Happy to report that I’m still coming through on that “100% survival rate” I spoke of in my last post. Since then, I’ve experienced some further personal struggles that have laid me unexpectedly bare (read: there’s been lots of self-help books and big talks about health, finances, etc.).
In a way, what I’ve been feeling has felt like truly learning the cost of what it takes to write the books I do. Books that are equal parts lyric nerve, formal curiosity, and trauma. That last ingredient lives outside the books as well as in them, and is something that’s been running my life for a while. I’m catching up with it, helping it unpack. After so many years, it should sit a spell.
Whether poetry or creative nonfiction. I’m often asked some version of the question: How are you able to write the things you write? The raw, often personal nature of my work is often what is meant. The truth is, I don’t know. I don’t know how I am able to write the things I write, I just know I have to write them. I just know that the languages I’ve been gifted in this life have provided some stability in a life otherwise run solely by survival and overwork. I just know that sharing the gift of words with others has meant so much to me, which is why my absence from this space has been tough.
As I learn what this all means moving forward, I’ll be sharing here when appropriate. I’m also hoping to reclaim this space, to get back to sharing and celebrating the writers and art that influence my writing life. Hence some of the changes to the appearance of the site.
How am I able to write the things I write?
Come find out with me.
UPCOMING EVENT
Next week, I will be the special guest reader at the latest installment of Tell-All Boston‘s reading series: “Life on the Margins.” I’ll be reading from my memoir, Ruin & Want (Sundress Publications), and sharing the stage with other writers from the area. This reading has a virtual attendance option if folks aren’t in the area but want to tune in.
Here are the complete deets:
WHAT: Tell-All Boston presents: “Life on the Margins” with special guest José Angel Araguz
WHEN: Thursday, June 13th: 7PM EST
WHERE: in person & virtual
IN-PERSON INFO & RSVP LINK: Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Cambridge, MA; RSVP at this link.
VIRTUAL INFO & REGISTRATION LINK: Register to attend this event virtually at this link.
Happy reclaiming & influencing, y’all!
Abrazos,
= José =
The Influence 