Centering the abundance
with Natalia Sylvester author of 'A Maleta Full of Treasures'
#NuevasPáginas is a space that aims to amplify and spotlight Hispanic/Latine/x authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to their next favorite Hispanic/Latine/x authored book through a mini casual get-to-know-the-book-and-author interview. So please help me connect to more readers. So that together we can continue to build the love/support of Latine literature!
Hey Book Franz!
Time flies when life is life-ing, amrite? I truly have no excuses to give for being away from this space since February. I’m only grateful that you all have stuck around. I have missed coming into your inbox daily and it seems my brain needed a quick reset for the new year with so many wonderful things going on.
One of those is that my author book club partnership with the DC Public Library is back! If you missed our first event of 2024, we got to kick it off with Melissa Rivero and Jennine Capó Crucet (!!!! the link will lead you to our recorded conversation). It was such a good time and this week, we get to celebrate National Poetry Month with three phenomenal poets. If you can, please consider joining us for a captivating panel to celebrate National Poetry Month featuring three remarkable poets and their latest works. Samuel Miranda's "Protection from Erasure," Rigoberto González's "To the Boy Who Was Night," and José Olivarez's groundbreaking collection “Promises of Gold”, all delve into themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of love. Don't miss this insightful discussion on poetry's power to illuminate the human experience across cultures and generations.
Register to attend here & please share the event with your friends and family. This partnership is made possible by the DC Public Library Foundation and the wonderful staff at the DC Public Library. So much effort and work go into this series — it is truly a labor of love— and what makes it “successful” is how many folks we can get to walk through the doors of the library to join us (even if that just means virtually via the DC Public Library YouTube Channel). So many shares and amplification is deeply appreciated.
So see you at la biblioteca?
Now on to our author spotlight of the week…without further ado, our special guest author for today’s Nuevas Páginas issue is…Natalia Sylvester, author of A Maleta Full of Treasures….
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
This photo was taken the day my grandparents arrived from Peru and my parents, sister, cousins, aunt and I went to receive them at the airport. You can’t see it very well in the picture, but we made them a welcome sign (I’m the one in the far right). This memory and others like it—the bittersweetness of loved ones who arrive and will soon leave—carried so much of this book.
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book
My hope is that this book is part of a growing number of books that are shifting representation from a place of scarcity to one of gleeful recognition.
The first time I saw Juana Medina’s illustration of Dulce and Abuela hugging at the airport, I felt like she’d brought a piece of my childhood alive in book form, which was a feeling I never got to experience as a kid. But we’ve come a long way since then (yet we still have ways to go!) so my wish for kids today is that “representation” will evolve to be less about the lacking of it, to the simple reveling in the beauty of seeing themselves in stories, and never having to question that they’re worthy of it.
What are some conversations you hope your book starts?
I hope it’ll start conversations celebrating the joys of who we are, and the places and people that shape us. And, though there is an undercurrent of bittersweetness in the story to having loved ones far away (and all the reasons that may be) I wanted to center the abundance that comes with belonging both to the places we come from and the places we call home. Being part of an immigrant family is one of my life's greatest gifts.
What was something you learned while writing your book? In what ways did it change you?
Writing this book brought playfulness back to my writing practice. I literally wrote it during a time when I was writing my YA, Breathe and Count Back from Ten, and needing a break from some of its harder themes. It’s not an exaggeration to say Maleta has gotten me back in touch with my childhood self. In so many ways, I think writing kidlit has changed what I bring to the page and how, whether I’m writing YA, picture books, or my next novel for adults.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
As a kid I was so enamored by the Berenstain Bear books. I guess I always loved these so-called quiet stories of families and their small, everyday happenings. Nowadays I always feel even more at home anytime I read a book by Meg Medina. The way she brings out the extraordinary in the ordinary is so wonderful to me.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
Natalia LaFourcade, particularly her song Hasta la Raiz, which is such a beautiful homage to how far we carry our roots with us no matter where we go.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
Alfajores! And Turrón de Doña Pepa. Anything with condensed milk in it. Any candy or cookie that they associate with a loved one.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
I didn’t read a book by a Latine author until I was a freshman in high school, so the first stories I ever wrote didn’t reflect much of my life or family at all. As hurtful as that erasure was, it makes me want to be unapologetic about taking up space in stories, and writing about our community with honesty and love.
I write from this place implicitly now. Even in my next picture book, The Warmest Light, which depicts kids and families of all backgrounds, the narrative voice is mine, is Latine, and shifts to Spanish in a moment of tenderness because that’s the language I reach for when words are at their most gentle. There’s no need to justify that voice being there. It just is.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
I’m @nataliasylv on Instagram, Threads, TikTok and Twitter. Also, I have a newsletter called One True Thing, that readers can subscribe to at nataliasylvester.com.
Thank you to Natalia Sylvester for taking the time to chat with me about her book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) #SupportLatinxLit!
Natalia Sylvester is the author Running, her YA debut, as well as two novels for adults, Everyone Knows You Go Home, which won an International Latino Book Award, and Chasing the Sun. Born in Lima, Peru, she grew up in Miami, Central Florida, and South Texas, and received a BFA from the University of Miami. She currently lives in Austin, Texas. Look for her at nataliasylvester.com and follow her on Twitter.
Synopsis for A Maleta Full of Treasures:
From an award-winning author and illustrator, a warm, gentle ode to cherished visits from grandparents and the people and places that make us who we are even if we haven't met them yet.
It's been three years since Abuela's last visit, and Dulce revels in every tiny detail--from Abuela's maletas full of candies in crinkly wrappers and gifts from primos to the sweet, earthy smell of Peru that floats out of Abuela's room and down the hall. But Abuela's visit can't last forever, and all too soon she's packing her suitcases again. Then Dulce has an idea: maybe there are things she can gather for her cousins and send with Abuela to remind them of the U.S. relatives they've never met. And despite having to say goodbye, Abuela has one more surprise for Dulce--something to help her remember that home isn't just a place, but the deep-rooted love they share no matter the distance.