Jul 8 2022
Mandy-Suzanne Wong, Awabi 2nd Edition
Gessy Alvarez talks to Digging Press author Mandy-Suzanne Wong about her chapbook Awabi.
About Awabi: A Duet of Short Stories
Mandy-Suzanne Wong deftly explores the complex world of the ama — ocean women, mostly elderly, who eke out a living while diving deep to capture abalone, snails, and otherworldly sea creatures for food. Unlike the men of the fictional village of Kaiyono who fish from boats, the ama battle the cold currents without scuba tanks or snorkels. They do this while facing the threat of an ecological crisis they had no hand in causing. Suffused with lyrical imagery and profound longing, Mandy-Suzanne Wong creates evocative moments of love, pride, jealousy, misunderstanding, and sacrifice in this duet of short stories. Winner of the Digging Press Chapbook Series Award and a Wardrobe’s Best Dressed selection, Awabi is in its second edition.
About the Author:
Mandy-Suzanne Wong is a Bermudian writer of fiction and essays. Her debut novel, Drafts of a Suicide Note (Regal House, 2019), was a Foreword INDIES finalist, Independent Publisher Award winner, NextGen Indies Award winner, and PEN Open Book Award nominee. Listen, we all bleed (New Rivers, 2021), her first essay collection, was an ASLE Book Award finalist, an EcoLit Best Environmental Book of 2021, and a PEN/Galbraith nominee. Her fiction chapbook Awabi (Digging Press, 2022), winner of the 2018 Digging Press Chapbook Series Award, is now in its second edition. Her next novel, The Box (Graywolf), is forthcoming in 2023. You can find out more about Mandy-Suzanne at mandysuzannewong.com or follow her on Twitter @MandySuzanneW
Awabi is available to buy at DiggingPress.com.
Intro and Closing Music Credits: John Sib for Pixabay. "Tropical House."