Promotional material for BACHE Visiting Writers Series By Luke Del Rosario
On Monday, March 2, Caribbean novelist, poet, essayist and short story writer Tiphany Yanique visited the University of Montevallo to read from and discuss her work. Held on the first floor of the Carmichael Library in front of a large audience.
Yanique read mostly from Monster in the Middle, a recent novel and short story publication. When she began reading, her intonation and rhythm of speaking changed, which dramatically added to the way the work was understood. Her passionate reading ensured that the audience was captivated throughout the entirety of the event.
Yanique’s reading was followed by a period of questions and answers. She thoroughly answered every question that was asked. If her answer to a question led her to a related topic, she followed that trail, delivering more insights into her thought process as a storyteller.
She spoke about her fascination with perspectives and how they change the character’s view of the world and discussed different stories of hers and her inspirations behind them. She went into how important she believes her Caribbean heritage is to her writing because of how limited the selection of Caribbean literature is.
She talked about how the people of the Virgin Islands are her audience when she’s writing and how her readers everywhere else are simply voyeurs peering in, but, in a way, to read or to write any piece of literature is to participate in a bit of voyeurism. She asserted that that is an inherent, essential part of the art of storytelling.
At one point during the Q&A, she was asked how she decides which ideas are worth writing and which she abandons. She explained that she writes all of her ideas down to just see where they take her, but to just continue with the stories that you feel most motivated to write.
She explained that there’s no science to it, it’s all about vibes and your nebulous feelings about what you’re writing.
