Sharon Underwood
As a child, Sharon Underwood spent countless hours exploring the outdoors, a rural area with green sugar cane fields and fruit trees all around. She currently lives in Ohio, USA but grew up in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Starting at an early age, Sharon’s love of reading is what ultimately lead her to writing her own books. From fairy tales and and comics, to Naipaul, and Walcott, Sharon’s love of diverse literature has been most influential towards shaping her as a writer today.
The inspiration for her stories come from her childhood full of diverse cultural experiences, places, and people. Chasing butterflies, playing marbles, and kite-flying are just some of the most fun times of her life when she was a little girl. By incorporating these memories in her stories, Sharon hopes to preserve some of Trinidad and Tobago’s (TT) cultural gems for both her own family and others to enjoy.
Additionally, because of her previous job as an English as a Second Language teacher, Sharon’s books are bilingual, written in English and Spanish, to promote a love of language learning in her readers. Furthermore, Spanish is spoken in TT now more than ever, due to the fact that a large percent of the population come from Venezuela. Sharon hopes that these new migrants might be able to learn a little more of the islands’ geography and culture through her books, as well as acquire some knowledge of English.
Thinking further ahead, Sharon would love to collaborate with the ministries of tourism and education so her books may be utilized as a promotional and educational tool for both tourists and students respectively. Sharon also loves to support artists out of TT, and the illustrations in her books are all done by local talent.
Additionally, Sharon wants her readers to engage in the world of nature and appreciate its importance in our daily lives. With technology being what it is, Sharon feels that children are not participating in discovering their environment. She would like her readers to come away with a sense of urgency and genuine concern for a better world. Hence, the reading level of her books tend to be advanced but parents, too, have a role to play in helping youngsters by guiding them through the reading.
Currently, Sharon is working on three projects: a mermaid series set in Tobago, an illustrated poem about some animals, and a short historical-fiction story/novel set in the ‘60s. Never a dull moment!
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