Profiles of Roothbert: Summer Edward ‘09
When Summer Edward ‘09 began seriously pursuing writing as a vocation, adult literature was her focus. “I’d been writing since I was a teenager,” commented Summer, “and when I first started to send my work to publications, I submitted work for adult readers.” Children’s literature, on the other hand, was not a path Summer initially envisioned for herself.
While pursuing a master’s degree in Reading, Writing, Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania, a priest and scholar named Dr. Lawrence Sipe who was Summer’s academic advisor opened her eyes to children’s literature as a fascinating field with not only professional promise but a need for greater representation of Caribbean cultures. “Funnily enough, as the years have passed, I’ve been writing for adults less and less. I still want to and enjoy writing adult material, but children’s literature has become my specialization.”
Children’s literature provides the same thematic richness as adult literature. Through the lens of childhood, children’s writers explore the same complexities of life that writers for adult audiences do. “Belonging, how to negotiate identity across cultures, maintaining a sense of self while moving from place to place,” are themes that immediately come to mind. “As someone who grew up going back and forth between Philly and the Caribbean island of Trinidad,” reflected Summer, “I was basically a so-called ‘third culture kid’ and that informs my work.”
The depth of the themes Summer explores in her writing parallels the intentionality behind her representation of Caribbean cultures. “Like all writers, I inevitably draw a lot from my own cultural background, but I don’t want to just explore what we call the five F’s,” in reference to Elsie Begler’s (1998) “five F’s of culture”: food, fashion, fiestas, folklore, and famous people (1). As a Caribbean children’s literature advocate, a part of Summer’s work for a little over a decade has been speaking out against limiting representation of Caribbean people to these common tropes of multiculturalism. “I write stories that go beyond this and address themes that I’m very interested in such as nature, mental health and wellness, self-esteem, bullying, and other topics that are really important to young people.”
Summer giving a poetry reading at the NGC Bocas Lit Fest in 2015
Summer’s first children’s book, The Wonder of the World Leaf, published by HarperCollins UK in 2021, recounts the story of Wygenia, a young girl living in Trinidad, and her pursuit of a medicinal plant to help heal her ill grandmother. “I wrote the first draft of the story nine years ago and the inspiration for it grew out of my own experiences with chronic illness in my 20’s,” shared Summer. “What chronic illness does, at least the way that I experienced it, is it makes you feel very helpless, which is how children often feel. It really does activate a childlike side of yourself since you need to be helped by loved ones and rely on others a lot more than usual. I don’t like to analyze my own writing, but I’m beginning to suspect that Wygenia perhaps represents an aspect of my inner child that came to the floor when I was ill. Perhaps Wygenia is my inner child who personified herself to me in order to help heal both me and others through the telling of this story.”
Summer presents herself as a ‘preserver of Caribbean storytruths.’ “Fiction is unabashedly subjective and stories are not real, but they are nevertheless true,” she explained. “Sometimes fiction can be more true than nonfiction. I use the term ‘storytruth’ to capture some of that tension.”
Summer proposes the importance and power of embracing stories that go beyond the self. “All of my books, while they are informed by my own experiences, are stories of my ancestors and my community. I’m giving voice to experiences that aren’t always mine. Sometimes it feels like the stories are being channeled through me. In the process of writing First Class: How Elizabeth Lange Built a School (Heinemann, 2022), a children’s book biography-in-verse of a pioneering Haitian nun who founded one of the first schools for Black children in the western world, I felt a palpable sense of Elizabeth Lange’s spirit, like she chose me to tell her story to a new generation. While researching her, I felt like I knew her.”
The future for Summer is uncertain but full of exciting possibilities. “I’m halfway through my 30s now and I feel like I’m just getting started. I’d like to open a publishing house and publish Caribbean works for young readers, or have my own imprint at an established publisher. Raising awareness of culturally authentic literature for Caribbean children and young adults will always be my mission.” Whether revamping Anansesem, an online magazine she founded that’s “devoted to professional, culturally authoritative coverage of Caribbean children’s and young adult literature,” pursuing teaching, or creating a children’s wellness center in Trinidad, Summer envisions her work contributing to fortifying connection and community through literacy and storytelling.
For more information about Summer and her work, please visit her website at www.summeredward.com.
Begler, Elsie. (1998). Global cultures: The First steps toward understanding. Social Education, 62(5), 272-75.