Savacou

a Caribbean literary journal in the tradition of Bim. It was first published in 1970 (between then and 1989 eleven issues were produced), taking its name from the bird-god in Carib mythology with control over thunder and strong winds. Announced as the Journal of the Caribbean Artists' Movement, which had been started in London a few years earlier, it was edited initially by Edward Brathwaite in Jamaica, academic and critic Kenneth Ramchand in Trinidad, and Jamaican writer Andrew Salkey in London, bringing together the work of creative writers, academics, and theoretical thinkers and providing a forum for artistic expression and thought in the Caribbean. Its advisory committee included Lloyd King, Gordon Rohlehr, Orlando Patterson, Sylvia Wynter, John La Rose, Paule Marshall, and Wilfred Cartey, and among early contributors were C. L. R. James, Michael Anthony, Louis James, Derek Walcott, George Lamming, Martin Carter, and John Figueroa. It was the first Caribbean publication to devote a special issue (in 1977) to writing by women, including work by Merle Hodge, Lorna Goodison, Jean Goulbourne, Marjorie Thorpe, Opal Palmer, and Christine Craig. The Savacou name also appears as a publishing imprint.