The reunion with my mother, after more than thirty years of separation, proved disastrous for my emotional well-being. Within the first week of our arrival in Los Angeles, she, too, abandoned me. I turned to writing as a form of self-therapy. Why had I been thrice abandoned—by the nuns, my husband, and my mother? What had I done to deserve such treatment? My failure seems so obvious now, but it took four years while working on my first book, Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel, for the truth to rise to the surface. That's me in the photo on the left with Gloria, the owner of Gloria's Restaurant in West Los Angeles where until March 2020 our writers' critique group met every month to discuss our work in progress.
My second novel, The Twisted Circle, inspired by real events in my final year in the convent, was published in August 2021 during the period when the Covid-19 pandemic had upended our world.
I developed a love for poetry after meeting the American poet Angela Consolo Mankiewicz (1944-2017) in February 2008. At the time, I was the secretary of the Mid-Wilshire Writers Group started in August 2006 as a potential Los Angeles chapter of the California's Writers Club. Ours was a "wonderfully unlikely" friendship, to use Angela's words. The Featured Poets: Brazil, Caribbean, and the United States over the years on my monthly Poetry Corner are reminders of our nine-year journey together. She remains close to my heart.
With Angela's encouragement, I began testing out the poetic waters. I share some my Haiku Poems, written during the period 2011 to 2017, on my author's website.
Inspirational stories of overcoming adversity have enriched my life in innumerable ways. I hope that my stories, too, can enrich your life. While you are here, you can also check out the snapshots of my six Short Stories, available for free access on the Guyana Journal website.
LEARN MORE:
I share my multicultural identity and vision of the world in my blog article, Three Worlds One Vision.
See Behind the Scenes Tamarind Novel and Twisted Circle for information on the making, setting, and characters of each novel, as well as selected research resources.
I talk about my writing process in my interview with Guyanese-Canadian author Ken Puddicombe.
COPYRIGHT © 2024 ROSALIENEBACCHUS.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.