LatinX Audio Lit Mag

What an amazing Fourth Season! If you haven't had a chance to listen to the beautiful stories and poems over the last four seasons, then this is the perfect time to catch up. LatinxLit will be reading and recording submissions all summer long, and come back in September ready to rock your world. We can't wait to show you the magic.

Have a great summer.

Latina Muslims are the fastest-growing ethnic group in Islam. However, many of the conversations surrounding Latinas and Muslims often don't include the intersection of these groups. In today’s episode, Evelyn Alsultany will discuss her book Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion (2022), which was listed as one of the 10 best scholarly books of 2022 by The Chronicle of Higher Education and was a finalist for the Association of American Publishers’ Prose Award. 

Evelyn Alsultany is a Professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College and author of Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11. She is the co-author of Arab and Arab American Feminisms: Gender, Violence, and Belonging and Between the Middle East and the Americas: The Cultural Politics of Diaspora. As a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the US media, she co-authored the Obeidi-Alsultany Test to help Hollywood improve representations of Muslims and serves as a consultant for Hollywood studios.

Is it a sin to eat mac and cheese and Pozole in the same sitting? Get the answer to this question and more in this hard-hitting episode. Spoiler: Teresa liked this poem so much she was pretty much incoherent in her acceptance, but tried to do better in the actual interview.

Mateo Omar is a writer, poet, and artist currently based in San Diego county, California. So far his writing has been published in Mixed Mag, Gypsophila Zine, and Rise Up Review. He can be found on Instagram @arachnidoll.

"In my quiet telemetry, I send

The kind of invitations I’d want to receive

And the kind of warnings I’d ignore

Embedded deep in me

Occipital, parietal, frontal

And now lacrimal

Power sources

With no twin resonance in sight"

Mateo Omar is a writer, poet, and artist currently based in San Diego county, California. So far his writing has been published in Mixed Mag, Gypsophila Zine, and Rise Up Review. He can be found on Instagram @arachnidoll.

What does a freak snow storm and a 24-hour writing contest have in common? Both were seeds that sprouted this ultra-hopeful story. And if you enjoy stories that keep Chekhov's theory about guns in mind, you're going to love this episode.

Christiane Williams-Vigil is a Xicana writer from El Paso, Texas. Nationality wise she identifies as Mexican-American. Her work has been published in various literary magazines such as Marias at Sampaguitas, Chismosa Press, Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine, and Marshall University’s Movable Project. Currently, she is a Best of the Net nominee and contributing staff writer for Alebrijes Review. This story was previously published in a local community college's annual literary anthology.

Why would you drive during a freak snowstorm in Texas? If you're Christiane Williams-Vigil, the answer is that the person did it for love. 

Christiane Williams-Vigil, is a Xicana writer from El Paso, Texas. Her work has been published in various literary magazines such as Marias at Sampaguitas, Chismosa Press, Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine, and Marshall University’s Movable Project. Currently, she is a Best of the Net nominee and contributing staff writer for Alebrijes Review. This story was previously published in a local community college's annual literary anthology.

Some people just think in poetry, and Mary Teresa is one of them. In this episode, we'll hear Mary Teresa's process for writing El Pilon, and learn how to lure wild roosters into our lives. 

Mary Teresa Toro an aging Puerto Rican living in the woods of North Alabama with Frank, her husband of fifty-three years, Bitsie, a crazy mix of Weiner dog and mystery, and Ki-Ki-Ri-Ki, a random rooster who wandered onto the homestead.

When is a modest pilon more than a useful kitchen tool? When it's the only thing you can touch when your loved one is gone. 

Mary Teresa toro is an aging Puerto Rican living in the woods of North Alabama with Frank, her husband of fifty-three years, Bitsie, a crazy mix of Weiner dog and mystery, and Ki-Ki-Ri-Ki, a random rooster who wandered onto the homestead.

In this poem, enter a world that is at once fairytale and post-apocalyptic. And above all, don't drive through it like hell.

Robert René Galván, born in San Antonio of Indigenous/Mexican heritage, resides in New York City where he works as a professional musician and poet. His collections of poems are Meteors, published by Lux Nova Press and Undesirable: Race and Remembrance, Somos en Escrito Foundation Press, Standing Stones, Finishing Line Press and The Shadow of Time, Adelaide Books. His poetry has been featured in such publications as The Acentos Review, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Azahares Literary Magazine, Gyroscope, Hawaii Review, Hispanic Culture Review, Latino Book Review, Newtown Review, Panoply, Prachya Review, Sequestrum, Shoreline of Infinity, Somos en Escrito,  Stillwater Review, West Texas Literary Review, andUU World. He is a Shortlist Winner Nominee in the 2018 Adelaide Literary Award for Best Poem. Recently, his poems are featured in Puro ChicanX Writers of the 21st Century (2nd Edition) and in Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art and Thought. His poems have been nominated for Best of Web and the Pushcart Prize. His poem, Awakening, was featured in the author’s voice on NPR as part of National Poetry Month in the Spring of 2021.

A woman walks into a cafe in Italy with her boyfriend--will she walk out with him or alone? In this episode, Brunilda Bonia deftly imagines a moment of decision in a busy cafe.

Brunilda Bonia, Esquire is Puerto Rican who has been a practicing attorney for the past 25 years. She specializes in family/matrimonial law. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, three daughters and tuxedo cat, Pepper. On January 27, 2022 her first children's book, BLUE, was published by Pegasus Publishing Ltd.

Can you really put childhood on a dinner plate? How can you fictionalize a true story and still remain true to its spirit? Tune in to get the answers to all these questions and more.

Natalia Figueroa Barroso is a Uruguayan-Australian writer who lives on Dharug Country. Natalia has appeared in Sweatshop Women: Volume One, Racism: Stories on Fear, Hate & Bigotry, SBS Voices, Story Casters, Any Saturday, 2021. Running Westward, Kindling and Sage, Between Two Worlds, The Big Issue, Puentes Review, Meanjin and Overland.

"Mamá orders me to clean Abuela’s room as she tames her curly blonde hair into a tight bun and rolls up the sleeves on her black and blue flannel shirt. Mamá stands in front of me with her pale blue eyes and hands me an orange duster. She is ready to clean and pack Abuela’s belongings away. I stand at the door with my arms crossed. Mamá hits the top of my head with the duster, ‘¡Dale vos encargate del cuarto de la Abuela! Don’t make me tell you again.’"

Natalia Figueroa Barroso is a Uruguayan-Australian writer who lives on Dharug Country. Natalia has appeared in Sweatshop Women: Volume One, Racism: Stories on Fear, Hate & Bigotry, SBS Voices, Story Casters, Any Saturday, 2021. Running Westward, Kindling and Sage, Between Two Worlds, The Big Issue, Puentes Review, Meanjin and Overland.

On the border between Mexico and Texas, where Yara grew up, the air is filled with a little light magic. In this episode, Yara talks about how this environment produced this gentle spooky tale.

Born in México and raised on the border, Yara is drawn to darker tales and is an aficionado of Mexican folklore. She attributes this to her own mother and abuela who told the best spooky stories around. Yara is a Latina dual language educator, mother and author who is passionate about representation and advocacy in all realms. As an elementary dual language (Spanish) educator of nearly a decade, she has been fortunate enough to gain a window into the exact type of literature that children are drawn to, and, also, what is missing within the current selection of literature for children. She has had short stories published in LatineLit magazine. Yara currently lives in Austin with my two daughters, husband and rescued Blue Heeler pup. You can follow her writing on Twitter at @Yariwrites.

"As the dementia accelerated, she claimed to see people at the window at night, including her beloved husband who had passed 5 years prior...Other, perhaps most sinister, nightly visitors, abuelita said, would whistle and try to convince her to unlatch the windows." 

Born in México and raised on the border, Yara is drawn to darker tales and is an aficionado of Mexican folklore. She attributes this to her own mother and abuela who told the best spooky stories around. Yara is a Latina dual language educator, mother and author who is passionate about representation and advocacy in all realms. As an elementary dual language (Spanish) educator of nearly a decade, she has been fortunate enough to gain a window into the exact type of literature that children are drawn to, and, also, what is missing within the current selection of literature for children. She has had short stories published in LatineLit magazine. Yara currently lives in Austin with my two daughters, husband and rescued Blue Heeler pup. You can follow her writing on Twitter at @Yariwrites.

If you've ever had an idea (or a story) that only you believed in, then this is the episode for you. Stop what you're doing and have a listen.

Margo Candela was born and raised in Los Angeles and began her writing career when she joined Glendale Community College’s student newspaper. She transferred to San Francisco State University as a journalism major, and upon graduation began writing for websites and magazines before writing her first two novels, Underneath It All and Life Over Easy. She returned to Los Angeles to raise her son and wrote More Than This and Good-bye to All That. The Neapolitan Sisters is her fifth novel and her first after a decade-long hiatus from writing. She now lives in San Francisco.

"When we were little, our dad would sit one of us on his lap as he drove to The Boys supermarket in Highland Park. He’d leave us in the car with the motor running while he ran in to pick up a six-pack or two and pork rinds for himself, and a bag of Ruffles chips, and a bottle of Mexican Coke for me and my sisters to share on the drive back to Boyle Heights."

Margo Candela's novel 'The Neapolitan Sisters' covers some serious topics, but at its core, it’s about the strong bonds of sisterhood. Told in alternating points of view, Candela's funny and entertaining novel is about the weeks leading up to the wedding of the youngest of three very different sisters who reunite at their East L.A. childhood home, and are faced with secrets from their past.

Margo Candela was born and raised in Los Angeles and began her writing career when she joined Glendale Community College’s student newspaper. She transferred to San Francisco State University as a journalism major, and upon graduation began writing for websites and magazines before writing her first two novels, Underneath It All and Life Over Easy. She returned to Los Angeles to raise her son and wrote More Than This and Good-bye to All That. The Neapolitan Sisters is her fifth novel and her first after a decade-long hiatus from writing. She now lives in San Francisco.

There is the age-old question of whether an artist's personal life should impact your perception of their work. In this episode Martha walks us through how she came to focus on Pablo Neruda.

Featured in Latinos Magazine among the Top Ten Most Successful Mexicans in Canada, and named also one of the Top Ten Most Influential Hispanic-Canadians, Martha Bátiz was born and raised in Mexico City, but has been living in Toronto since 2003. Her articles, chronicles, reviews and short stories have appeared in diverse newspapers and magazines not only in her homeland, but also in Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Peru, Ireland, England, the United States and Canada.

Martha has penned two short-story collections in Spanish: A todos los voy a matar (I’m Going To Kill Them All, Castillo Press, Mexico, 2000), and De tránsito (In Transit, Terranova Editores, Puerto Rico, 2014). Her award-winning novella Boca de lobo was originally published in Spanish both in the Dominican Republic and in Mexico (in 2007 and 2008, respectively), and released in its first English translation as The Wolf’s Mouth (Exile Editions, 2009). In 2018 it appeared in its French version as La Gueule du Loup (Lugar Común Editorial), and in a new English edition under the title Damiana’s Reprieve (Exile Editions). Boca de lobo is also available through Audible as an Audiobook in Spanish since 2021.

Editor of the anthology Desde el norte: Narrativa canadiense contemporánea (UAM, 2015), Martha is also part of the editorial committee of the successful books Historias de Toronto and Historias de Montreal (Lugar Común, 2016 and 2019, respectively). She holds a PhD in Latin American Literature and is an ATA-certified literary translator. Besides being the founder and instructor of the Creative Writing in Spanish course currently offered by the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto, she is a part-time professor at three universities in the GTA where she teaches Spanish language and literature as well as translation.

Martha is also the author of two short-story collections in English, the first one titled Plaza Requiem: Stories at the Edge of Ordinary Lives (Exile Editions, 2017), winner of the 2018 International Latino Book Award in the category of “Best Popular Fiction: English.” The second and most recent is No Stars in the Sky, published by House of Anansi Press in May 2022.