Becoming a novelist was always on the cards for Soraya Palmer. Taking the reins fate afforded, the American-Caribbean creative departed her nine-to-five as a social worker after her fictional tome The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts enjoyed a smooth debut in March last year with rhapsodic critical acclaim and an enthralled readership. “At the time I was working with women who were criminalised for resisting abuse by their partners.
I realised it was too overwhelming for me to juggle that kind of work full time while also following my creative pursuits. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make writing a bigger part of my career,” reflected Palmer, who currently teaches writing at City College and at the Center for Fiction in New York. Her 277-page yarn – whose plot line revolves around two sisters in a family coming apart at the seams interwoven with mythological tales of Caribbean origin told to them by their parents – was hailed by The New York Times as “ambitious and passionate” while Booklist trumpeted it as “vivid and otherworldly, this masterfully told novel brings together many threads of family history, personal memory, collective choices, sexuality and a realm of mysteries and mythic creatures with deep origins and powers.
” Bolstered by the groundswell of glowing reaction to The Human Origins , Palmer told The Gleaner what has elicited particular joy for her was making college visits. “It has been really .