Marlena Maduro Baraf is the author of the new memoir At the Narrow Waist of the World. Born in Panama, she moved to the United States as a teenager. She worked as a book editor at Harper & Row and McGraw-Hill.
Q:
Why did you decide to write At the Narrow Waist of the World, and how was the
book’s title chosen?
A:
I didn’t decide. It really took me by surprise. I’d signed up for a course in
creative writing at the Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute near me in Westchester.
“Finding Your Voice,” wonderful teacher and seven other writers.
One
of the first assignments was to write about a very painful moment in our lives.
This one thing surfaced for me. I saw myself at the age of 5 or 6 carrying a
white tray with hinged sides, hot milk in the Noritake cup and an English
silver setting. I was taking dinner to my mother who was very troubled at the
time and was in her bed. A story follows that I won’t reveal here.
This
is how the memoir began, inauspiciously, a collage of memories that describe a
difficult but also a loving childhood. The title for that first scene was “Mami,”
and that’s the name that felt right for what became a memoir.
Over
the years I found a group of talented writers to meet with and share our
developing work. They were all novelists; I was the only memoirist. We adore each
other still today.
Someone
suggested I consider another title, something lyrical with the feel of the
memoir. There was a line in the book describing the Canal Zone as “a cinch belt
that cut across the narrow waist of Panama.”
The key was “waist,” symbolic of
so much. Feminine, like the two main characters. It was also visually Panama, a
narrow isthmus that connects North and South America—and the center of the
world during my childhood. When I tried
“At the Narrow Waist of the World,” we knew it was right.
Q:
You write, “I am becoming more and more fascinated by multilingual writing.”
Can you say more about you how you employ it in your work?
A:
I couldn’t leave out the Spanish of my childhood. Spanish expressions came
loaded with feeling and connections to the culture in which I grew up. Phrases
that my mother used, for example, are inseparable from who she was.
I
tried to weave in the Spanish phrases in a descriptive context that made their
meaning clear in English; I almost never employed a literal translation.
Readers say it works. People tell me I should do podcast readings because the
mix of languages is especially beautiful.
Q:
Did you remember most of the details you write about, or did you need to do
research to recreate some of the scenes in the book?
A:
Most are from my own memory because I was trying to access lived experience.
But I did rely on my sister and two brothers for their own experiences with our
Mami and also things that happened when I was no longer living in Panama. I
interviewed elders in the family for details in the past, because I go into
generations before mine. I called my old U.S. college roommate, found her in
Washington state. That was fun.
I
used my sister as surrogate to interview a person in Panama who’d been
important in my mother’s life. I interviewed my mother’s elderly psychiatrist
by phone. I did extensive research on the history of the Spanish-Sephardic community
in Panama and before--even though the memoir is a slender volume.
Q:
What do your family members think of the book?
A:
My sister and brothers have known all along about the book and have encouraged
me to tell the truth of our childhood, It’s of course my version of it. They read
portions published in journals. but they haven’t seen it all. I’m a little
nervous about one or two scenes.
There’s
a book fair in Panama about to begin and I’ll be there and try to communicate
the themes and ideas around the memoir in Spanish. I’ll find out what my extended
family thinks. I call them the galaxy; we are such a close-knit group.
In
the memoir I am revealing family truths, and each person has their own memories
and experiences with much of what I’ve written. They’ll either be thrilled to
read versions of what they know or upset by my saying certain things in public.
I’ve used real names. Please wish me luck!
Q:
What are you working on now?
A:
I’m so busy now with the launch of the book, articles. events, of course. But
once things settle down, I will continue to interview Hispanics in this
country, a series I begun called Soy/Somos, I am/We are. I’ve interviewed about
14 people so far. I’d also like to pursue poetry in a serious way.
Q:
Anything else we should know?
A:
The broad theme of this memoir-- resonant today—is that there are so many of us
in this beautiful country of the U.S. whose backgrounds are mixed in some way.
There is intermarriage across culture and race. We travel. We stay in touch
with people in other societies via the internet, WhatsApp calls, and so on.
These are riches we have and should celebrate.
Not
least—Deborah--thank you for this lovely opportunity to tell you about At the
Narrow Waist of the World.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
I'm impressed with your interview, Marlena, and hope to get to your memoir shortly. Two books are sitting on my nightstand area of yours. I so get the hectic pace of the first year following publication; it's awesome, exhausting, thrilling, incredible -- well, you get my drift. My year post-publication of Odessa, Odessa (September 11) is approaching. I have a sense of relief and of sadness because of the conflicting nature of publishing a book. But I'm trying to catch my breath.
ReplyDeleteWonderful interview
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