Mariam Neves is an author's heteronym. Cairo Otaibi is a character. On certain occasions the author gets caught inside the character; we call it marriage.
Some wise crack once said that if you look at the life of any novelist, you'll find an early traumatic break, and this one is no exception. When she was ten years old her younger sister died as a result of a tragic accident. By that time the poet was already writing, and the new trauma further kindled the fire of expression.
Born on an isolated country estate in southern Europe without electricity or canalization but with all the creatures comforts, she first heard of man’s landing on the moon on a battery powered radio. There were the horses, the mules, the donkeys, the dogs, the cats and a whole array of farm husbandry that allowed for a deep relationship to soil and air.
Fast forwarding through elementary and secondary school and the girl found herself on the shores of the Pacific with a very vague idea of what to study or do with her life. California happened after another freak accident that had her stitched back together in Montreal. The physical scars are barely visible but the trauma stayed. Two big traumatic breaks all before the age of twenty for this one.
After a few years in California and a few degrees later, she returned to Europe, settled down to start a family, and liked none of it. These days she roams the planet and dreams of anonymity.
