#NuevasPaginas 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 give please spread the news so we can reach more readers and continue the love/support of Latine literature!
How does it work?!
Here’s the deal, I came up with a set of casual/random/fun questions to ask each Hispanic/Latinx/e author, I interview. If you are new here don’t forget to check out all the other amazing interviews! We also have a great line-up of guest authors coming up so make sure you don’t miss an issue by subscribing now!
A friendly reminder that I am an affiliate with Bookshop.org and I may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.
Hey Heyyy Book Franz!
Another week, another new author interview, and a new book to add to your TBR!! But before we jump into today’s interview, I wanted to encourage you all to check out a piece from the Los Angeles Times titled How the Salvadoran diaspora became a literary juggernaut because today’s guest author wrote it! On my end, it made me so proud to see coverage for Latine authors in a major news outlet but more importantly I was so proud to see Salvadorean authors and books amplified. As Soto states in this piece “For too long, the American literary industry has discussed El Salvador and its people through the gaze of cultural outsiders.”
What is Lupita reading this week?
I finished reading Soledad by Angie Cruz!! Yall, what a wild ride. Do you know how Marvel and Disney fans have theories about how both are large universes in which all the characters are somehow connected?! THIS IS HOW I FEEL ABOUT ANGIE CRUZ AND HER WORK. I feel goosebumps sitting here thinking about how perfectly her work all connects and speaks to each other. I can’t wait to chat with Lori (my wife) about all my thoughts and theories (see gif below of what I’ll look like explaining my Angie Cruz theories)! Paid Bookish Substack Fam - our mini-podcast episode of all things Angie Cruz is coming to you soon (ahhhh)!
Since I finished reading the physical copy of Soledad, I decided to start reading Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (who was featured here just last week). I am only a few pages in but I feel obsessed with the way Córdova writes, already!
On Kindle, I’m making progress in reading Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. I am about 20% in and honestly IT IS MY JAM. The voice and the writing, argh - so good! It’s one of those books I wish I could read all day without being interrupted. One of those books that you put down and can’t stop thinking about. I have a feeling it might make my Top 20 favorite books of 2023.
On audio, I am finished It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn. I have some conflicting thoughts about this one. There are things I find very helpful and other things I think lack nuance. I’m not a mental health professional and so I hesitate to write about psychotherapy books but I do think it’s important to express that we are all different and different things work for different people. This one didn’t totally work for me and I’ll share why soon. Next up on audio is Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey!
For #LupitasBookClub Besties:
We are starting THE CONSEQUENCES by Manuel Muñoz this week! Do you have a copy yet?! Totally okay if not, you still have plenty of time to grab a copy.
Without further ado, our very special guest author for today’s Nuevas Pagina issue is……Christopher Soto author of Diaries of a Terrorist!
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 in San Salvador, with Jorge Galán and Alexandra Lytton Regalado, when I had my book launch reading there. It was important for me to bring my book back to El Salvador and celebrate the launch with friends, writers, queers, and activists in Central America too. For me, reading and writing is a transnational and multilingual experience.
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.
Revolutionary Salvadoran poets like Roque Dalton and Agit-Prop poets from the Soviet Union like Vladimir Mayakovsky were important to me while writing my debut poetry book. I liked the way that political rhetoric and propaganda were central to their works, while simultaneously containing so much beautiful sound and image. Both these poets were also very humorous in their approach to political content, which always makes me think of punk lyrics from the bands I listened to during my youth in LA.
What are two central themes in your book that you connect with the most and why?
Policing and queerness are central to the book. Queerness has given me a framework for liberation whereas policing has been a project of confinement. Queerness is expansive, while policing contracts. This tension is throughout the book and my life.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
On a plane, unconfined by any borders, shape-shifting with the clouds.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
My book would probably be some lesser known (but nonetheless brilliant) grindcore band with a really dedicated following- like The Locust or Retox. For me, they embody what it means to be dedicated to art and politics, without pursuit of commercialization.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
Green mangos with alguashte: a little sweet and a little sour.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
I live in Los Angeles, a city that is 49% Latinx. The American publishing industry is only 8% Latinx, according to Publishers Weekly. At the more established American poetry presses, I can only think of one Latinx poetry editor and she was hired within the last couple years. Thus, I often depend on friends to edit my poems for me. It feels very isolating, to be in an industry where you don’t see much diversity or cultural competence within its editorial leadership. I try to stay focused on my community in LA and San Salvador and on the ethos of my writing. That’s where my heart and power lies.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
On social media, I can be found at loma_poetry
Thank you to Christopher for taking the time to chat with me about their book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) #SupportLatinxLit!
Christopher Soto (he/they) is a poet from Los Angeles, California, who also goes by the name Loma. They work at UCLA with the Ethnic Studies Centers and sit on the Board of Directors for Lambda Literary. A 2019 CantoMundo fellow, they are the author of the chapbook Sad Girl Poems and the editor of Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color.
Synopsis for Dairies from a Terrorist from the Bookshop website:
Sexy, outspoken, and explosive, the terrorist of Soto's debut collection resists police violence with linguistic verve and radical honesty.
This debut poetry collection demands the abolition of policing and human caging. InDiaries of a Terrorist,Christopher Soto uses the "we" pronoun to emphasize that police violence happens not only to individuals, but to whole communities. His poetics open the imagination towards possibilities of existence beyond the status quo. Soto asks, "Who do we call terrorist, & why"? These political surrealist poems shift between gut-wrenching vulnerability, laugh-aloud humor, and unapologetic queer punk raunchiness.Diaries of a Terroristis groundbreaking in its ability to speak--from a local to a global scale--about one of the most important issues of our time.