Marcus Mosiah Garvey, in his newspaper 'The Black Man', recorded the struggle of the unemployed before the 1938 Labour riots.

Ian Randle Publishers is set to create local and Caribbean publishing history when it releases in September an illustrated biography of National Hero Marcus Garvey for young readers, in three separate language editions - English, French and Spanish.

"The simultaneous publication of a book in three separate languages is a unique publishing feat for Jamaica and the entire Caribbean area, and one that is befitting of the universal appeal of Garvey's philosophy across continents and language barriers," the publishers said in a release.

Full-colour illustrations

The book, which is currently on press, was inspired by the full-colour illustrations of Frenchman Jean-Jacques Vayssieres, who worked with Jamaican communicator and children's book author Suzanne Francis-Brown to produce the original English language text, which is aimed at 10-13-year-olds.

Translation of the text into Spanish was undertaken by Shirley Campbell, a third-generation Costa Rican of Jamaican descent who currently resides in Jamaica and is a published author in her own right. The French translation was done by a native of France, Danielle Leroi. The Ambassador of France to Jamaica, Francis Hurtut, has already signalled his mission's endorsement of, and support for the project.

Publisher Ian Randle said he was anticipating the book will have wide appeal across the world in all three editions. Already, rights to the French edition have been sold to a Paris-based publisher from Mali, while rights to the English edition have been sold to Southern Africa and to Barbados, where the government-sponsored Commission for Pan African Affairs has ordered a special edition for distribution in that country.

Plans are already afoot for the book to be launched in Jamaica as part of this year's National Heritage Week celebrations, as well as in Limon, Costa Rica, and in London where it will be a featured book at the inaugural Word Power Book Fair at Arsenal Stadium from October 12-14.