The Secret of Cooking

By Afiwa Afandalo

Meet the Pair

MENTEE AFIWA AFANDALO & MENTOR CAROLINE PRESTON

Afiwa’s Anecdote: Are you familiar with The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon? If yes, then you know Natasha’s love story began when she was standing in the middle of Grand Central Terminal while gazing up at the ceiling. I was also standing in Grand Central not long ago, with my mentor Caroline. We were looking for a dark spot my teacher had said was in the corner of the ceiling. Lesson to take away: No matter what you are looking for, the person supporting you is what matters the most.

Caroline’s Anecdote: I met Afiwa for our first pair session at a café in the Bronx. I thought it would take a few weeks, maybe months, before we found a rhythm to our conversations, so I’d come prepared to go line by line through the Girls Write Now handouts mapping out our backgrounds and goals. But Afiwa has a way of making me—and everyone—feel comfortable from the start. She gave me a big hug, as if we’d grown up together, and started telling me about her creative writing class in school and how much she dislikes AP physics and why she cares about girls’ education and what kind of poetry she reads. Afiwa has a way of assuring others that there’s little to worry about, even when I’ve just come close to choking on a grilled cheese sandwich or neither of us can figure out Glitch. I find this same quality in her writing. She creates worlds that are warm, hopeful, that you want to inhabit, to feel encircled by her thoughts on the page.