Episode 40 - Jennine Capó Crucet
Photo Credit: Monica McGivern
Jennine Capó Crucet is a real one. When I found out she was going to be at the Miami Book Fair to promote her essay collection, My Time Among the Whites, I just knew I had to get her on the show again, and she did not disappoint.
Jennine first came on ReadMore back in 2016 when she was promoting her debut novel, Make Your Home Among Strangers. The issues she addresses in her essays mirror some of the themes in that novel. She discusses what it's like to be one of the few or the only person of color in any given situation.
Jennine experienced this for the first time when she left Miami for Cornell University. Her collection details what it was like to go from an area with a majority Cuban American population to an area with few Latinx people and even fewer Cubans.
My Time Among the Whites was recently longlisted for the Pen America Open Book Award, which recognizes an exceptional book-length work of any genre by an author of color.
Jennine and I sat down to discuss her collection last month at the Miami Book Fair.
Interview highlights:
Jennine reveals...
- What prompted her to pull this collection together
- How she came to have the name of an American beauty queen
- How writing became a way for her to deal with homesickness
Click here to listen to the podcast.
We'll send a free, signed copy of My Time Among the Whites to the first listener to tell us Jennine's favorite Floridian author. You can tweet us the answer or write it on our Facebook page.
If you have won a ReadMore giveaway in the last 90 days, congratulations, but you're ineligible for this giveaway. Also, if you and I ever rode together to Pollo Tropical for lunch, you're probably ineligible. But we'll always have that yummy guava BBQ sauce.
You can also purchase the book here. Proceeds will benefit the show and the author.