Let me introduce myself. I was born and raised in Cardiff, South Wales, to first generation immigrants of Jamaican heritage. My formative years were shaped by conflicting pressures: On the one hand, the definitive boundaries and expectations of a religious upbringing; on the other, the open invitation of a new frontier that inevitably pulls the second generation to a different kind of future.

There are times when this tension could have been the death of me – the death of my need to question, to create and to imagine. But instead, the tension fueled the need to express my journey of colliding realities on the page.

Over the years – half my life now spent in California – life has gifted me the planned and the unexpected; the typical and the unique experiences particular to oneself, and throughout it all, the pen has been a great ally and friend.

I write to express what I observe and feel; to explore what wisdom might come; to record a conviction; to declare a truth. I write the questions and trust by faith that the answers will come. I write to validate our life journeys toward the Light of truth and compassion.

And I am heartened by your company.

Blessings,

Your fellow traveler,

Norma A. Borrett