Q&A with Jo-Anne Berelowitz

  

 

Jo-Anne Berelowitz is the author of the new book Somewhere I Belong: A Story of Country, Family, Home, and Jewish Identity. She is also an art historian, and she lives in Austin, Texas.

 

Q: What inspired you to write this book?

 

A: There is no single, outstanding precipitating event I can point to. Rather, there were many things that drew me to reflect on my South African past and write about it.

 

One factor was becoming friends with a young woman with a degree in art history from Cape Town University. She applied to me for a teaching position, and although I could not offer her anything, we became friends and, in speaking with her about South Africa, I felt a door open to the past and a magnetic force compelling me to pass through it.

 

Another was a box of letters that I’d saved and forgotten about and then rediscovered—all of them written to me when I lived in South Africa.

 

The other, I suppose, is that I reached a point in my life where I wanted to take stock of where I’d come from and how I got to be “me.” I tend to be introspective, so that once I started on this journey, it gained momentum and I kept going.

 

Q: You describe the book as autofiction--how would you define that in the context of this work?

 

A: Calling it autofiction gave me license to embellish and give rein to creative imagining, as I do in the chapter about my paternal grandfather. Memoirists do embellish and invent, for we cannot recall conversations exactly and, besides, memory plays tricks on us.

 

The genre of autofiction became important to me when I realized I needed to change the names of some people who are close to me because I didn’t feel I had the right to insert them into my story. And so, resorting to autofiction, I concealed their identities.

 

I like hybrid genres. I find them interesting and intriguing because they unsettle the reader and pose questions about art and truth-telling.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: I’ve always had a hard time with titles, but this one came relatively easily. I knew the word “belong” had to be in the title. I asked myself the question: Where do I belong? The answer was: Somewhere. And so the title became clear.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: The book was an interesting challenge. Hitherto, I’d written only academic essays, and so I had a steep learning curve to learn to write a long-form personal story with a narrative arc.

 

I love that kind of challenge and was completely engrossed in acquiring enough mastery to write the book that I eventually produced. Achieving that has given me confidence. I’m proud of the book and feel it is a contribution to the universal struggle of finding oneself.

 

I hope readers identify with the struggles of the protagonist and are encouraged by her survival. I also hope that readers learn about South Africa and gain an understanding of its complex history. Another important issue is that I got to tell my story. It is my truth.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Essays mainly. I’m not sure I have another long-form book in me right now, but then I never set out to write a long-form book. At a certain point, I realized that the collection of essays I’d produced could be turned into a book—if I worked hard at it.

 

Right now, I’m immensely intrigued by the spirituality of Navajo jewelry. I keep asking myself why I love it so much. I’ve begun to read about it so that I can answer my question. This is, in part, because of the art historian in me, partly because I’m drawn to Jewish spiritual practice. I’m not sure what else, but I know I’m getting close to writing about it.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope you enjoyed the book, and I hope your readers are inspired to read it. Thank you so much for featuring me and for the questions you asked. I’m deeply appreciative. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb