Member Profile

Lynda Edwards

I was born in Mandeville, Jamaica in 1967, the beginning of a turbulent time in Jamaica's history. The island had just gained independence from Britain, with the colonial class and color divisions still firmly in place. The economy was in free fall as communism and capitalism battled for supremacy, by destabilizing the government, encouraging violence, and exerting tactical financial control. I came of age during these times.

Eight generations of my family are buried on the island. Roots so deep in the Jamaican soil that they will bind my heart and soul forever to my island in the sun, no matter how far afield I may go. Even though I have lived in the United States for decades, Jamaica still holds my navel string, a pull deep in my soul that begins as a low drumbeat growing stronger and louder until I return to the island of my birth.

I now live in Orlando with her husband of twenty-four years. I found my writing voice at the age of fifty-two and have completed two books and am working on my third.