Author: Elizabeth Huergo
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“The Dare” by Rachel Unkefer
I entered my first short story contest in 2009 on a dare—and won. Until then I never considered submitting a story for publication. I thought of myself as an unpublished novelist, not a writer of short stories. Since then, I’ve had four more stories and a poem published. But this is not a story about publishing.…
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An Interview with Sheryl Louise Rivett
So to Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language and Art Sheryl Louise Rivett is the blog editor at So to Speak, a George Mason University literary journal. She is also a fiction candidate in the MFA program at Mason, where she is working with two members of the Mason Health Administration and Policy faculty…
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An Interview with Teresa Burns Murphy
Teresa Burns Murphy is a talented writer and (happily for me) a dear friend. Her debut YA novel, The Secret to Flying, published by TigerEye Publications in 2011, is told from the perspective of an adolescent girl named Donita Tosh and explores the intricacies of the mother-daughter bond. For Donita, growing up poor in a small Arkansas town…
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An Interview with Tim Wendel
When One More Page Books, a local indie book store in Arlington, Virginia, invited me to do a reading in tandem with Tim Wendel, who also writes about Cuba, I don’t mind admitting I felt a little intimidated. Wendel, after all, is the author of 10 books, including Summer of ’68, Castro’s Curveball, High Heat and Habana Libre. His writing has…
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“The Power of Friendship and Latino/a Identity” by Comadre Nora Comstock
I have always been a reader—not a writer. Occasionally someone would bring to my attention a book by a Latino writer, and I would purchase and read it. The story filled my soul and made me yearn for more, but the idea of seeking out Latino/a writers to read and interview did not occur to me…
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An Interview with Raquel Cepeda
I had the pleasure of meeting Raquel Cepeda—not in person, but over the telephone, in an interview conducted by Nora de Hoyos Comstock, founding member, president and CEO of Las Comadres Para Las Americas, an international group of comadres (“godmothers”) who work to unite us all through literature written by Latinas/os. So the first thing…
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An Interview with Eamonn Wall
The first thing I ever learned about Eamonn Wall had nothing to do with his poetry and everything to do with his generosity. In his role as guest editor of Natural Bridge, a literary journal published by the University of Missouri, St Louis, he included one of my short stories in a special edition on exile. Without…
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“Wearing Three Hats” by Clarinda Harriss
Wearing three hats is uncomfortable. Wearing more than three is unwieldy to the point of immobilizing you, which is probably just as well because you look ridiculous. The hats I totter under are beret, mortarboard, schoolmarmish cloche, black prison uniform cap, fedora with press pass stuck in the brim, and flapper’s feathered whimsy. There’s a…
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An Interview with Doritt Carroll
If you ask her, Doritt Carroll will tell you that she is (unfortunately) a lawyer and (fortunately) the mother of two daughters. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University. Her collection In Caves was published in 2010 by Brickhouse Books. Her poems have also appeared in a long list of publications, including Coal City…
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“Be an Autodidact” by Fatima Brown
I just finished a course in Latino/a Feminisms that included the topics of history, identity, and feminism. The class was writing intensive, allowing students the possibility to explore their personal views on particular matters. Something we all found curious was our unfamiliarity with Latin America and its history. I believe most of us were unprepared…