Martha this is excellent!! What a great interview. I don't know much about Mauritius outside of sporadic news articles, but that's why reading is so lovely — now we can get a fuller, more human picture. I'm so intrigued now and am devastated to see it's not available in the US until December 😭 I eagerly await the day!
Thank you Steph! The brilliance of reading is getting a fuller, more human picture! Blackwells usually does shipping from UK to US and (I THINK) postage is free?! Then you don't have to wait until December 😉
This was an incredible conversation to read! I am going to order her book right now! I have always had an interest in Mauritius since reading Diego Garcia, so will look into the books suggested at the end of the article too.
Thank you Lisa!! Yes order it!! And then once you’ve read it come back and lmk what you thought! I recently purchased a copy of Diego Garcia so am super excited to read it. I also have a copy of Tropic of Violence by Nathacha Appanah to read soon - passing on the recommendation if you’re interested!
I have heard a lot of great things about Appanah - hoping to read tropic of violence next month so fingers crossed there will be a review soon! And your endorsement of DG definitely influenced me to buy it!
This is brilliant, Martha. I loved reading your thoughtful questions and Ariel’s extraordinarily smart answers! I wondered—and this might be answered in the collection itself—if Ariel acknowledged any of the positive effects of tourism (presumably Mauritius, like many islands, depends on tourism for its economy?) or if she has an alternative vision for Mauritius, whereby the economy could reconfigure/ survive without it?
Hi Pandora! Thanks so much for this question, and please let me know if you’d like a copy. Our immense dependence on tourism is something I do talk about in the collection (and in other projects to come). In essence, if it weren’t for tourism, we’d be in a very difficult place. There’s no way we’d survive without it. The path forward, for me, is in redesigning tourism — in making sure it is as sustainable as possible, and that the tourist who comes to Mauritius is able to properly engage with the history and culture of our island.
So like one easy way to do some of this work is to scrap the idea of our hotels as ‘resort experiences’, where tourists spend, in essence, about a week in a gorgeous hotel without thinking, interacting or engaging with Mauritians and Mauritian culture beyond a sega show after dinner. And that change must come from the conglomerates that own the hotels + the government (especially the Ministry of Tourism).
This is a fantastic interview, Martha, and I hope to see more in the future! What a great conversation and I'm so looking forward to it coming out in the US - I can't believe I have to wait until December!
Thank you McKenzie! I hope to give you more in the future too (fingers crossed) I miss you in my comments - how are you?! If you order from Fitzcarraldo or Blackwells directly, then you don't have to wait until December 😉
Martha this is excellent!! What a great interview. I don't know much about Mauritius outside of sporadic news articles, but that's why reading is so lovely — now we can get a fuller, more human picture. I'm so intrigued now and am devastated to see it's not available in the US until December 😭 I eagerly await the day!
Thank you so much Steph! You can also order through the Fitzcarraldo website in the meantime - it should take about two weeks to arrive :)
Thank you Steph! The brilliance of reading is getting a fuller, more human picture! Blackwells usually does shipping from UK to US and (I THINK) postage is free?! Then you don't have to wait until December 😉
Extremely embarrassing that I forgot about Blackwells, revoke my reader card, but great tip about fitzcarraldo too!!
This is deffo embarrassing for you - will remember to forget it ever happened
Such a fantastic interview!! I love when two brilliant minds meet, and am happy we get to witness it.
Can’t wait to read this collection! Anything with Martha’s stamp of approval goes to the top of my list.
We are indeed two brilliant minds - thank you for witnessing it 😌
I can’t wait to hear what you think when you do read it!
This was an incredible conversation to read! I am going to order her book right now! I have always had an interest in Mauritius since reading Diego Garcia, so will look into the books suggested at the end of the article too.
Thank you Lisa!! Yes order it!! And then once you’ve read it come back and lmk what you thought! I recently purchased a copy of Diego Garcia so am super excited to read it. I also have a copy of Tropic of Violence by Nathacha Appanah to read soon - passing on the recommendation if you’re interested!
Thank you! I will look into the Appanah, I have another of her books. Yay that you purchased Diego Garcia too!
I have heard a lot of great things about Appanah - hoping to read tropic of violence next month so fingers crossed there will be a review soon! And your endorsement of DG definitely influenced me to buy it!
Aaaaahahhh, amazing content! I bought a copy of Portrait of an Island on Fire after reading this!
Thank you Nicole!! I can't wait to hear what you think about it once you've read it X
This is brilliant, Martha. I loved reading your thoughtful questions and Ariel’s extraordinarily smart answers! I wondered—and this might be answered in the collection itself—if Ariel acknowledged any of the positive effects of tourism (presumably Mauritius, like many islands, depends on tourism for its economy?) or if she has an alternative vision for Mauritius, whereby the economy could reconfigure/ survive without it?
Hi Pandora! Thanks so much for this question, and please let me know if you’d like a copy. Our immense dependence on tourism is something I do talk about in the collection (and in other projects to come). In essence, if it weren’t for tourism, we’d be in a very difficult place. There’s no way we’d survive without it. The path forward, for me, is in redesigning tourism — in making sure it is as sustainable as possible, and that the tourist who comes to Mauritius is able to properly engage with the history and culture of our island.
So like one easy way to do some of this work is to scrap the idea of our hotels as ‘resort experiences’, where tourists spend, in essence, about a week in a gorgeous hotel without thinking, interacting or engaging with Mauritians and Mauritian culture beyond a sega show after dinner. And that change must come from the conglomerates that own the hotels + the government (especially the Ministry of Tourism).
Thank you so much for replying, Ariel! Super interesting and makes total sense. Congratulations on your brilliant sounding book
Thank you Pandora! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it and I love your question (and Ariel's answer, naturally)
This is a fantastic interview, Martha, and I hope to see more in the future! What a great conversation and I'm so looking forward to it coming out in the US - I can't believe I have to wait until December!
Thank you McKenzie! I hope to give you more in the future too (fingers crossed) I miss you in my comments - how are you?! If you order from Fitzcarraldo or Blackwells directly, then you don't have to wait until December 😉