Each week we will be connecting with our contributors showing where they have been, where they are now, and what’s up for the future.
Name: Carmella Guiol
Title of Piece Published in Sweet: Fanmail – Sarah Einstein
Issue: 9.2
Find her:
Twitter
Instagram
Medium
Carmella recently moved from Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico where she plans on supporting the local agriculture movement and writing a memoir about her relationship with her father who suffers from early-onset dementia.
You can learn more about Carmella by visiting her website and reading her weekly newsletter.
What are some major accomplishments you have had since your Sweet publication?
Since my Sweet publication, I’ve taught poetry to Miami elementary students in English, French, Spanish, and Creole. I’ve also started performing as a stand-up comic.
Can you tell us about a current/ongoing project that you’re excited about?
I’m excited about my weekly newsletter, Dispatches from my Digital Life, in which I explore issues of digital health, and the addictive nature of our relationships to our handheld devices and online identities. I’ve written about a yearlong social media sabbatical I took for Orion magazine. I’m also in the early stages of writing a memoir about my relationship with my extraordinary father and his journey from sailboat captain to dementia patient.
Who is your favorite author?
Joy Harjo
What is your favorite poem/essay/book?
I love memoirs because I love seeing someone’s life experience from the inside. Choosing my favorite books is hard, so instead I’ll just tell you what I’ve recently read and loved: Native Country of the Heart by Cherrie Moraga, Memory Palace by Mira Bartok, Becoming by Michelle Obama, The Baltimore Book of the Dead by Marion Winik, The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman, Rough Beauty by Karen Auvirnen, and Paula by Isabel Allende.
What inspires you to write?
Writing allows me to connect with myself and the world around me in a deeper way.
What is your favorite sweet?
My favorite sweet is the French staple, crepes. In my family, we have a long tradition of Sunday crepe brunches, and while we make them with all kinds of toppings, my favorite is the simple sucre/citron combination: brown sugar and lemon. You can’t go wrong!
Thank you, Carmella, for taking the time to reconnect with us. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
