Identity, Belonging Tantra and Mermaids -Monique Roffey | (S4 E4)

Send us Fan MailMonique Roffey (born 1965 in Port of Spain, Trinidad) is a Trinidadian-British writer and memoirist whose work spans novels, essays and literary journalism. She studied English & Film at the University of East Anglia and earned a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. Her novels often explore themes such as identity, colonial legacy, sexual awakening, otherness, and the relationship between people and place — frequently drawing on her Caribbean heritage. Her notable works include Sun Dog (2002), The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (2009), Archipelago (2012) — which won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature — House of Ashes (2014), The Tryst (2017), and The Mermaid of Black Conch (2020), which won the Costa Book of the Year award. She is also a lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and is active in supporting emerging writers in Trinidad and the Caribbean. Key points of the episode:Mermaids, and when and why they were dreamed up. Hint- it goes back a long way!How she does not always trust her feelings about her new book.How a small indie publisher took her book, and how she crowdfunded the publicity!Her connection to Trinidad, and its problem with femicide.Her current activism.The "Hey!" Festival she co-created and what it is.Her ongoing journey into Tantra and why she did it.www.moniqueroffey.comInsta: @moniqueroffey Support the showHas this podcast inspired you and would you like to learn more?You can reach out to Lucy, love coach, relationship counsellor, couples counsellor extraordinaire and author of "How to have extraordinary relationships with absolutely everybody".....On:http://www.lucycavendishlovecoach.com/