One of the best ways to get to know a place is to read its stories before you arrive. A good novel set in Jamaica can teach you the rhythm of the language, the feel of a country road and the weight of the island’s history long before you smell your first jerk pan. That’s why we want to introduce you to Maroon House Press, an independent publisher of Caribbean and Jamaican fiction with a name that reaches deep into the island’s past.
A Name With Jamaican History Behind It
The Maroons were Africans who escaped slavery in Jamaica and built free communities in the island’s rugged interior, in the Blue Mountains and the limestone hills of Cockpit Country. They farmed, hunted and defended their towns so well that, in 1739 and 1740, the British signed peace treaties with them rather than keep fighting.
Maroon communities such as Accompong in St. Elizabeth and Moore Town in Portland still carry that legacy today, and Nanny of the Maroons, a leader of the Windward Maroons, is one of Jamaica’s National Heroes. Accompong marks its Maroon festival every January 6, one of the dates worth knowing in Jamaica’s year of celebrations. The Maroons even left their mark on the island’s food: they’re closely tied to the origins of jerk.
Maroon House Press chose its name on purpose. As the publisher explains, the Maroons built free towns and governed them themselves, and the press sees itself the same way: independent by design, choosing its own books and setting its own terms.
What Maroon House Press Publishes
In its own words, the house publishes “the stories the record left out,” fiction and cultural writing rooted in Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and the Black diaspora. Its books explore identity, memory, inheritance, folklore, migration and the lives people build between one place and another.
The shelves are wide-ranging. You’ll find literary fiction, crime and thrillers, literary fantasy, paranormal romance, Caribbean ghost stories, Caribbean Gothic horror for young adults and nonfiction about personal reinvention. The press was founded by Nikki Woods, a media executive, author, producer and publisher, who also writes for the list.
Stories Set in Places You Might Visit
Part of the fun of reading Jamaican fiction is recognizing the places when you get here. Several Maroon House Press titles are set in real corners of the island:
- Provision Ground: The Land They Could Not Prove by Lorna Phillips is set in Askenish, a district in the western parish of Hanover. Lorna Phillips is the publisher’s own Jamaican birth name, used on her Jamaica novels.
- The Dry Season by Chasity Rivers is set in Treasure Beach, the laid-back fishing community on the south coast.
- Sunday Clothes, also by Chasity Rivers, takes place around a hill church in St. Ann, the same parish as Ocho Rios.
Reading a story set in St. Ann and then driving through those green hills yourself is a lovely way to feel the island come alive on and off the page.
Duppies, Folklore and Jamaican Ghost Stories
Jamaica has a rich tradition of folk tales, and many Jamaicans grew up hearing about duppies, the restless spirits of the dead, along with creatures like the rolling calf and Ol’ Higue. These stories are part of how families passed down warnings, humor and a sense of the unseen.
Maroon House Press leans into that heritage. Hear Di Chain by Lorna Phillips is a nonfiction guide to the creatures of Jamaican folklore, and Miko Gray’s The Night My Shadow Moved opens The Duppy Chronicles, a Caribbean Gothic series for young adults. If you’ve enjoyed learning a few words from our guide to Jamaican Patois, you’ll notice how much of that language lives in these tales, starting with the word “duppy” itself.
Why Stories Make a Trip Richer
Beaches and waterfalls are wonderful, but stories are what help a place stay with you. They explain why land and inheritance mean so much to Jamaican families and why so many people carry the island with them wherever they go.
If you’d like to browse the full list, you’ll find it at maroonhousepress.com, along with reading guides on Jamaican folklore and Caribbean literature. Pick up one book before your trip, and you may find you arrive already feeling a little bit at home.
Tell us your dates and where you’re staying, and we’ll help you plan an irie day. Email Rocky whenever you’re ready.