A reading with Macondo Writers Workshop alum Pat Alderete, Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley, Cecilia Caballero, Juanita E. Mantz, & Allison Hedge Coke
This is my 2nd time reading at Beyond Baroque! I used to drive by or attend events and hoped to one day read on their stage. I am so excited to read with Juanita. I met her because I reached out after I read her work in an online journal. We had so much in common; the miscarriage, the fertility journey, the supportive husbands, our love of music…. I followed her on social media and discovered we have so many people in common. We’ve become good friends even though we’ve only met twice IRL. She was another one of my writing buddies who championed me to apply to Macondo.
Join us for a live reading & discussion with community-based writers & literary advocates Cynthia Alessandra Briano, Sarah Rafael Garcia, Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley, & LN Webre, moderated by the main anfitriona herself Lisbeth Coiman!
Learn about the organizing they do & hear from them first-hand how they build community & visibility for diverse voices in Southern California.
6-8pm Thursday, Sept. 8th
LibroMobile Bookstore 1150 S. Bristol St. A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
I applied to Macondo Writers Workshop in 2018, the workshop was in San Antonio during the summer. In mid March or April, I got an email saying I was on the waitlist. It was a pretty low number, I knew my chances were good. If you are a reader of this blog or you know me IRL, you know that I had a high risk pregnancy with Charlie. Shortly after I received my good news, I had to withdraw my application. I did not want to wait and hold up someone’s space on the waitlist. That summer, from my hospital bed, I saw my friends, old and new Macondistas posting on social media. I won’t lie, I was jealous at the unfairness of it all; me being in a hospital for three weeks hoping not do die and praying for my son’s life when I should have been living my best writer life in San Antonio.
I sent in my 2022 application and got in! I was so happy and then, our workshop teacher was not able to teach the class! WHAT! Why was the universe f*ck*ng with me this way – but wait, it gets better. Through some magical wonder, my workshop went on with SANDRA CISNEROS and RUTH BEHAR as our workshop leaders.
Lately, my daughter has been demanding that “I get what I want when I want it!” I’ve been teaching her about the poet Mick Jagger and his wise words “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.” She’s not happy with that answer but truer words have not been spoken. I have been wanting to be a Macondista for over a decade. I didn’t think I would qualify but my friend liz gonzalez and other Macondistas urged me to apply in 2018. I missed the deadline last year so this year I made sure to have everything ready and sent in my application well before the due date. I needed this, I needed this cohort, and I needed Sandra’s and Ruth’s magic. I spent four glorious days immersed in writing and discussing our work. I did not think it would be possible to connect and bond over Zoom like we did.
Earlier this summer I got a chance to read at Book Soup! Being a part of this anthology has brought me so much joy and it’s been so inspiring to share pages with my fellow contributors.
Dulce, me, Sonia, Fei and Reyna after our reading at Book Soup. I felt like such a rock star!
Below are some pictures from our Book launch, it was such a fancy party! Check out the cake! I was so in the moment, I did not have a chance to take selfies and the crowd! I’ve never read in front of such a large crowd before.
So much has happened since I last checked in; I got a new job, Matt got a new job, Hudson’s going to a new school, Charlie is starting school. I am overwhelmed with all the to dos before school starts. Hudson will be going to first grade and Charlie to pre-K.
6-8pm Thursday, Sept. 8th
LibroMobile Bookstore 1150 S. Bristol St. A3, Santa Ana, CA 92704
Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley 