Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou OM, OJ, MBE (7 September 1919 – 26 July 2006), was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator.

[5] In 1945, Bennett was the first black student to study at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), after being awarded a scholarship from the British Council.

[10] From 1965 to 1982, she produced Miss Lou's Views, a series of radio monologues, and in 1970 started hosting the children's television programme Ring Ding.

A funeral was held in Kingston at the Coke Methodist Church at East Parade on 9 August 2006 followed by her interment in the cultural icons section of the country's National Heroes Park.

[3] An important aspect of her writing was its setting in public spaces such as trams, schools and churches allowing readers to see themselves, pre- and post-independence, reflected in her work.

[20] Her writing has also been credited with providing a unique perspective on the everyday social experiences of working-class women in a postcolonial landscape.

[22] In 2011, photographs, audiovisual recordings, correspondence, awards and other material regarding Bennett were donated to the McMaster University Library by her family with the intention of having selections from the fonds, which date from 1941 to 2008, digitized and made available online as part of a digital archive[16] A selection of Bennett's personal papers are also available at the National Library of Jamaica.

In recognition of her achievements, Harbourfront Centre, a non-profit cultural organisation in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has a venue named Miss Lou's Room.