Mauritian novelist, Priya Hein, hopes readers discover unknown aspects of Mauritius through her debut novel, Riambel: ‘I hope that my readers will appreciate seeing another side of Mauritius other than the glossy brochures used to lure tourists to our island. There is so much more to Mauritius if one is willing to look deeper and scrape off the layers.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
I fell in love with books before I could even read. I would look at the pictures and make up stories based on the illustrations. From poring over picture books, I gradually moved on to early readers, comics, Paddington Bear, Tales of Beatrix Potter, as well as books by A. A. Milne, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Louisa May Alcott, Nancy Drew, Comtesse de Ségur to name a few. Most of the books I read as a child were borrowed from the library and I loved inhaling their familiar musty scent. And even if I rarely saw myself in those books, I was living vicariously through the characters that stimulated my young imagination. Little did I know back then that I would one day write a book of my own, for a(nother) little brown girl to see herself in...
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