Aspen Words’ current writer-in-residence Carole DeSanti speaks in Aspen Tuesday evening. Her upcoming novel, "Plunder," about real-life female pirates, has inspired some bold moves of her own.
DeSanti began working on "Plunder" after a trip to Turks and Caicos, where pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny stashed treasure. Through her research, she found the two women took to piracy as an act of social protest.
“It became about when you feel like things have gotten to a point where you need to interrupt, disrupt and say enough already, and I think both of these women had to do that,” said DeSanti.
DeSanti ended up being so inspired by her research into the lives of Read and Bonny that she left her position as executive editor at Viking Penguin publishing, a job she held for for more than 30 years.
“There was something in them that kept whispering in my ear, 'You know, you can’t write about us and live a risk-free life.' They’re like, 'We need you to come a little closer to our side,'” she said.
DiSanti will read from "Plunder" and discuss her experience in the publishing world at Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar.