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Monique Roffey
26quotes
Monique Roffey
#### A Prolific Caribbean-Born Author
Monique Roffey is a British novelist of Trinidadian descent, known for her distinctive and engaging writing style that often explores themes of identity, culture, and human relationships.
Full Name and Common Aliases
Monique Roffey's full name is Monique Roffey. She is occasionally referred to in her capacity as Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester.
Birth and Death Dates
Born on 1 July 1965, there is no information available about any passing away date for this individual.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Monique Roffey's nationality is British. She has worked as a novelist and professor in creative writing.
Early Life and Background
Roffey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to a Trinidadian mother and an English father. Her family moved to England when she was four years old, where she spent most of her childhood. Roffey's diverse background has significantly influenced her writing, often incorporating elements of Caribbean culture into her stories.
Major Accomplishments
Monique Roffey is the author of several novels that have received critical acclaim for their nuanced portrayals of complex relationships and identities. Her notable works include The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, which won the 2009 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and Armand and the Two-Legged Dog, published in 2015.
Notable Works or Actions
Roffey's novels are often set against the backdrop of colonialism, imperialism, and identity politics. Her writing is characterized by its lyricism, precision, and thought-provoking exploration of human experiences. Monique Roffey has been a professor at several institutions, including Manchester University and the University of East Anglia.
Impact and Legacy
Monique Roffey's work has had a significant impact on contemporary literature, particularly in the Caribbean literary scene. Her writing often raises important questions about identity, culture, and the complexities of human relationships. As a result, she is widely recognized for her thought-provoking novels that resonate with readers across various backgrounds.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Monique Roffey's commitment to exploring themes of identity and culture through her writing has made her a prominent figure in the literary world. Her unique blend of lyricism, precision, and nuance makes her work both engaging and thought-provoking. As a result, she is widely quoted and remembered for her contributions to literature that continue to resonate with readers today.
Monique Roffey's diverse background and writing style have cemented her position as one of the most innovative voices in contemporary Caribbean literature. Her exploration of human experiences, often infused with elements of Caribbean culture, has left a lasting impact on the literary world.
Quotes by Monique Roffey
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George liked it so, that this island was uncompromising and hard for tourists to negotiate. Not all welcome smiles and black men in Hawaiian shirts, playing pan by the poolside. No flat, crystal beaches, no boutique hotels. Trinidad was oil-rich, didn’t need tourism. Trinidadians openly sniggered at the sunburnt American women who wandered down the pavement in shorts and bikini top. Trinidad was itself; take it or leave it.
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Travelling, he’d always thought, was where he’d meet his other self. Somewhere in a foreign place, he would bump into the bit of himself which was lost.
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He had a strange relationship with books. He had the notion that people who wrote novels were also lonely. He believed this more and more, reading between the lines of the novels he’d loved. Most books were about one kind of loneliness or another, about people who couldn’t get what they wanted, people who found things hard, who were slow, or sad, or difficult. So he read most evenings, finding a comfort in following words written by someone like him.
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That’s what a poem is. Words which have a hidden meaning. A poem is like a secret.
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I made myself unhappy measuring my love against a given norm. The truth is, we make ourselves happy in among a wide variety of loves; all count.
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Apart from writing books, my 40s have been about pursuing personal growth. Whatever were the mistakes of my earlier life, I've been committed to a pause, a regroup. I don't want to make the same mistakes in the future.
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All my books explore fatherhood. I look at what it means to have a big father figure at the centre: sometimes they're a good father, sometimes bad.
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'The White Woman on the Green Bicycle' is a love story mapped onto an unfolding political tragedy: that of the failure of the Independence era in Trinidad.
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The romantic idealism of my youth has been replaced with realism and hard work at what I love.
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At the age of 62, my father died of cancer - it was much too soon. My mother never remarried or got over it, never even thought of another man.
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