Dr. Blackwood Meeks launched her book of folktales today at the Jamaica Storytelling Convention (Youtube: Rampoon Radio).

Her philosophy on Caribbean folklore and folktales echoed the words of Mr. Francis Mading Deng of Sudan. (blog post, 12/11/20, ‘On the Importance of Storytelling)

‘When a storyteller dies, you lose a whole library of stories.’ Truth. In the the old days the storyteller would have had an apprentice, whose job it was to memorise that library of tales, so that when the griot died the tales did not die with him or her.

Today, we can write and record. Our griots can put down their stories that other tellers can take them up and take them forward into the new Jerusalem.

We must preserve the library.

Dr. Blackwood Meeks’ book will soon (give it a week) be available on Amazon.