Monster artist/monstrous art?
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How I Decided to Write a Novel About Tearmana
Tearmana was 11 when she died of syphilis, according to a Tahitian priest. The story had been passed down from generations and kept as a secret. When I arrived in Tahiti, I just couldn't find any trace of her. Everything that I thought I knew disintegrated really. So it was a blank canvas onto which you created your own portrait. You think in the book, she was 11, you make a point of that, her age isn't known. But Gogao at one point says, I know you're not 15, but let's say you are so they don't crucify me on my return. Outside the bounds.
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