Author Nicole Dennis-Benn at her book party at Jamaican bookstore ‘Bookophilia’ in Kingston, January 2017. Photo by Emma Lewis, used with permission. “A story waiting to be told” is how Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James describes “Here Comes the Sun,” the debut novel by Nicole Dennis-Benn — who, like James, is a Jamaican novelist living in the United States. The novel has garnered positive reviews, including in the New York Times. Dennis-Benn's recent visit to the island of her birth coincided with an ongoing, stormy discussion in the Jamaican media — particularly social media — and in the public domain about sexual abuse. In Jamaica, exploitation of young women in difficult economic circumstances is fairly common, and the perpetrators are often older men who hold positions of privilege in society. The debate was sparked by the case of a pastor in the Moravian church, who has been charged with having sex with a 15-year-old girl. As the resulting scandal, revelations and often bitter discussions continue, church leaders have resigned and allegations of child abuse against other church key church figures are being investigated. Dennis-Benn's book honestly confronts many of these issues. Global Voices asked the author about the evolution of her work and how she tackles these difficult issues in her novel. Global Voices (GV): Tell us a little bit about your journey as a novelist. Did leaving Jamaica help you to develop your writing? When and how did you feel empowered to write? Nicole Dennis-Benn (NDB): When I left Jamaica at 17 years old for college in the United States, I wrote to cope with my homesickness. I realized then that it was more than a coping mechanism, [it was] my passion — a passion I wouldn’t have gotten to explore had I stayed in Jamaica. As Jamaicans, we were raised to honor traditional professions such as medicine, law, business and politics, but not the arts. I was the first in my family to attend college and thus felt it was imperative that I not let my family down by doing something of no value to them. I was determined to be a doctor then, taking pre-med courses at Cornell University, because in the eyes of every working-class household, medicine is among the top professions […] to pull us out of our socio-economic bracket. Years later, I got the courage to pursue a Master in Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College after graduating with a Master’s in Public Health and working in the field as a researcher at Columbia University. I was still timid about fully immersing myself in writing and even calling myself a writer, though I was writing constantly. Most of that diffidence came from what I had internalized growing up. However, I am glad that I took the leap, because I would not have been happy with a flashy career doing something I don’t want to do for the sake of status. Moreover, had I stayed in Jamaica as a working-class Jamaican, I would not have had the time or the opportunity to nurture my passion in writing, which would’ve been deemed a luxury. Also, I would not have been able to step outside the mental rut of survival to critically analyze the culture and write from an honest perspective. Therefore, it took leaving the country and processing the reasons why I felt the need to leave in the first place, which contributed to my desire to write. GV: Do you think this will be uncomfortable reading for some Jamaicans? It is so close to reality for many Jamaican women. NDB: So far, the book has been well received by Jamaicans. I think more than anything else, they appreciate the honesty and the fact that it tackles universal themes they can identify with, regardless of their personal experiences or beliefs. For example, themes such as love, loss, identity, acceptance, and displacement are all themes people can connect to. Many Jamaican women have reached out to me thanking me for writing a book like ‘Here Comes the Sun’. For one, we live in a culture of shame and secrecy; and for the first time, Jamaican women see their stories of sexual assault and questions of self-worth being tackled on the page without it demonizing them or portraying them as caricatures. It is important to them to see themselves reflected on the page by a writer who is one of them. Again, this reminds me of why I write. As Marcus Garvey says, ‘Only us can free us’, and if we don’t begin to have open dialogues about what ails us as women in our culture and society in general, then we will never heal. GV: You mentioned that you struggled with your portrayal of the character of Margot and her sexuality. Can you closely relate to her in some ways, as a lesbian from Jamaica? NDB: Yes, I relate to Margot a lot.