A warm welcome to Bonnie Buckley Maldonado. Bonnie grew up in Northern Montana among ranchers and Irish storytellers, and eventually became a Professor of Psychology at WNMU. After many years of college teaching and administration, Bonnie went back to her first love: writing. She was a founder of the Southwest Festival of the Written Word and served as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Silver City and Grant County, 2012-14. An inductee into the New Mexico Women’s Hall of Fame, Bonnie has received several awards for her work and her community service. Denizens of the Big Ditch is her sixth book.
When were you happiest?
Teaching. I love the interactions and chemistry with students.
What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
A periodical historical romance novel.
What’s the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Procrastination.
What’s the trait you most deplore in others?
Bigotry and Intolerance.
What’s the most important lesson life has taught you?
The importance of connections and relationships.
What book(s) are you reading now?
In Her Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia.
What books might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
Japanese literature.
Which writers working today do you admire most? Why?
Writers who are also social activists who tell stories that we need to hear, especially from the perspective of a diversity of cultures and races. Authors such as Isabel Wilkerson, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Louise Erdrich.
Which genres do you read? Which do you avoid? Why?
I read memoirs, biographies, literary fiction. I avoid chick lit – I think it is a waste of time.
What book(s) “should” you have read but haven’t, or what “classic” couldn’t you finish?
Pilgrim’s Progress. Dark, religious literature is more than I can bear.
You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Mark Twain, Willa Cather, John Howard Griffin, Dame Edith Sitwell.
Tell us about your latest book in no more than 50 words.
In the 1860’s a wave of Anglo Americans swept over SW New Mexico, including the US cavalry and seekers of precious minerals. As a result, the lives of people of color in the area were forever changed. An Indian fighter, a black woman entrepreneur, and a local madam are just a few of the stories surrounding the Denizens of the Big Ditch.
Where can we find this book?
Due to the pandemic Denizens of the Big Ditch has not been distributed locally. Please contact the author directly for available copies. A release will be planned sometime in 2021. bonniemusing@gmail.com
