#NuevasPáginas: Gratitude and suffering coexist
with Alix Dick co-author of 'The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math'
Hi Book Franz,
How are you holding up?
In case you missed my previous issues or are new here, before we jump into a new author interview/book feature, I want to check in on you. I also like to see this as my weekly reminder to check in with myself. So please feel free to reply out loud to yourself, reply in the comments, or you can always feel free to reply to this email, too. I truly believe community sustains, and I’m grateful to be able to be in community with you here.
Some might read today’s special book feature as “timely,” given the recent and ongoing protests across the nation (specifically in Los Angeles — que Viva la gente de Los Angeles) against ICE raids—raids that harm, incite fear, and separate immigrant families and communities. But for me, books like the one featured here aren’t just “timely”—they exist because the problem has always been there. Xenophobia is deeply rooted in U.S. soil, and what we’re witnessing now is the compounded impact of misinformation and a lack of understanding or compassion.
I learned long ago that many folks have a hard time grasping that we have to make an effort to combat that misinformation and fight to expand our openness to learn about each other and our struggles. It takes an effort. It takes being intentional in all aspects of our lives, especially in our reading lives. Which is why I think now more than ever we should be championing and amplifying diverse books. I urge you not only to support and read books by immigrant/undocumented authors, trans/nonbinary authors, queer authors and BIPOC but also to find a way to share them and talk about them to those you know. I believe in the power of books and the power of “word of mouth”. Because you never know when a book could reach a person at the right time. Please share today’s issue widely.
And if you are able, the following organizations are accepting donations that will go to those affected by the raids:
In bookish love and care,
#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!
Without further ado…our special guest author for today’s Nuevas Pagina issue is…Alix Dick co-author of The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math….
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
I took this photo as I was unboxing my book for the first time. I felt a little guilty being happy in this moment, with so much suffering happening in the undocumented community right now. It is hard to make gratitude and suffering coexist. In some ways that’s the feeling that runs throughout the entire book and it was the feeling I had when I took this picture.
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
People might think this is a heavy, academic book about immigration. However, it’s secretly a telenovela - it shares some of the most intimate details of my life, in order to share a personalized understanding of what immigration does to people in this country.
We are living in scary times. The violence against the immigrant community gets worse every day. This book comes out of my need to speak up about the realities of surviving in a country that extracts the best from people and gives nothing in return. There is too much misinformation shaping what people are learning. This is why this book is more than a memoir, it combines research and science.
There are incredible authors that inspire me. Perhaps none more than Jose Antonio Vargas. His book, Dear America, made me feel seen for the very first time. Finishing his book was life changing and it made me realize how important it was for me to start putting on paper the words that were trapped in my chest for years.
What conversations do you hope your book stirs up?
I hope this book inspires readers to speak up and I hope it might, in some way, help unite our communities. It is our responsibility to protect, love, and support one another. At the end of the day, we are all we’ve got.
I pray that this book illuminates for readers just how fragile life can be. I hope it shows how one tragedy can turn us into an object of judgement and scorn in this country. If readers start unpacking their own experiences and beliefs about where immigrants come from and the inaccuracies of the media, that will be a success for me.
What was something you learned while writing your book? In what ways did it change you?
Writing this book transformed the way I see other authors. The sheer emotional toll of putting these pages before you was no easy task. My mental health was constantly challenged as I had to re-live the trauma on these pages.
If a book was a home, where would your home be?
My home would be a book about overcoming tragedy, stacked on my bedroom shelf in my childhood home in Sinaloa, Mexico.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be and why?
I love this question so much. I think it would be Natalia Lafourcade. She understands grief and nostalgia. Her voice captures a feeling that I hope can be found in my book.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
I want my book to be read alongside a warm bowl of sopa de tortilla.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
Growing up, I read a lot of books about christianity - it was a large theme in my childhood and I write about it in my book. Most of these books were not by Mexican authors. I’ve always had access to an abundance of literature. I hope this book opens up access for other Latinas to see themselves as writers and storytellers.
Where can readers keep up with your work? (Feel free to include any social media accounts that you'd like readers to follow.
People can keep up with my activities on instagram at @__thiessen
As well as through La Cuenta - LaCuenta.Substack.com and @undocumentedcosts
We are always looking for new contributors - please reach out if you have a story, poem, or picture you’d like to share with La Cuenta’s readers.
Thank you to Alix Dick 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!
Alix Dick is an artist and a researcher living in Los Angeles. Her work as a producer and filmmaker has screened at film festivals across the globe. She co-edits La Cuenta, which centers the voices and perspectives of individuals labeled undocumented in the US.
Synopsis for The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math:
An undocumented activist and a social scientist come together to tally of the structural costs of undocumented life
An inhumane math pervades this country: even as our government extracts labor and often taxes from undocumented workers, it excludes these same workers from its social safety net. As a result, these essential workers struggle to get their own basic needs met, from healthcare to education, from freedom of association to the ability to drive to work without looking for ICE in the rearview mirror.
When Alix Dick's family found themselves in the crosshairs of cartel violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, she and her siblings were forced to flee to the U.S. Many of the scenes that she shares are difficult and unforgettable: escaping from a relationship in which her partner threatened to report her to immigration; getting root canals done in an underground dental clinic. But there are moments of triumph, too: founding her own nonprofit; working on films that tell important stories; and working with her co-author Dr. Garcia to tell her story in a framework that lays bare the realities of structural oppression.
As Alix and Antero tally the costs of undocumented life, they present a final bill of what is owed to the immigrant community. In this way, their book flips the traditional narrative about the economics of immigration on its head.
Adding this to my to-read list! Great resources to donate by the way, thank you.
Thank you Lupita for continuing to dig in and share even when the world is hurting. I think it must take a lot to show up and I appreciate your writing, kindness, and commitment to sharing great books you know we'll love.