CAROL ASCHER

Looking at my writing, I see how two novels, The Flood and A Call From Spooner Street, a memoir, Afterimages, and my most recent nonfiction book, A Chance for Land and Fresh Air, all explore the trauma and conflicts of immigration. Though I feel very American, my heart is deeply touched by the hopes and resilience of immigrants.

In mid-2017, I was drawn to care for a Guatemalan teenager, ultimately becoming his legal guardian and helping him move toward college and a Green Card. I also became involved in Vecinos Seguros, a local organization that tries to bring safety and support to the undocumented Central Americans who live precariously in our midst, and I write regularly for my local newspaper, The Lakeville Journal, on the precarious situation of Central American immigrants, particularly in my area.

The Trump administration has turned me into an activist after several decades of quiescence, heightening my loyalties as the daughter of refugees. Born a couple of weeks after they arrived on these shores, I learned English in my neighborhood and school. Becoming my parent's first "American child," I interpreted the often incomprehensible American world about them, a role I find myself again playing these days.