PORTFOLIO OF WORK
My writing tells my immigrant story and recalls the pivotal moments of my life. I mostly write essays in the creative nonfiction genre. My work has been sometimes described as long winded, a weakness I continue to work to improve.
I hope you will enjoy this selection.
UNMOORING
September 2020
Unmooring, published by Kaleidoscope WoJo™ is an essay in the anthology, "Reflections of Women's Journeys--In My Shoes "
EXCERPT: "When I grew up, the absence of a mother or father in the home was common in Jamaica. This was the time when Britain's enormous postwar need for workers offered expansive opportunities to its colonial citizens to travel to England, uninhibited by visas and other immigration restrictions."
HOPE - THE IMMIGRANT'S AMERICA
March 2021
Published by Landslidelit at Medium.com
Excerpt
"Most Americans...live in places they can choose to remain despite a declining economy, drug epidemic, and political tension. Most still live in homogeneous communities and enclaves. When outsiders begin to flow in, many are frightened, or politicians incite them to fear. Exaggerations and a deliberate intent to dehumanize the poor, especially brown immigrants, have heightened the fright. But a closer understanding of immigrants, their motivation, and their drive might reveal remarkable resilience and a hope that does not die."
THE YELLOW DRESS
February 2022
The yellow dress she sent from America was the most exquisite thing I had ever seen. It was not dowdy and stoic like the pink linen suit and brown plaid skirt with accordion pleats my mother had sent me from London. This dress was dream-like and yellow like the pale sun. No fussy laciness, made of the finest delicate cotton, with the crinoline sewn into the skirt. Not the kind of crinoline made from that membranous material, fishnet-like, that when laundered became itchy from heavy starch.
GRANNY DAISY'S FRUITCAKE
December, 2023
Mama's fruitcake was not that tight amalgam of fruits and flour black from burnt sugar, as is common in the typical Jamaican black cake. Her cake was rich with flavors from the soaked fruits, with texture and detectable bits of raisins and currants.