"When We Make It".....& readers WE did with this book!
Kicking-off Nuevas Páginas with Elisabet Velasquez and her upcoming Novel-in-Verse.
#NuevasPaginasconLupita is an expanded edition of the mini get-to-know the book and author interview series on Instagram aimed to "spotlight" Latinx authors with books out in 2021. The goal is to connect readers to new and/or old favorite Hispanic/Latinx/e authors and their books!
How does it work?!
Here’s the deal, I came up with a set of casual/random/funny questions to ask each Latinx/e author I interview. For now the questions will all be the same but maybe in the future I’ll launch this into more specific questions to the author or maybe I’ll turn this series into a mini podcast or maybe……well, you get it! The possibilities are endless so make sure you hit the button below so you don’t miss a thing.
Hey Heyyy Book Franz!
Wow, not only am I super excited to kick-off this series with today’s special guest author, I am just thrilled in general to be coming at you from Substack which is a little ironic given that I first connected with our special guest author via Instagram. It was one of those mornings when I used to do the whole get in a car and commute to work thing. You know the type of morning you wish you would have called in sick? Anyways, it was during one of those mornings that I’m at a red light and I pop open my phone to Instagram to view Instagram stories and I come across this poem post a friend shared. I was struck immediately by how familiar and powerful the words felt. How it felt like the words came from me…for me from the past or future to bring me into a new light. I sound dramatic, but DO YOU KNOW ME?! Extra about words is my middle name and Elisabet Velasquez’s words hooked me from the beginning which is why when I heard she had a new young-adult novel in verse coming September 21st via Dial Books , I needed to get my hands on it!
So without further ado…….Elisabet Velasquez!
Could you tell me a little about where this photo is taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
It was taken in front of the building in Bushwick, Brooklyn that I grew up in. Which is also a poem in the book: The Apartment On Troutman Street
Photo Credit: Felicity Vallence
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 book is like listening in on a cypher between Pedro Pietri, Nicholasa Mohr, Louis Reyes Rivera, Sandra Cisneros, Piri Thomas, Esmeralda Santiago, Mariposa Fernandez, Judith Ortiz Cofer, La Bruja, Tato Laviera.
What are two central themes in your book that you connect with the most and why?
A sense of home and success. I have been on a lifelong journey to define what both of these things mean to me.
If a book was home, where would your home be? I'm gonna quote James Baldwin here and say: “Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.”
If your book was a famous musician who would it be and why?
My book would be La Lupe. La Lupe was an Afro-Cuban singer and one of the most dynamic stage performers ever. Though she had been performing and winning singing contests since she was a young girl in Cuba, she rose to fame after she migrated to New York and began singing with Tito Puente. Every performance La Lupe gave she seemed to be possessed by spirit, removing her shoes & clothing accessories and tossing them into the crowd. Long story short, she stopped singing secularly after a series of unfortunate events left her at an economic disadvantage and struggling with depression and addiction. She became an evangelical Christian and credits her recovery to her newfound faith. I don't think the latter years of La Lupe's spiritual career get enough credit. The newspaper articles like to refer to her life after fame as impoverished and sad, but if you listen to her testimony, which you can find on YouTube, she powerfully recounts finding happiness and success in God. She talks about feeling the richest she had ever felt. I personally believe that La Lupe was always led by some holy spirit and it just manifested in different ways as her life progressed. I think La Lupe is a great example of how success and glory look different for everyone and may even change for someone as they grow and evolve.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
Cornbeef, White Rice & a Fried Egg.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
Okay, so. In a nutshell, Mami would drop us off to the Library as kids to catch a break from us. That's where I fell in love with The Bernstein Bears, Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys, The Babysitters Club and The Magic School Bus. We grew up living below the poverty line so asking my mother for money to buy a book was not an option. I was always the kid looking longingly at the scholastics flyer and walking around the book fair dreaming. Although, I knew that the books I was reading at the Library did not represent me or my community I think deep down inside I internalized that it was our fault that there were no books written about us. That somehow we weren't interesting enough, or successful enough. I had a Latinx teacher once tell me that I should be a writer when I grow up and I laughed at the thought of writing about Mami's poverty. Well I'm grown up now and I wrote a book bout Mami's poverty and all of the difficult things we were taught to feel shame around because I want to not just confront the difficult truths but highlight how we navigate them. I think it is important to not just write the story where we overcome what we now know is systemic neglect but the story of how we live inside of it and find joy regardless. & That is success.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
On Instagram or my website!
A huge thank you to Elisabet Velasquez for being my first and taking the time to chat with me about her upcoming book! Please make sure you pre-order/purchase a copy of her book #SupportLatinxLiterature.
Synopsis for When We Make It from Penguin Random House website:
Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican eighth grader who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment. Together with her older sister Estrella, she navigates the strain of family traumas and the systemic pressures of toxic masculinity and housing insecurity in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sarai questions the society around her, her Boricua identity, and the life she lives with determination and an open heart, learning to celebrate herself in a way that she has been denied.
When We Make It is a love letter to anyone who was taught to believe that they would not make it. To those who feel their emotions before they can name them. To those who still may not have all the language but they have their story. Velasquez’ debut novel is sure to leave an indelible mark on all who read it.
Bio for Elisabet Velasquez from her website:
ELISABET VELASQUEZ is a Brooklyn Born Boricua.
She is a mother of two.
Her poems are an exploration of her life.
Velasquez has performed at Lincoln Center Out Of Doors, Pregones Theatre, Bushwick Starr Theatre, The Bowery Poetry Club, Brooklyn Museum, Museum Of Natural History, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Rutgers University, Williams College, Adelphi University, Pace University, Princeton University, James Madison University, Harvard University and The Amber Rose Slut Walk 2017.
Her work has been featured on TIDAL, NBC, Now This, Huffington Post, Latina Magazine, Vibe Magazine, Muzzle Magazine, Centro Voces. She is a VONA Alum, 2017 Poets House Fellow. She is the winner of Button Poetry's 2017 Poetry Video Contest. She is a 2019 Frost Place Fellow. Her work is forthcoming in the anthology : WHAT SAVES US Poems of Empathy and Outrage In The Age Of Trump edited by Martin Espada.
Friendly reminder that the best ways you can support Latinx/e authors and Latinx/e literature is by doing the following:
Leave a review for their books on any website that sells books
Request that your local library carry a copy
Purchase a copy of a friend, family member, your nemesis (hey! I’m sure they read too).
Shout about the book on any social media platform or to your friends and family!
Share this interview widely! Word of mouth does wonders for connecting readers to books.