Interviews

Mónica Ojeda on Nefando
Following the success of last year’s National Book Award–nominated Jawbone, a chilling English-language debut drawing from Lovecraftian horror in its portrayal of the dynamics in an all-girls’ Catholic high school, Ecuadorian novelist and poet Mónica Ojeda Continue reading... 10/29/23

Interview with Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya
One of the great joys of receiving an advanced copy of a debut novel is not knowing what to expect. True, there may be some indicia of the books’ quality. For example, the publisher may have developed a reputation for bringing into the world quality—and perhaps Continue reading... 7/20/23

Robert Lopez on Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere
Robert Lopez lives in Brooklyn and is best known for his fiction which includes three novels, two story collections, and one novel-in-stories. His novel, Kamby Bolongo Mean River, was named one of 25 important books of the last decade by HTML Giant. Lopez’s fiction, Continue reading... 4/2/23

Reyna Grande on A Ballad of Love and Glory
Reyna Grande’s path to becoming a bestselling author was not based on financial privilege or being born into a well-connected family of writers. She was just two years old in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, when her father left for the United States to find work. Continue reading... 8/26/22

Interview with Mayra Santos-Febres
I started writing when I was very, very young. I was five years old. Actually, I started learning how to write by writing poetry. My mother was a teacher of Spanish and my father was a teacher of history in high school, my mother in elementary school. And because Continue reading... 8/5/20

​Interview with Isabel Allende
Today we will be speaking with the international, award-winning and best-selling author, Isabel Allende. Isabel Allende is the author of 23 books which have been translated into 42 languages. She has sold over 74 million copies worldwide. She is the recipient of Continue reading... 5/18/19

Interview with Quechua Pop Singer Renata Flores Rivera
Renata Flores Rivera is a Peruvian singer whose cover of the song The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson, in Quechua, became viral through social media. Quechua is the native language of the Incas in South America and, like most of our indigenous languages Continue reading... 12/16/18
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​Interview with Norma Elia Cantú
​Norma Elia Cantú has published poetry, fiction and scholarly essays. She has received two Fulbright-Hays fellowships to do research in Spain. Her novel, Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera, received the Aztlán Prize in 1996. Other projects include co-edited and Continue reading... 7/5/18
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Interview with WA Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna
​​Named the 2018-2020 Washington State Poet Laureate, Claudia Castro Luna was born in El Salvador and is the first immigrant and person of color to assume the role. She recently ended her tenure as the first Seattle Civic Poet (2015-2017), a program administered Continue reading... 2/28/18
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Interview with Writer, Activist and Professor Tony Diaz
Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say in 1998. He is the leader of the Librotraficantes-champions of Freedom of Speech, Intellectual Freedom, and Performance Protest. He also hosts the Nuestra Palabra Radio Continue reading... 7/3/2017
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Interview with Singer and Song Writer Renee Goust
Renee Goust is a Brooklyn based, bicultural singer and composer who has recently tackled social issues through her songs such as violence towards women as well as other social issues in the U.S. and Mexico. Her current single La Cumbia Feminazi has recently become Continue reading... 5/28/2017

Paz Pardo on The Shamshine Blind
In 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands leading to a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The conflict lasted 74 days concluding with Argentina’s surrender Continue reading... 4/09/23
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Joy Castro on One Brilliant Flame
​Quite often, discussions of the Cuban community in Florida revolve around the lives of those who escaped the Communist regime of Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution and the subsequent shaping of Florida’s political landscape. But for literature professor and writer Joy Castro Continue reading... 2/26/23

Alejandro Varela on The Town of Babylon
Alejandro Varela (he/him) has written for many publications including Boston Review, Harper’s, The Rumpus, The Brooklyn Rail, The Offing, Apogee Journal, and The Point, among other places. His short-story collection, The People Who Report Stress, will be published by Continue reading... 7/27/22
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Interview with Cherríe Moraga
​Cherríe Moraga (1952-present) is a Chicana writer, feminist advocate, poet, essayist, playwright, and cultural activist. Daughter of a Mexican American mother and an Anglo-American father, she was raised in southern California in the days when the civil rights, Continue reading... 3/11/20

Interview with Cincinnati Poet Laureate Manuel Iris
​Manuel Iris is a Mexican Poet and an educator recently named Poet Laureate of the City of Cincinnati, Ohio. Iris received the National award of poetry Merida (Mexico, 2009) for his book Notebook of dreams, and the Regional award of poetry Rodulfo Figueroa for his Continue reading... 12/2/19

Interview with Erika Sánchez
Erika L. Sánchez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. A poet, essayist, and fiction writer, she is the author of a young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, a National Book Award Finalist, and the poetry collection, Lessons on Expulsion Continue reading... 12/15/18

Interview with Sandra Cisneros 
Sandra Cisneros is an activist poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist and artist. Writing for over 50 years, her work explores the lives of the working-class. Her numerous awards include NEA fellowships in both poetry and prose, the Texas Medal of the Arts, the Texas Continue reading...  10/1/18
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Interview with Pulitzer Prize Finalist Luis Alberto Urrea
​Luis Alberto Urrea (Tijuana, Mexico) is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for his landmark work of nonfiction The Devil's Highway. He is also the bestselling author of the novels The Hummingbird's Daughter, Into the Beautiful North, and Queen of America, as well as the story Continue reading... 2/25/2018
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Interview with Angela Cervantes
Angela Cervantes is an award-winning author whose debut book, Gaby, Lost and Found (Scholastic 2013), was named Best Youth Chapter book by the International Latino Book Awards and a Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of 2014.  Continue reading... 12/31/2017
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Interview with the US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera
The following is a Communal Interview organized by Olga García: Questions from different folks for our Estimado Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. You must feel the words — while having some kind of inner melody going, not like a piano Continue reading... 7/7/2017
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