Maxwanette A Poetess Has Big Plans For 2024
The youngest of her Jamaican parents’ three children, Maxine Moncrieffe was their only child born in the United States. But although she was raised in Brooklyn, New York, the culture of their homeland always fascinated her.
Known as Maxwanette A Poetess, she has been a published writer since her teens. With February celebrated as Reggae Month in Jamaica, and Black History Month in the US, her plans for 2024 include bridging the cultural gap between the countries.
“My latest projects include the expanding of my online magazine, Poetry, Language Of The Soul (P.L.O.T.S.) Creatives Magazine, to highlight more of the amazing creativity and life in Jamaica and wherever Jamaicans are, while bridging and establishing a connective footprint, here in America,” she explained. “I am also working on creating a series of coloring books and other poetic publications, re-establishing a sustainable ground and connection for PLOTS Creatives Magazine – The Podcast, to feature poets, creatives, and entrepreneurs, assisting in raising money for the homeless, and expanding on my technical skills.”
Maxwanette A Poetess admired eclectic works in her youth. From Jamaican folklorist Louise Bennett Coverley to poet Claude McKay, born in Jamaica and a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, to the macabre writings of Edgar Allen Poe.
Another major influence, though not as famous, was her mother Hyacinth Williams-Moncrieffe whose book of poems, The Unlimited Mind, was published in 1983.
“My mother and I did not have a good relationship when I was growing up, and for most of my life. It took time to find out why that was, and her book spoke volumes, and a fitting piece to the puzzle. We were blessed to reconnect before she fell ill, and it was the best thing that could have happened. But her impact is felt, till this day,” she disclosed.
In 2022, Maxwanette A Poetess re-released The Unlimited Mind. That year, she also published two books --- Poetry, Language Of The Soul Vol I. and The Poetic-Storm, Vol. II.
After walking away from the project three times, she finally got her mother’s book out, 14 years after her death from cancer.
“Republishing my mother’s book, is personal. Yet, something I know she wanted to be shared with Jamaica and America, as an example that you can make it, no matter where you come from, no matter how hard the journey…Keep going,” said Maxwanette A Poetess.