At 51, like many women her age, author Noelle Quintos de Jesus has spent much of her life making a home, earning an income and raising a family. But that hasn’t stopped people from asking her why it’s taking so long to finish writing.
“Nobody ever asks male writers how old they were when they wrote their first novel,” she exclaims with mock indignation, followed by her characteristic belly laugh. “The truth is, I feel like I’m in my element at this age. I’m more experienced at life and more cognizant of different perspectives.”
Born in the US, raised in Manila and residing in Singapore for the past 20 years, the author will be launching her second short-story collection, Cursed and Other Stories, at the Singapore Writers Festival on November 6, four years after her first anthology, Blood, was released to critical acclaim. Another Immense Sky, a novel, is now in draft mode and will hopefully be available next year.