Carmelinda Blagg was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Texas at Dallas, and fondly recalls those years as a time when she fell in love with literature and writing. After graduating, she spent several years traveling throughout Europe, living and studying in Florence and Perugia, Italy, and later in Paris, France, where she earned a certificate in paralegal studies from the American University in Paris, focusing on International Trade Law and European Union Law. After returning home, she resettled in the Washington, D.C., area where she went to work for the World Bank for fifteen years. In her free time, she began writing short stories and pursued her M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University.
After retiring, she continued to write and eventually published her short fiction in many journals and anthologies, both online and in print. She has been a past recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. In addition to writing, she has also served as an Associate Editor and a Contributing Editor for O-Dark-Thirty, the literary review published by the Veterans Writing Project. Presently, she resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Daniel. Geographies is her first collection of stories.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
The title for my book was easier to find than I expected. It was, you might say, always there. It came from one of the stories in the collection (which is actually the first story I published). I have always liked the plurality of the word—it’s not often used. We’re more accustomed to the term “geography.” But, as I was putting my collection together, I began to see “geographies” as an apt metaphor that could convey a sense of not only the physical landscapes that make up our world, but also the manifold worlds we carry inside us, the things that make our memories and give them shape and dimension, and which, I would add, is also the place where stories come from. I also saw that many of the stories had this quality about them—things like images of maps, ideas about displacement and the meaning of home, and the ways in which memory is like a map.
How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?
It was a real “Oh my gosh!” moment when I saw that cover. Much like the title, the image for the cover was serendipitous—it came to me from one of the stories. I shared the image with Ronaldo Alves and his team of graphic designers, who put it all together beautifully. The reaction to the cover has been so positive. Everyone loves it. And, when I held the book, well that was a nice jolt of pleasure too. What can I say? It’s one of those moments every writer loves.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
I grew up in a large, creative family of ten. As kids, being creative was central to our lives. Four of my brothers emerged as tremendously talented artists. And art—like books—has always been a part of my life. I think for me, I came to writing gradually, through reading. It was a way of finding my individuality in a big family. I was an English major in college and I remember discovering the stories of Eudora Welty—such wonderful wit, such characters! And those of Elizabeth Bowen—so different from Welty, with her Irish/English syntax and her rich sentences loaded with subtle meanings—and then I read Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. That left me breathless.
After I graduated, I saved my pennies and traveled to Europe—England, France, Italy. I had hardly any money, no clue what I was doing, and only a vague notion that I might be a writer. While I was in Italy, I met a retired American who was living there, a veteran of WWII. He did occasional freelance writing for newspapers and magazines. We started talking about books—he was quite a voracious reader—and became good friends. He hired me to type and help edit manuscripts for him and I ended up staying in Italy for two and a half years. I did three manuscripts for him—two novels and a non-fiction book—on a rented IBM Selectric typewriter! Working with him, I learned a lot about the bare bones of what writing was really all about. He could be a real stickler about his sentences and it would drive me crazy when I’d type a page, then he’d go and change everything. But I was learning so much. He gifted me a copy of Rilke’s The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and he was always encouraging me to write. He was funny and kind and loved books and history. He really taught me how to see my life differently, and to never give up on my dreams. I am ever grateful for his friendship.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
I have always worked. I had to. Coming from a large family, we didn’t have a lot of money. I’ve been a waitress, a cook, a dishwasher, and a nanny. It took me a long time to get my B.A. because I was working to pay tuition, but I was determined to finish.
I worked in the legal profession, as a paralegal, for fifteen years with an affiliate of the World Bank—International Finance Corporation. It was quite an interesting job. I learned so much about myself, about the world, and, not least, about using language. Lawyers use language in a particular way—it’s like building blocks. And I worked alongside people from all over the world, which taught me how mutable language is, how words and phrases can have many different meanings. I did this while pursuing my master’s in writing from Johns Hopkins taking evening classes.
Ultimately, I would say that having the kind of working life I’ve had has been invaluable to me as a writer.
What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?
Hearing from readers. A friend who bought a copy of the book told me later how much she enjoyed the stories. She had some questions, she was curious about a couple of stories, we talked about them. I loved that. Having a reader who wanted to talk to me about the stories was a new experience. I confess I was quite nervous when my book was released and I realized it was going “out into the world” so to speak. I really didn’t know what to expect. But, so far, it’s been really nice.
Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.