Soul Dance captures the voice of every Jamaican, as well as their thoughts and dreams. Taken from writings spanning Jean Lowrie-Chin's 30-year career, the pieces reflect the events that uplift, as well as burden, Jamaican society. Her poetry is both universal and prophetic, from the warnings against the rat race in 'Slow Down Child', to the startling take on the life of Lee Boyd Malvo in 'Your Son Too'; they demonstrate that though so much has changed, a lot has also stayed the same. Her selection of columns are amusing and inspiring, reflecting on the achievements of outstanding Jamaicans such as The Honourable Louise Bennett, Usain Bolt and Jamaica's most pertinent issues, like the future of Jamaican men, in 'A Vision of Our "Men at Risk"'. Soul Dance, Jean Lowrie-Chin's first and much awaited book, is the work of a woman who loves her country and has truly experienced it. It is a moving, significant addition to Jamaica's creative and intellectual literature.
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Jean Lowrie-Chin is well-known Jamaican entrepreneur and writer. Her poetry has been published in various newspapers and journals and she has performed her pieces for both Jamaican and international audiences. In addition to running a prestigious PR and marketing firm, PROComm, with her husband and business partner Hubie Chin, she currently writes a column for the Jamaica Observer.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Tyrone Reid's review - blogcritics.com,
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This review is from: Souldance: Poems and Writings (Paperback)
[...]( by Tyrone Reid -[...])The endearing photo of two youthful angels on the cover of Souldance: Poems & Writings (Ian Randle Publishers, 2009), Jean Lowrie-Chin's astonishing debut collection of her columns, prose and verse, is an excellent indicator of the nature of the book's content. Touching, sensitive and captivating, Souldance is brimming with universal themes of love, family, community and struggle. The care and quality with which Lowrie-Chin crafts her pieces equally appeals to readers. Souldance captures the work that has flowed from the pen of one of Jamaica's recognizable public relations professionals and newspaper columnists for nearly 30 years. Lowrie-Chin's affection and concern for her homeland, the inimitable bond she shares with relatives and her thoughts on life and humanity are showcased through sterling prose and poetry. Among the standouts that gripped me is "A Dad for All Seasons," a moving account of the life and legacy of J.E. Lowrie, the author's accountant father who we are told took his last breath (he died of an arthritic condition) in 1977 while whispering prayers in the company of his darling wife. While shedding light on a rich family history, the piece also powerfully captured a striking father-daughter bond. "Dad threw himself into the role of father with a gusto that I have rarely seen in biological fathers. Every Saturday was library day, and after we carefully selected our books, we would be taken to the old Oxford Pharmacy for ice-cream. No wonder we all went into communications - he made the written word sweet for us," Lowrie-Chin writes. Her `daddy tribute' is a perfect companion piece for "My Mother's Working Love," a salute to her mother, Maisie Lowrie, now in her eighties. Meanwhile, selections like "Jamaica: Treasure Island," "Best of Times in Beijing," and "A Vision of our Men at Risk" illuminate Lowrie-Chin's devotion for her island home and her tirelessness in championing our people. Her poetry, written mostly in free verse, is peppered with truisms and her reflections on an existence too many of us take for granted. In "Let's Fly," for example, she observes, "One day it hits you/You know the bitter truth/That nothing lasts forever/Especially your youth." She's also not afraid to take a proper look at the woman staring back from the mirror: "Thirty grabbed me round the waist...in thirty's twirl I found no time for bitterness or regret." (from "Thirty") or feel like a girl again, enveloped in the love of her beloved husband, Hubie: "Now the poinciana through the window/ Is beautiful again/And Neil Diamond sounds sexy again/And I can understand a sentence/Without reading it again/I can smile in the dark/You love me.../Again." (from "Again"). At a modest 170 pages and split into three sections, Souldance is a valuable and breezy read. My only quibble? The poems could have been interspersed throughout the book instead of packed to the front to make for a more balanced arrangement. But that takes away nothing major from the overall enjoyment of Lowrie-Chin's writing. As it is, Souldance chronicles the experiences and ideology of a woman, a "breathless messenger" intensely in love with God, family and country.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Celebration of Life,
This review is from: Souldance: Poems and Writings (Paperback)
Souldance is a work of literary art that presents a celebration of life so vividly captured even before your begin to turn the pages. For the cover, well known Jamaican artist Viv Logan has provided an awe-inspiring rendition of life in its most innocent depiction yet laced serious social, cultural and religious symbolism. Her work, Cherubs Gone Rasta depicts two dreadlocked children at play sharing ripe berries picked, no doubt, from their lush garden backdrop. These children are perfect icons of the free spirit that produced Souldance and their growing pains, loss of innocence and concern for their changing world are etched in the ensuing dance of words with varying movement and tempo over the work's 170 pages.Family is a recurring theme in this first section of the book with works dedicated to her father and to her children, Anita and Noel, to whom Souldance is also dedicated. Pick-Up Time, dedicated to her children, like none other, underscores family. Soaring profits, gourmet lunch, important clients and incoming contracts are not enough to interfere with a caring mother's daily preoccupation with picking up her children. For that and their sublime laughter time freezes. While the author's immediate family is brought into focus, there is no doubt that she views her Jamaican society and the big wide world around her as her extended family. Jean Lowrie-Chin achieves much in Souldance. She philosophizes, dreams, empathizes make social comments, enters the skin and minds of her subjects and urges humanity to take another look at itself through the mirror of time and one's own actions. In Souldance, Jean Lowrie-Chin has a lot to say and does so beautifully and with power. In Part II of the work which is subtitled Growing Pains, Jean Lowrie-Chin steps boldly into the realm of the reality of personal social experiences. In this section the Cherubs have come of age and whether it is Loving Free, Goodbye, Separate, Wedding Vows Revisited, or I Want You Back, she delves into the emotions and takes us on the journey that is her life and that of her loved one, husband Hubie. Much of Souldance is incisive social commentary. The piece Yu See Mi dramatically sums up the class divisions and economic disparities that drive much of the crime and violence in the Jamaican society. But it does more than that. It also explores the psychological dimensions of the problem and urges the show of respect and tangible expression of concern that must be the starting point and main engine of any sustainable solution to the problem. In keeping with theme of social responsibility that recurs throughout the work, and is summed up in God's Unblinking Eye, all the author's proceeds from first quarter sales of the publication (including the Christmas period) will be donated to the Stella Maris Foundation and Food for the Poor. Driven by a belief that in the absence of sharing none of us, rich or poor, will be able to survive, Jean Lowrie-Chin reminds us that "Our deeds are our unending story." If the measures of poetry are the quality of the beauty it evokes and its emotional power, then Souldance fits the bill as being both beautiful and powerful. True to its promise, the poems of Souldance are written mainly in the free verse that is like oxygen to a work of this texture. The third section of the Souldance - titled The Power of Words - is a collection of her more recent articles and prose writings that continues the dance through (not around) the issues of the day with thoughtful reflection, sharp analysis, relevant commentary and useful recommendations. Of note is the piece, "The Rendezvous of Conquest," about the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt and President-elect of the USA, Barack Obama, remarkably, written in June 2008 - months before their stunning triumphs and Jamaica's Beijing experience. (Excerpts from review by Huntley Medley published in the Sunday Gleaner)
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