Amina Blackwood-Meeks is a writer and director of children’s plays and contemporary stories. She is also an award-winning actress, performer, workshop facilitator, motivational speaker and custodian of oral tradition. The highly acclaimed international storyteller has been featured in festivals in South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba and around the Caribbean. She has also been credited for having made a major contribution to the recent revival of storytelling in the Caribbean. Blackwood-Meeks is the holder of Cayman’s highest award for culture, The Gold Star of Cayman, for her contribution to the development of storytelling in the Cayman Islands. She is the founder and programmes director of Ntukuma, The Storytelling Foundation of Jamaica, which is dedicated to exploring the connections between the ancient wit and wisdom of African ancestry and the ways in which this heritage has immediate redemptive applications for the growth, development and continuation of civilisation. She is also the founder and executive director of Ananse SoundSplash, the annual storytelling festival/conference in Jamaica. Blackwood-Meeks has successfully petitioned the governor general for the proclamation of November 20 as National Storytelling Day in Jamaica and Jamaica Day for schools, and is an inductee in the Caribbean Hall of Fame.