Spartanburg author Marjorie Boafo Appiah — better known as Marjy Marj — tackles some of life’s toughest topics through the eyes of a young Ghanaian immigrant named “Sasha” in the latest installments of Marj’s “Young Shimmigrant” series.
While Marj enjoyed writing growing up, she didn’t muster the courage to pursue writing until a few years ago when she took a creative writing class. It was then she knew she could write the stories she had been wanting to for so long.
Marjy reads to “Sasha” to a young reader, photo providedIn 2019, Marj published her first novel, “The Shimmigrant,” the story of a young girl named Sasha who travels from the West African country of Ghana to the United States.
Part of her writing comes from her own experiences, she says, as a Ghanaian woman who moved to the U.S. and now lives in Spartanburg — a community that she is very much active in through a variety of volunteer and charity work.
On August 17, Marj will publish two new books in a children’s series based on “The Shimmigrant.” The books — called the “Young Shimmigrant” series— follow Sasha as she makes her way to the U.S.
“I noticed that I was getting a lot of young adult readers, in addition to having adult readers,” says Marj. “I was getting feedback about how they would like to teach the action, the principles and the philosophies that I talked about in ‘The Shimmigrant.’ And so I thought, ‘Okay, why don’t we just make a very simple work for the younger kids to also learn the story of immigration and child labor and perseverance.'”
The topics Marj covers can be hard to digest, even for adults. But Marj says she’s learned to simplify them by imagining she’s talking to her niece.
“As I was writing, I was thinking about my little niece: the kind of questions she would ask and what she would like to know,” Marj explains. “It helped me to break down the story.”
Marj says she writes about these topics because these are things that need to be discussed. “You have to find a way to let children know what the real world looks like without frightening them,” she says.
On top of her writing, Marj also runs a podcast, Humanity Chats. She says she’s covered topics ranging from infertility to police violence.
In both her writing and her podcast, Marj says she’s looking to share stories and to help broaden people’s worldviews.
“Of course, it’s not everybody who will love on the other person, but we should try and see things from other people’s perspectives,” Marj says.
Sasha Perseveres and Sasha Dreams Big will be available starting on August 17 from Marj’s website: https://marjymarj.com/.
