We are pleased to share that two writers have been selected for our Windrush commissions, Mouth Mek Fi Nyam, as part of our Lewisham, Borough of Literature campaign. This initiative is part of a four-part project celebrating Caribbean storytelling and heritage.
Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Commissioned Writers
Our two selected writers are:
Leone Ross
“When I migrated to England from Jamaica, I spent days with my boyfriend’s chatty auntie. She’d bring me liver and green banana for breakfast, explained how to dress for the weather and the culture shock, and planted flowers that grew flagrantly, regardless of the bad soil. She was hard-working – sometimes heart-broken – and she never thought she was special, but she gave me so much. When last did you read a story starring a Caribbean elder? I want to be involved in Mouth Mek Fi Nyam for people like her, who so rarely get to be the heroes.”
Leone Ross is a novelist, short story writer, editor and educator. Her third novel, This One Sky Day (Faber) was nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Ondaatje Prize, the BOCAS Prize — and named a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her short fiction has been widely anthologised and her first short-story collection, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, prompted the Times Literary Supplement to call her ‘a pointiliste, a master of detail…’. In 2021, she won the Manchester Prize for Fiction for a single short story. She has judged the Mslexia Magazine, VS Pritchett Award and Bridport Prize writing competitions, in the short story category. Ross has taught creative writing for 27 years, up to PhD level, and presently works as a freelance writing mentor. She is the editor of Glimpse: A Black British Anthology of Speculative Fiction, published in 2022 (Peepal Tree).
Joan Anim-Addo
“My interest in being involved is because Lewisham is also my literary home. My career has consistently involved community interaction –readings in local libraries, writing workshops and performances that I have organised – or events at the local History Library, Horniman Museum, and Goldsmiths. Recently, I was delighted to write ‘Granny Mermaid’ for Irie Dance Theatre’s children’s performance. Such long-standing literary involvement locally informs my interest in this project. Equally, the project has already begun to teach me how much themes like migration, food, gardening, and cultural preservation have meant to my writing. So, I’m interested, too, in order to learn.”
Joan Anim-Addo is a creative writer of several genres including theatre, poetry and the short story. She is an interdisciplinary scholar whose writing has engaged Lewisham for decades. Founding the Caribbean Women Writer’s Alliance, she spearheaded ‘Lewisham Literature Festival: A Celebration of Black Writing’, 2003. Her Longest Journey: A History of Black Lewisham continues to inform and inspire action borough-wide and beyond. She is co-founder of Goldsmiths’ Creative and Life-Writing postgraduate programme which has produced many inspiring contemporary UK writers. She has recently co-founded and is at the heart of The Black British Writers and Scholars Alliance. She is Director of the Centre for Caribbean and Diaspora Studies, and Emeritus Professor, Goldsmiths University of London. She is the UK’s first Black Professor of Literature. She was born in Grenada.
About the commissions
Leone and Joan will attend an oral history event with Carribean elders on Windrush Day, 22 June. The event will focus on themes of migration, food, gardening, and cultural preservation, with elders sharing personal experiences of carrying and sustaining traditions across generations. Our writers will transform these shared stories into original short stories that capture the richness of Caribbean heritage. These stories will be published in the Mouth Mek Fi Nyam anthology.
If you are a Caribbean adult aged 50+ and are intersted in taking part in the oral history event or our series of gardening and poetry workshops, find out more about the opportunity and how to apply here.