In honor of Thanksgiving, some words about the powerful relationship between food and memory: “For me food and certain smells are tied to my identity, to my homeland. Woodsmoke curling up to an immense blue sky; woodsmoke perfuming my grandmother’s clothes, her skin … Even now and 3,000 miles away, I can see my mother…
Read More "Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/LaFrontera: The New Mestiza"
There's no definition for Hawaii Women's Journal. And that's the point. As our managing editor writes in her letter opening this issue, "Strict roles do not function well here." I just wrote a manifesto on why I write, to contribute to a friend's project. "Our world is full of word problems, isn’t it? Writing is…
"Retail Therapy," a piece I wrote a couple years ago in a flash and recently pulled back out for a quick facelift, is on Tiny Lights. I absolutely love their Flash in the Pan section. The inspiring description, a good reminder for all writers: "Writers have a lot in common with the prospectors who swarmed California…
"Memory can be warped, it lies, it tells us what we want to hear. So part of this essay is a call to work beyond personal knowledge and thus beyond memory, to test that memory against other evidence in the world. Memory will rarely match that evidence very neatly, but this is a good thing.…
My sisters and I always call my mother on November 2nd. Today, she asked me if I remembered the cakes we made for Daddy. "I gave you each a can of frosting and you decorated with lots and lots of sprinkles. Daddy always acted so surprised!" When I told her that no, unfortunately, I don't…
