296: Fairy Tales, Vernacular, and the Art of Storytelling Interview with Curdella Forbes

Published: March 11, 2020, 12:15 p.m.

b'

Hey there word nerds!

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Curdella Forbes.

Curdella is a Jamaican writer who lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, and teaches at Howard University. Her latest novel, A Tall History of Sugar, has been praised by BuzzFeed, Essence, Bookish, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, SyFy, and many others. Writing for the New York Times Book Review, Veronica Chambers said of the novel: "Forbes\\u2019s writing combines the gale-force imagination of Margaret Atwood with the lyrical pointillism of Toni Morrison.\\u201d

In this episode Curdella and I discuss:

  • The inspiration behind A Tall History of Sugar
  • Writing about the experience of not belonging
  • Moving between third and first person
  • The dark origins of fairy tales
  • The story behind the title \\u201cA Tall History of Sugar\\u201d

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/296

'