Antiguan Joanne C. Hillhouse is the author of Oh Gad! (Strebor/Atria/Simon & Schuster), The Boy from Willow Bend (Macmillan/Hansib) and Dancing Nude in the Moonlight (Macmillan). Her fiction also appears in the anthologies So the Nailhead Bend, So the Story End: An Anthology of Antiguan and Barbudan Writing (A Different Publisher), In the Black: New African Canadian Literature (Insomniac Press) and For Women: In Tribute to Nina Simone (Black Classic Press/MZWrightNow Publications); while her fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous journals including Womanspeak: A Journal of Literature and Art by Caribbean Women, Tongues of the Ocean, Mythium: the Journal of Contemporary Literature, Ma Comère: Journal of the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars, The Caribbean Writer, Calabash: A Journal of Caribbean Arts and Letters, Sea Breeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian Writings,SX Salon: A Small Axe Literary Platform, Poui: the Cave Hill Literary Annual, and more. Hillhouse's awards include a Breadloaf fellowship, the David Hough Literary Prize, and a UNESCO Honour Award for contribution to literacy and the literary arts in Antigua and Barbuda. She's founder and co-ordinator of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize - http://wadadlipen.wordpress.com - promoting the literary arts among young people in Antigua and Barbuda. She works as a freelancer providing primarily writing and editing services for clients. Like her at http://www.facebook.com/JoanneCHillhouse Also check out http://jhohadli.wordpress.com
Reviews for Hillhouse's Oh Gad!:
"Joanne's confidence in telling our story in a contemporary setting with some history and mythology thrown in without making you feel like you got to go to university to understand that our navel string is tied to the 'muddy' and sucks up our ancestors......bravo Joanne...bravo.....can't wait to see this on the 'Book Club"list across the diaspora and beyond." - Brenda Lee Browne, Handbags and Chocolate blog
"Hillhouse expertly reels the reader deeply within the cultural fabric of Antiguan society... With, Oh Gad, Hillhouse has officially placed herself on the international literary map. Her ability to convey the soul of her characters through their words at times makes one forget they're actually reading fiction. This tale of family, love and loss could potentially bridge the gap that separates Caribbean people and their African American counterparts; particularly from a literary standpoint." - David B. Da Costa, Caribbean Literary Salon
Reviews for Hillhouse's The Boy from Willow Bend:
"The coming of age story is well crafted, lively and absolutely believable" - Daily Observer, Antigua
"...a story of the triumph of spirit over situation." - She Caribbean, St. Lucia
"...effectively addresses issues prevalent in Caribbean society." - Sun Weekend, Antigua
"The characters in Hillhouse's book feel real and best of all, they feel Caribbean, but the story could have held up in any culture." - Trinidad Guardian
Reviews for Hillhouse's Dancing Nude in the Moonlight:
"In Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Joanne Hillhouse weaves a love story into a narrative of the challenges facing a young family of emigrants from the Dominican Republic to Antigua, exploring themes like the difficulty of trust and the individual's longing to be at home in the world." - Caribbean Beat, Trinidad
"A true page-turner that never misses the beat, Dancing in the Moonlight is definitely an excellent choice for book club discussion and a great selection for a modern literary readers' collection" - Sun Weekend, Antigua
"It is beautifully crafted and simply told..." - Outlet, Antigua
"Dancing Nude is lyrical, sensual and gentle...a valuable glimpse of the Caribbean female." - The Caribbean Writer, USVI
"A narrative that is rich in issues, values, intercultural conflict and gender relations as they present themselves in Antigua today...(the) love story is sensitive, sensuous, well nuanced..." - Antigua and Barbuda Review of Books
