PANAJI
Goan author, poet and artist Frederika Menezes' latest book 'Miguel' was released recently. “Miguel is a story about friendships, love and life – a fiction, totally based in Goa,” states Frederika whose earlier books, 'The Portrait', 'The Pepperns and Wars of the Mind', 'Unforgotten', and 'Stories in Rhyme', have been popular in Goa's literary world. Her poem, 'The Different Normals' features in the Class X English textbook of the Goa Board. "There are books that teach and those that entertain and books that do both,” says Frederika. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of one, today Frederika is a champion for the cause of the differently-abled. Daughter of two physicians, Jose Menezes and Angela Fonseca e Menezes, she began writing poetry at a young age. "I began with typing poems on a typewriter. With the help of technology, I now type with two fingers on a smartphone," says Frederika who also does paintings digitally on a tablet, smartphone or computer using only one finger.
