In 2026, the Journal of West Indian Literature will celebrate forty years of life as a regional project committed to highlighting and critically examining the prolific literary production of the Anglophone Caribbean. Founded by Guyanese scholar and writer Mark McWatt in 1986 and led during its first decades by McWatt and the indefatigable Jamaican scholar Victor Chang, the JWIL project has been an integral part of the literary life of the region. Born from a collaboration across the various campuses of the University of the West Indies, JWIL’s editorial team now spreads far beyond the region, while maintaining its UWI roots and its deep commitment to serving both our local and global audiences. The four decades of JWIL’s life have witnessed multiple generations of Caribbean scholars committing their time, energies, and expertise to editing, reviewing, and disseminating work on the literature of the region in ways that have had a transformative effect on the visibility of Caribbean writing and scholarship globally. We continue to be a space for Caribbeanists to find an ideal readership who is keenly attuned to the complex histories and lineages of our literary culture. In 2015, we made the shift from print publication to publishing exclusively online. This transition allowed us to increase the accessibility of our content and to begin to highlight more of the work of the visual artists of the region (both on our covers and within our pages.) Since then, we have alternated between open issues and special issues, maintaining a balance between providing space for new scholarship and allowing for critical reflection on the key issues and figures that have shaped the field. Our robust interviews contribute significantly to the urgent and ongoing work of archiving memories of institutional and individual efforts to build and extend Caribbean culture and its audiences. We invite you to join us as readers, contributors, and supporters as we continue our work.
Lisa Outar, Co-Editor in Chief
