An epistolary, fictional account of one woman moving towards happiness in the black community of Colombia's Pacific coast.

After a long absence, Vel has come home to Choco - to the Afro-Colombian community, to her family, to the sea. This is where the Pacific meets the Caribbean, where she's establishing herself anew. And the record she keeps is a series of letters to a friend, clarifying for herself where she stands, as she describes that homecoming to another. Vel works to build a literary centre, writing career, and festival with and for the people there. But her return to Choco is also a claim-staking of her decision to pursue happiness now; an account of her immersion in the towns and rivers and forests she came from; and a redefinition of her relationship to sex and love in real time. And Tidal Waters is a vision of how creating something (for your community, for yourself) is a way of reading and writing your way into a known place and a new self.

About the Author

Velia Vidal (Bahia Solano, Colombia, 1982) is a writer who loves the sea and shared readings. In 2021 she was a fellow at Villa Josepha Ahrenshoop, in Germany. For her book Tidal Waters she won the Afro-Colombian Authors Publication Grant awarded by Colombia's Ministry of Culture. She is the co-author of Oir somos rio (2019) and its bilingual German-Spanish edition. She is the founder and director of the Motete Educational and Cultural Corporation and the Choco Reading and Writing Festival (FLECHO). Vidal graduated in Afro-Latin American Studies and has a Masters in Reading Education and Children's Literature. She is also a journalist and specialist in social management and communication. In 2022 she was chosen by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential women in the world.

Annie McDermott is the translator of a dozen books from Spanish and Portuguese, by such writers as Mario Levrero, Ariana Harwicz, Brenda Lozano, Fernanda Trias and Lidia Jorge. She was awarded the Premio Valle-Inclan for her translation of Wars of the Interior by Joseph Zarate, and her translation of Brickmakers by Selva Almada was shortlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. She has previously lived in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, and is now based in Hastings in the UK.

Reviews

"Tidal Waters is personal and intimate [...] and at the same time an examination of a forgotten region of Colombia and of what it means to be a black woman there. A beautiful and moving book we should all read. "" -Pilar Quintana , author of ABYSS

"In Tidal Waters Velia Vidal recounts her personal adventure, drawing us in with her sinewy, chromatic writing. She tells the story of her native region from the perspective - usually forgotten - of its Afro-descendant inhabitants. "" -Irene Vallejo , author of PAPYRUS

"It is rare to find such a wholly sincere way of expressing oneself, free from intellectual stumbling blocks and apparently effortless."" -Tomas Gonzalez , author of DIFFICULT LIGHT

"Without a doubt, Velia is a woman who found a pathway in literature, a voice to counter the racism she sees as systematic" -El nuevo siglo

"Returning to the essential, returning to the roots; this is the theme that runs through the whole novel" -Pulzo

"Velia's poetics is constructed from the greys that lie between dualities: land-sea, leave-return, give-receive (...) Her writing is fresh, honest and direct." -El Tiempo

**********
Praise for Velia Vidal

"En Aguas de estuario Velia Vidal relata su propia aventura [y nos] atrapa con su escritura fisica y cromatica. Narra la historia de su region natal desde la mirada, casi siempre ausente, de los afrodescendientes. Nos hemos encontrado en las dos orillas, Cartagena de Indias y Madrid, y este solo es el principio de una gran amistad. "" -Irene Vallejo , autora de EL INFINITO EN UN JUNCO

"Un libro bellisimo y emotivo que todas deberiamos leer."" -Pilar Quintana , autora de LOS ABISMOS

"Esta forma del todo sincera de expresarse, sin trabas intelectuales y sin aparente esfuerzo, no se encuentra facil por ahi. En algunos textos del zen, especialmente en la poesia budista, hay de eso y ciertos escritores occidentales, Lagerkvist, Rilke, tambien lo logran. Y aqui lo tenemos nada menos que en el rico y complejisimo ambiente del Pacifico colombiano. "" -Tomas Gonzalez , autor de LA LUZ DIFICIL

Book Information
ISBN 9781913867768
Author Velia Vidal
Format Paperback
Page Count 135
Imprint Charco Press
Publisher Charco Press