Dominica — books & literature

The story of Dominica

Dominica's story begins with the Ortoiroid, hunter-gatherers who settled the island from around 3000 BCE, followed centuries later by the Kalinago (Island Caribs), who became dominant by roughly 1000 CE and named the island Wai'tukubuli, 'tall is her body'. Christopher Columbus sighted it on a Sunday in 1493 and named it Dominica after the Latin for that day. Its rugged, mountainous terrain made it the last Caribbean island the Europeans managed to colonise, and Britain and France spent over a century contesting it before the 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded it to Britain. Dominica remains the only Caribbean island where the Kalinago still hold ancestral land, the Kalinago Territory, formally recognised in 1903. Independence from Britain came on 3 November 1978. In 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Maria devastated the island, destroying most of its housing and agriculture; Dominica has since rebuilt with an ambition to become the world's first climate-resilient nation, leaning on the volcanic, rainforest-covered landscape that earned it the nickname 'The Nature Island of the Caribbean'.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 3000 BCE

   Ortoiroid hunter-gatherers settle the island, the earliest known inhabitants.

2. circa 1000 CE

   The Kalinago (Island Caribs) become dominant, naming the island Wai'tukubuli.

3. 1493

   Christopher Columbus sights the island on a Sunday and names it Dominica.

4. 1763

   The Treaty of Paris cedes Dominica to Britain after decades of Anglo-French contest.

5. 1834

   Slavery is abolished across the British Empire, including Dominica.

6. 1903

   The Kalinago Territory (3,700 acres) is formally established on the northeastern coast.

7. 1978

   Dominica gains independence from the United Kingdom on 3 November.

8. 2017

   Category 5 Hurricane Maria devastates the island, destroying most housing and crops.

Top 10 things to know about Dominica

1. Nicknamed 'The Nature Island of the Caribbean' for its rainforests, rivers, and volcanic peaks.
2. Home to Boiling Lake, one of the largest hot lakes in the world, inside Morne Trois Pitons National Park.
3. The only Caribbean island where the Kalinago (Island Caribs) still hold an ancestral territory.
4. Dominica's flag is the only national flag with the colour purple, on its Sisserou parrot emblem.
5. The Sisserou parrot, the national bird, is endemic and found nowhere else on Earth.
6. Often confused with the much larger, separate nation of the Dominican Republic.
7. Known as a top whale-watching destination, with sperm whales resident in its waters year-round.
8. Reported to have one of the highest concentrations of volcanoes per square mile of anywhere on Earth.
9. English is the official language, while Kwéyòl (Antillean French Creole) is widely spoken.
10. Rebuilding after Hurricane Maria (2017), Dominica has pursued a goal of becoming a climate-resilient nation.

Famous people from Dominica

Say it in Dominica's language

Did you know?

• ★Dominica is often mixed up with the Dominican Republic, though the two are entirely separate nations.
• ★Boiling Lake, hidden in Morne Trois Pitons National Park, is one of the largest hot lakes in the world.
• ★The purple Sisserou parrot on Dominica's flag is found nowhere else in the world.

Dominica culture

• Kwéyòl (Antillean French Creole) is celebrated every October during Creole Heritage Month, including Creole Day, when many wear traditional madras dress.
• The World Creole Music Festival draws performers from across the French Creole Caribbean and its diaspora.
• Cadence-lypso, a fusion of cadence and calypso, was pioneered on the island in the 1970s.
• The Kalinago Territory preserves indigenous crafts such as traditional basket-weaving and dugout canoe-building.

Why read Dominica's books

From Jean Rhys's reworking of colonial narrative in "Wide Sargasso Sea" to Phyllis Shand Allfrey's "The Orchid House", Dominica's small size belies an outsized literary voice shaped by its volcanic landscape and layered colonial history.