“I knew I wanted to see my name on the cover of a book.”
— Krystal Sital
When Krystal Sital returned to NJCU, the energy in the room shifted. Her presence wasn’t just as an author, but as an alum, an immigrant, a mother, and a truth-teller. Before I even heard her speak, I found myself asking, “Who is she?” By the time she closed her book, I was changed.
Her visit wasn’t just a reading. It was a full-circle moment. The same classrooms she once walked through are now filled with students reading her words. Her memoir, Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad, is as much about family trauma as it is about survival and reclaiming narrative. One student put it best: “Her writing is incredibly relatable and human. It makes me feel like I’m going through it alongside her.”
Krystal spoke candidly about her writing process, admitting that she didn’t even know what memoir was when she began. A timid student in NJCU’s English Department, she found early guidance in faculty like Edith, who would hand her Post-its filled with recommended books. “I always knew I wanted to write,”
Krystal said. “But I didn’t know how to begin. Memoir found me.”
One of the most moving moments came when she read a powerful excerpt about witnessing abuse through the eyes of her mother as a child. The room went silent. Not just listening but absorbing. Her voice shifted in tone when she slipped into dialect, adding layers to the characters and grounding us in the Trinidadian rhythm of speech. She explained that she played with how to display dialect in her writing. She questioned whether to use italics or phonetic spelling and ultimately chose what felt most true to her voice.
“Writing is lonely,” she said. “It’s just you and the page. But your community, that’s where your support comes from.” She stressed the importance of reading every day, creating supportive writing circles, and honoring your voice above all. She reminded us that even with imposter syndrome, even though children, jobs, and uncertainty, “you don’t stop writing.”
Krystal’s journey from undocumented immigrant to published author and professor is a testimony. “The goal was always to publish. Life got in the way waitressing, raising kids, getting citizenship, but I locked myself in a room and finished that book.” She encouraged us not to wait for the perfect moment but to create space and time to tell our stories.
As a writer currently in a memoir class, I asked her how she started. Her answer was honest. “I began with the hardest scene. But I realized I needed to earn that moment. I had to build emotional trust with the reader first.” That insight stayed with me.
Krystal Sital reminded us that writing is not only craft but courage. And for those of us chasing the dream of publication, she left us with the most important reminder. “Don’t sell yourself short. Get paid for your words. Your story matters.”
You can follow her on Instagram @krystalsital and find her work in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Rumpus, and Lit Hub. But more than anything, I suggest you read her memoir — not just for the story, but for the soul behind it.
