English. Nothing can replace teaching students all the nuances of English. What we, as Jamaicans, need to do - in light of the problems faced with speaking and writing English - is aggressively seek and implement measures that will help our students' English to improve.
Banishing Jamaican creole to the periphery of our classrooms does nothing to solve our problems with English.
I am, etc.,
RHONDA K. HARRISON
rhows21@yahoo.com
St Augustine, Trinidad

History

2008-08-22T14:20:00.003-04:00

We're finishing the week the way we started - on a natural high. The World record gold medal run by our Men in the 4 x 100M relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was phenomenal. Our girls didn't finish the race [these things happen] but team mates Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, Usain Bolt and Michael Frater [pictured above] made Jamaica proud.

Photograph taken from www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean

Credit Getty Images

We've done it again

2008-08-21T10:36:00.003-04:00

Amidst the work on book projects here at IRP, we're celebrating our athletes' successes at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games along with the rest of Jamaica. Nine medals so far - 5 of them gold. This morning Veronica Campbell-Brown successfully defended her 200M title and team-mate Kerron Stewart earned the bronze medal for her 3rd place finish. IRP books have always proved that Jamaica and the Caribbean are so much more than Sun, Sand and Sea - our athletes are doing so so as well.

Olympic Fever!!!

2008-08-20T12:02:00.003-04:00

We're on a high here in Jamaica where 2 Olympic gold medals in a row from Usain Bolt in the Men's 200M and Melanie Walker in the Women's 400M hurdles have us all hoarse!
Congratulations Team Jamaica. And as we say here at IRP, From the Caribbean to the World.

Photograph of USain Bolt winning

the Men's 200M from msn.com

The Adventures of an Economic Migrant

2008-08-19T16:57:00.002-04:00

Excerpt from the Sunday Gleaner August 17, 2008

The Adventures of an Economic Migrant is an intriguing story of how one Caribbean migrant overcame innumerable odds to establish one of the most successful black enterprises in Britain. Migrating from his homeland of Montserrat in the 1950s, a time when racism was widespread and gaining acceptance in an environment hostile to non-white immigrants seemed nearly impossible. Tony Wade proved to all that it was indeed possible and this autobiography serves as a testament to his experiences.

For more information on this title, contact us at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com

Making History

2008-08-18T15:09:00.003-04:00

At IRP we're all about books but this weekend it was all about athletics as we watched Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson make history on the world stage for Jamaica.

Pictures from the Jamaica Observer Newspaper

Look at what's coming

2008-08-08T11:47:00.009-04:00

Did you miss us last week? We were busy celebrating Emancipation Day on August 1 and Jamaica's Independence Day on August 6. But now its back to business and we're ploughing ahead with our books for the remainder of 2008.

Coming out soon will be The Caribbean Community in Transition: Functional Cooperation as a Catalyst for Change; Lunchtime Medley: Writings on West Indian Cricket; Sex Power and Taboo: Gender and HIV in the Caribbean and Beyond; and George Padmore: Pan-African Revolutionary.

In time for the Christmas season we'll have Manners and Entertaining with Marguerite Kirkpatrick Gordon: A Guide to Caribbean Life and Style; Roving with Lalah: Stories of Everyday Jamaican Life; The World's Finest: Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee and In Trinidad: Photographs by Pablo Delano.

Marguerite Kirkpatrick-Gordon

Of course, these are just a few of the books that are in the pipeline for the rest of 2008 so keep posted to the blog for all up to date releases or contact us for more information at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com.

Balancing Creole and Standard English

2008-07-28T14:31:00.004-04:00

Reproduced from the Letters to the Editor: The Gleaner Newspaper Monday July 28, 2008

THE EDITOR, Sir:
IN LIGHT of the swirling debate on the relevance of the Bible being translated to Jamaican Creole, I wish to direct your readers to a book reviewed by Paul H. Williams in The Sunday Gleaner, June 22, that should help in putting some rational perspective to the controversy.
The book is From Vernacular to Standard English: Teaching Language and Literacy to Caribbean Students by Dennis R. Craig. It offers interesting reading and I strongly believe it will help in underscoring a point I tried to make in a previous letter to the editor regarding our use of the Jamaican Creole. I pointed out that it was important that we extend our thinking in terms of the potential of the language.
Intangible heritage
I accept that the proposal to utilise this intangible heritage as a salient feature of Jamaica's heritage tourism is something that requires far more formal preparation which should begin in our schools. This is the thinking that is thoroughly discussed in Craig's publication and it is my hope that we will all embrace the educational value of the language and introduce to our classrooms the teaching-learning dynamics of Creole and Standard English.
His publication is a timely intervention in a debate which frankly has taken on short-sighted proportions, including our prime minister's unfortunate thinking that the Patois Bible project reflects a failure of the education system. Craig present readers with a range of necessary themes including the historical context of the development of the vernacular, background of the language, the development and use of language awareness and important, how to incorporate these and other elements in teaching primary- and secondary-level students.
Cowardice to embrace mother tongue
The objections and alarmist cries that we have been hearing has really not been about the Bible being translated to Creole, as it is about our cowardice to embrace the mother tongue which is Office of Utilities Regualtions first language - notwithstanding that English is our official language. Read Craig and you will understand the distinction and the need to accept that our 'language emancipation' lies in how we choose to balance the use of Creole and Standard English in and outside our classrooms.
I am, etc.,
J. LINDSAY
Commhertours@yahoo.com

More than Medical Alumni

2008-07-21T09:12:00.003-04:00

Health and Development in Our Time: Selected Speeches of Sir George Alleyne, edited by Prof. Henry Fraser is IRP's latest book off press. Launched on Tuesday July 15, 2008 as part of the UWI 60th Anniversay Celebrations at the opening ceremony of the 9th annual UWI Medical Alumni Association Medical Conference, Vice Chancellor of the University E. Nigel Harris was the featured speaker and remarks on the publication were also made by IRP Managing Director, Christine Randle. Sir George was very gracious in his response and made presentations of his publication to:

His Excellency Prof. Sir Kenneth Hall – Governor General of Jamaica, Professor Emeritus of the UWI Mona and Former Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Uwi Mona Campus

Sir Shridath Ramphal – Chancellor Emeritus of the UWI

E. Nigel Harris – Vice Chancellor of the UWI

Following the close of the launch proceedings, the limited number of books available were sold out but are available at www.ianrandlepublishers.com. Just click the book title above and you'll be taken straight to the buying page on our website.

Above: Sir George Alleyne, Ian Randle, Christine Randle and Prof. Henry Fraser

Lamming takes a Peek

2008-07-18T11:49:00.003-04:00

Earlier this month at the CARICOM Heads of Goverment in Antigua, our Chairman and Publisher Ian Randle caught up with veteran Caribbean author and literary stalwart George Lamming, who was being conferred with the order of the Caribbean Community. Lamming got an advanced copy of our forthcoming book Lunchtime Medley: Writings on West Indian Cricket (Morris and Carnegie, eds.) in which one of his pieces appears and was caught enjoying a read.

Lunchtime Medley brings together a range of literary pieces related to West Indian cricket and cricketers from the geners of music, poetry, story and commentary and will be available in September.

Catalogue available

2008-07-17T12:14:00.003-04:00

At long last our 2008-2009 catalogue is available. This year we dedicate our catalogue to the memory of Lloyd Best and celebrate Caribbean Independent Thought. Thirty-five (35) new books are featured across the areas of Biography&Memoir; History; Cultural and Diaspora Studies; Politics, Economics & Development; Literature; and Law. Of these 35 new books, 12 have already been published and are avaliable, with another 3 presently on press and scheduled for delivey by the end of July.

At an average rate of 2 new books every month we've been very busy!

To get your copy of the latest catalogue, email us at marketing@ianrandlepublishers.com

Busy Busy July

2008-07-11T14:51:00.002-04:00

What a week it has been! Since the beginning of the month IRP has been on the road. We started off with our Chairman and Publisher Ian Randle joining CARICOM Heads of Government at their recently concluded meeting in Antigua. Since July 3, IRP has also been exhibiting at 3 different conferences in Kingston. We were warmly received by the over 500 participants at the international cultural studies conference of the Association for Cultural Studies (ACS), 2008 ACS Crossroads held on the Mona campus of the UWI from July 3-7. Overlapping with that was our presence at the annual Caribbean Association of Law Librarians (CARALL) conference held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel from July 7-9. We've rounded the week off with our usual presence at the CXC marking exercise taking place from July 9-11.