women-authors

"If you were living in the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, or sixteenth century, you would not think Europe was the center of the world, you would think “Asia” (whatever you called it) was the center of the world"

"Even more so than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine there are major structural trends that are threatening to change the way we experience politics: climate change, developments in technology such as AI or shifts in how we do finance such as bitcoin and other similar technologies."

"What the Roman Empire is to European history, the Mongol Empire is to Asian history."

"What seems to destroy world orders (at least in history) is not great power rivalry, but structural pressures that fray connective tissues."

"What else can I say? Did I forget to mention that I write romantic fiction for serialisation in a few newspapers in the country? Though, that is on hold at the moment. I’ve also done some radio serial drama for the Ghanaian public on topics ranging from child health and female sexual reproductive health. (A John Hopkins/USAID/Ghana Health Service project)"

"Join me to enjoy this blog where you will find good reviews and comments on novels, short stories and poetry."

"I also read English and Theaters Arts at the University and majored in Playwriting. I have a Masters in International Affairs, all from the University of Ghana, Legon. I am a Senior Assistant Registrar, with the Institute of Professional Studies. I am married with three boys."

"I love to write and read and not necessarily in that order. My home is choked with books of all sizes, both adult literature and children stuff as well."

"I am also fascinated with any novel that is based on the Jews and the Holocaust. So, I’ve read almost all of Leon Uris."

"Oh yes! I love discussing current affairs with friends, as well as blogging on the books I read. So this is me, a woman of diverse reading taste and talents."

"I read mostly fiction, both contemporary and classic. I do love non-fiction too, if I lay hands on any. I enjoy world literature as well. I’m partial to women writers and their works, especially African women writers."

"I also have a passion for thrillers, mystery and any good suspense novel from the West. I have read almost all of Sydney Sheldon, Dan Brown, Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham, Martina Cole and a few of David Baldacci. I do love historical novels and romance. So, it goes without saying that I have read Danielle Steel, Judith Gould and Judith Krantz."

"Different works emerge differently and I pay no real attention to the external process. Internally I think there is an identifiable process which can be captured by one word: obsession. The thought, the line, the image, the one word: whatever is the germ of that particular poem stays and stays until it reaches its needed form on the page."

"In writing (poetry, fiction, plays, etc.) I am aware of functioning as an Indian woman from the Caribbean in dialogue with the world. The world may choose to ignore that dialogue; all the same this is what I am doing. And at a primal level, I and my kind (Indo-Caribbean women) are prohibited by the full weight of patriarchal law and authority from having dialogue with the world outside the home."

"I think my main interests are to enlarge the horizon of the reader, but also to delight, to entertain and to educate. I would be thrilled if my language moves the reader into becoming one with the rhythm of my text...That's my purpose, to make the rhythm right and to have the reader taken up into the rhythm."

"Trinidad is such a crossroads of the Caribbean. At any given moment there are several cross-currents intersecting in that small island place - downwards from the north through the archipelago, southwards to Venezuela and beyond, outwards to North America and Europe, and then returning home to bring all of this to the Trini scene. An exciting place - full of failed effort, it is true, but also, so full of beauty and of possibility."

"A writer as necessary as Ramabai Espinet should be treasured by us for her unique voice and the unique world she shares with us."

"Opening our mouths and saying our words, breaking the cycle of the "unknowable," seems to me right now an essential tool for our survival, on our own terms, and for that of our daughters and granddaughters. We can only become stronger as we build upon each other's experiences and strengthen that repository of woman-knowledge (also community-knowledge) of which we are the rightful inheritors."

"I work as an educator/knowledge worker and this means that I am actively involved in the large human project of 'understanding' at all levels all the time. I don't know how this fits with the desire to convey the history of Indo-Caribbon settlement except that this area is still so underdeveloped untold, ill-understood. And maybe this novel is a small step in pushing this understanding forward"

"Disparate and colliding identities are intrinsic to any home I have ever known. One cannot afford to be complacent. But there is too a very real sense of belonging and wherever I am, I recognise that belongingness instantly. Place does not matter to me because I know that things change constantly. For me, 'home' is a moveable shack on a beach, a moveable feast."

"It is impossible to be alive and have nothing."

"Who is the female artist functioning in a community such as ours? She speaks but her speaking drives her into a place of otherness when she speaks her truth. She is an outsider. She is subject to unbearable strain, from within and without, and she functions largely without supports. Now more Indo-Caribbean women are beginning to speak "themselves." There are poets such as Mahadai Das, Shana Yardan, Niala Maharaj, Asha Radjkoemar, Chitra Gajadin. They are writing themselves out of the family walls-breaking them down so that they can stare fully, unveiled, at the world outside. The act of writing calls for breaking faith with service-family service. Beginning the difficult task of consolidating a self-outside of family servitude."

"You are like a child who whistles in the dark. As though the dark cared, my poor child, as though the dark cared."

"My mind sometimes wanders. Do unto others and so on. Very nice again, but what if others have a different taste from yours? I don't remember who said it."

"It was though I had been in possession of one of those small shells with Japanese flowers which are sold at street corners. When plunged into a bowl of water, the tightly sealed shell opens and the flat, dry, coiled-up, insignificant shreds of paper contained within float out and unfold their variegated and unsuspected splendour; with Gordon I had found my bowl of water."

"Beyond my upset I was flooded by a deep happiness, similar to the one he made me feel when forcing me to surrender to his virility. No one else before him had given me this gratification, but I realised now that the longing to be violated, body and soul, must have always been inside me."

"Women are like teeth. Some tremble and never fall and some fall and never tremble."

"Learning from history allows us to not only learn about a country’s complexities and heritage but also solidifies our identity about ourselves as a people"

"I think there is a tendency of viewing happiness as a destination and that you can exist in that state forever, I dont buy that."

"A country needs to be judged by the living standards of its poorest people and not the few elite."

"For me, writing is like being an actress, in a way, because I get into the role, to make it believable. Otherwise you won’t be able to connect and relate to it"

"Life is about taking chances and believing in yourself"

"Not every woman marries for love and come on, a wedding ring won’t magically heal a cheater"

"I’m intentional about provoking empathy and creating a conversation around those kind of topics"

"Yes, writing fiction is risky but then, as they say in finance, the higher the risk, the higher the return"

"The genesis of current problems is rooted in the past"

"We never go deep into dealing with our wounds. We carry things forward, from one generation to the next"

"Most of the books I read reinforce the way I think and view things"

"I think Africa has a wealth of talent which remains largely unknown, never mind celebrated"

"Every story deserves to be told, and every writer deserves a platform"

"The duality of cultures shows up in my characters. I love capturing their internal battles. They often grapple with balancing their cultural heritage against the pressures of modern life"

"My stories have become a source of solace, laughter, and reflection for many, creating an intimate bond between me and my readers"

"More lovers out there are dribbling or being dribbled, it’s the order of love these days"

"I love entanglements because that’s how it is in the real world."

"my early reading was devoid of Black writers and African literature as a whole"

"I knew a lot about European history, but I couldn’t tell you anything substantial about African history"

"These stories are fiction, yes, but they’re also a mirror. They are a reflection of the emotional reality many people live in silence"

"I hate reading a book and not being able to locate myself."

"writing is a space where I can be bold and brazen, uncensored even"

"My characters are not just figments of imagination; they are reflections of real people navigating relatable dilemmas. They deal with real-world issues such as love triangles, societal pressures, abuse and the pretensions around monogamy. I explore the shades of grey in human relationships because love is never black and white. It can be messy, beautiful and sometimes tragic"