The University of the West Indies Press (UWI Press) is pleased to announce that one of its published books, My Political Journey: Jamaica’s Sixth Prime Minister by PJ Patterson, has won a Next Generation Indie Book Award—the ‘Memoirs (Career)’ category for 2020. The prestigious Awards programme is the largest for independent publishers and authors worldwide.
Released by UWI Press in December 2018, My Political Journey is the former Prime Minister’s account of his time as an active and successful participant in the political and social development of Jamaica and the Caribbean from the mid-1950s well into the early 2000s. He is widely regarded as a master political strategist and universally acknowledged as an astute negotiator and now serves as Statesman in Residence at The University of the West Indies’ recently launched PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy.
In response to the news, Dr Luz Longsworth, Chair of the UWI Press Board said, “On behalf of the Board of the Directors, I am delighted to offer congratulations to our outstanding author, The Rt. Honourable PJ Patterson on this award. My Political Journey has been one of the most successful publications in the UWI Press’ over 25 years of existence. We salute him on producing a book that is an absorbing narrative, not just of a successful and exciting career, but also of the development of a national, regional and global consciousness in his more than six decades of outstanding advocacy and service. The award is a fitting recognition of the importance of this book, which especially at this critical time should be on the reading list for any student of political science, history and international development”.
One of the judges of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards noted, “People often think autobiographies or biographies of government officials must be primarily of scholarly or historical interest. Depending on the writer, they can sometimes attract a broader audience. PJ Patterson’s Political Journey is such a book. Written with grace and style, Patterson describes the challenges of building community and national consensus in an era of growing international interest in Caribbean and Latin American history”.
In addition to former Prime Minister Patterson’s book, two other UWI Press publications were named finalists in this year’s Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Plantation Coffee in Jamaica, 1790–1848 by Kathleen E.A. Monteith is a finalist in the Historical (Non-Fiction) category and Free: A Novel by Martin Mordecai is a finalist in the General Fiction/Novel (over 80,000 words) category.
About the Next Generation Indie Book Awards
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest International awards programme for indie authors and independent publishers. Now in its 14th year of operation, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards was established to recognize and honour the most exceptional independently published books in over 70 different categories, for the year, and is presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group (www.IBPPG.com) in cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen O’Shea Literary Agency. More information about the Next Generation Indie Book Awards can be found at https://indiebookawards.com/winners/list
About the UWI Press
The mission of the UWI Press is to be the premier scholarly book publisher in the Caribbean, to enhance and encourage research and publication of Caribbean scholarship, to promote the global reputation of The University of the West Indies by empowering the scholarly community it serves, and to disseminate Caribbean scholarship to the world within a cost-effective environment. For more, visit www.uwipress.com
About The UWI
For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies; the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ); The UWI-University of Havana Centre for Sustainable Development; The UWI-Coventry Institute for Industry-Academic Partnership with the University of Coventry and the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research with the University of Glasgow.
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018 and 2019. The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)