Virgin Islander’s Novel Explores Workplace Bullying and Caribbean Mysticism

“According to a Workplace Bullying Institute survey, an estimated 48.6 million Americans are actually bullied at work…With statistics like that, it’s evident why people hate Mondays.”‌ That is how author Kevin Delano Hughes contextualized his book Corporate Climbing, which tells the story of how Michael Hill, a Virgin Islander living in New York City, tried to deal with his own experience with workplace bullying, and the terrible repercussions of that choice. “I took a story which at its core is about workplace bullying, and then turned that upside down by adding a scary, supernatural, black magic element to it,” Mr. Hughes told the Consortium.‌ The book demonstrates, through the behavior of the characters in Michael’s toxic workplace, the unique challenges a young black transplant to the mainland can face in the corporate world. Michael must confront “all of these different ‘isms’” which “manifest themselves through his interaction with other people within the company,” Mr. Hughes r...