2021 YOU GONE ALREADY?
Our last feature writer of the year is Carribean Fragoza. Her short story collection, "Eat The Mouth That Feeds You" was published by City Lights, an indie press that champions diverse literature. Fragoza's collection has been categorized by book reviewers as "gothic" or "horror." Since in her stories, the dead or dying are inexorably linked to our waking reality. In fact, the world of the dead does not exist in "Eat The Mouth That Feeds You." This is a bit of a stretch, but I see Fragoza's book as reality and not horror. It's the reality we have not allowed ourselves to see because we are caught up in the process of living. Unfortunately, living always requires us to dull the truth, just a bit to continue breathing.
In our interview, Fragoza supported my interpretation of her book. She said, "there is this reality that we live in, but there's so much that is around us that we might not know how to access."
Why feature a "ghostly" short story collection for our final 2021 newsletter instead of featuring this book during Halloween? Because the holiday seasons are ghostly. Look, we make New Year's resolutions in hopes of ridding our ghosts - unhealthy eating habits, relationships, being unorganized, not being our best-selves.
The holidays are tough because it's packed with a lot of expectations and feelings that we've buried all year long. The limited daylight, unavoidable family dynamics during the holidays, and the colder temperatures, cracks open all those silent feelings, and all of a sudden, our past comes alive, and sits right next to us. The sadness we've buried in March returns. The frustration we've hidden about our sister comes back to say hello. The emptiness we've felt in our romantic relationship since April, anchors us to more sadness.
The winter makes most of nature dead, but blossoms the ghosts of our silent feelings. For me, this is the true meaning of horror and gothic - the ghosts of unprocessed feelings. The ghosts of our past. The ghosts that are in the making. They are always nipping at our flesh, revealing the truth, making us feel undone, especially during the holidays.
This December, I'm welcoming all of my ghosts - depression, anxiety, and family trauma - to the party, instead of pushing them aside, or segregating them to only one month.
So why feature a "ghostly" short story collection for our final 2021 newsletter? Because ghosts are ever-present in our lives.
