One Tufts student is well on her way to a professional writing career. Tiphanie Yanique Galiber-Gundel, a junior, is in the midst of writing her first novel.
"I have written short stories and poetry since I learned how to write," Galiber-Gundel said.
With a mother who is a poet and a librarian and a grandmother who is a librarian as well as a storyteller, Galiber-Gundel said literature has been an important part of her life. "I've always had books around me," she said.
Galiber-Gundel grew up in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and much of her culture is reflected in her writing. Her novel is going to be a full literary work, and she says that it will have Caribbean culture embedded throughout the entire text.
"The novel is set in St. Thomas and deals with issues mostly concerning the power of the female ancestral line," Galiber-Gundel said, adding that it also addresses the complications of female heritage in Caribbean culture.
An excerpt from the novel appeared in the Spring 1999 issue of Onyx, a campus magazine filled with literature and literary art. The novel is very family-oriented, and the passage in Onyx is a conversation between the main character, Marilyn, and her grandmother, who is telling a story.
Also addressed in the novel is the clash which occurs when Marilyn meets people from other cultures. She develops two love interests during the course of the story, one from St. Thomas and the other is from the United States.
"There are conflicts, positives, and negatives that come from both aspects," Galiber-Gundel said, referring to the love interests.
Although the main character is in high school, Galiber-Gundel has written the novel for an adult and college audience.
Even though Galiber-Gundel formally began writing her novel in a writing class she took with English Lecturer Jonathan Strong, she said, "the idea was always in my head. I knew that when I took a fiction course I would write about it."
As far as the actual writing process goes, Galiber-Gundel handwrites all of her prose first and then converts it to type. "I think I'm more creative when I use my own hands," she said. So far she has about 60 pages typed and 20 handwritten.
She attributes her progress to her working habits. She likes writing in her own private space, and turns off the phone so she will not have any distractions. "I put myself in a zone like I'm in the Caribbean. I put calypso music on in the background and talk to people with Caribbean accents," Galiber-Gundel said.
Galiber-Gundel's writing instincts are reflected in her English major and in her interest in the Peace and Justice Studies (PJS) program. She said that she chose to acquire a certificate in PJS to make her writing more socially conscious.
As a member of the PJS program, Galiber-Gundel has met a number of people who have influenced her to read more Caribbean novels. "Before I came to Tufts, I hadn't read a lot of novels by Caribbean writers. Taking Peace and Justice Studies helped me get into a lot of those issues," she said.
In particular, she said author Edwidge Danticat has influenced her greatly. Danticat is a Caribbean novelist who is in her 20s and has written a published and much-acclaimed novel.
"She has made a big impact on me," Galiber-Gundel said. "If she can do it, I can do it too."
"She gave me the kind of hope that people are interested in reading stuff like that and that people will read my work even though I'm not the typical 40-year-old writer," Galiber-Gundel said.
While Galiber-Gundel seems to be at a high point in her early writing career, she remarked that her senior year of high school was extremely promising as well.
"Maya Angelou came to the Virgin Islands to speak to a large crowd. There was a booklet with [works from] a bunch of student writers on the island, and she made a comment about a really good writer in the booklet," Galiber-Gundel said. Angelou then read one of Galiber-Gundel's poems to the crowd.
During her years at Tufts, Galiber-Gundel has been involved in many student organizations. Last year she was Co-Editor-in-Chief of Onyx and she will be Co- Editor-in-Chief of Queen's Head and Artichoke next year.
As a freshman, she won the Dean's community service award. Galiber-Gundel has been involved with volunteer work with the National Organization for Women for several years, and she plans to continue her work.
This year she won the Mary Grant Charles prize for creative writing with a focus on ancestry. Also, Galiber-Gundel won an award from the African American Center for excellence in artistic creativity for her literary contributions to the community.
