Cherisee Moe
At 21, Karlene Joseph left Trinidad for New York City to live with her father. She never had a close relationship with her dad, and this was meant to be their time to bond. He died ten days before she arrived. With no time to process her emotions, she went straight into survival mode.
In hindsight, she describes that season as a “masterclass in resilience.”
Today, at 56, she works as a change management consultant, guiding organisations through major transitions—but she is also Scarlet Ibis James, an author who uses fiction to work through that period of her life. She has published three books: Scarlet Yearnings: Stories of Love and Desire, Scarlet Birthright: What They Left Behind, and Love in the Dark: Holiday Romance for Grown-Ups. Scarlet Birthright, particularly, has resonated with readers across the region and abroad. It reads like a conversation with her father, giving voice to what was left unsaid.
“He needed me to know that he was young, under immense pressure, and full of good intentions,” she says of the inspiration for the book. “My sister shared that he always thought he had more time. He chose inaction and silence. He was human. I had not realised how much resentment I was still carrying toward my father, or how that weight was keeping me functioning but not thriving. To become who I am meant to be, I had to confront it. Through those characters, I saw him differently and forgave him. It has been a profound blessing.”
Becoming an author was never on her to-do list. In fact, her dream was to become a commercial artist. She attended school in New York for graphic design but quickly realised she lacked the raw talent for it. She moved into creative development and eventually change management, earning a psychology degree at Georgia State University.
She explains: “My colleagues respected my work but could not articulate the value I brought as a change manager. I wanted to document my expertise and give them the words they lacked. That introduced me to a community of creative nonfiction writers, which opened the door to fiction. I quickly noticed that my fiction pieces garnered far more enthusiasm and engagement. Beyond that, the spiritual aspect of writing became undeniable.”
Her first collection, Scarlet Yearnings, features characters like Tricia, a younger version of Karlene, and explores themes of self-destructive grief and the deep yearning for a father’s love. In her favourite piece, Love Destined, Scarlet Ibis intertwines childhood memories of her grandmother cutting off her international pen pal correspondence with research on the Bahia people in Brazil, exploring the crossroads of culture and faith.
Though as a child she always dreamed of living in the Big Apple, she returns home every year to reconnect and to visit the beaches, something she admits, “I did not do enough when I lived in Trinidad and Tobago.” However, this ten-day trip is especially meaningful. Not only is she celebrating 33 years of marriage, but on May 1, her literary journey came full circle as she debuted as a presenter at the Bocas Lit Fest 2026, with stories rooted in this very place.
“It also matters that I will be alongside fellow Trinidadian writers whose short stories have earned their own recognition. We all approach the page differently, but we are all circling back to the idea of home. There is a beautiful sense of completion in that return,” the former San Juan South Secondary student tells WE.
Alongside her creative work, which can be found at www.scarletibisjames.com, the mother of two is most proud of her family—a concept she had to relearn. Growing up with her grandparents, she saw relationships as complex and temporary. Her husband, on the other hand, who is from Haiti, came from a background where leaving was never an option.
These days, you can find Scarlet Ibis James working on her fourth book: ‘Beyond First Glance.’ It continues her exploration of second chances and the daily choice to love, and asks a question we all have pondered: what does it take to stay?
