Interview about Woman of the Hour in JMWW

While traipsing around Peru’s Sacred Valley, I was talking to author Claire Ibarra about self-deception, the female experience, sexual consent, and the use of magical realism to turn personal stories into larger political narratives.

Our conversation was published by JMWW.

Excerpt

Question: There is an intimacy shared between your characters (in Woman of the Hour) and the reader. To me, there is also a sense of solitude in your stories. It felt as if many of these characters were alone in facing their troubles. What do you think of that impression?

Answer: That’s very interesting. And I think you’re right. Many of these women are alone in their difficulties, which is probably why I felt the need to tell their stories. They’re too afraid or embarrassed to share their troubles with others, yet they can share their stories with the reader, who in turn might feel less alone. We can feel unseen in our experiences if we don’t see them represented in popular culture, which is so often saturated with simplified or sanitized versions of female life. We may assume we’re unique in our suffering or our joy. Writing and reading stories is a way to disperse that illusion: There’s most likely someone out there who, from lived experience, will understand what you’re going through.

Read the rest of this interview at JMWW’s website.

Links to other interviews can be found on my interviews page.

And you can find out all you need to know about my collection Woman of the Hour here.