Defending New Voices: On the Road with Latinos in Lotusland

Guest essay by Melinda Palacio

At the risk of labeling myself a one-hit wonder, I’ve taken to the road with my less than a thousand word short story in Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature (Bilingual Press), reading it in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. The little piece has received more play than any other poem or story I’ve written, not to mention my unpublished novel. On August 23, actor Gregg Henry, from Payback, read my story “The Last Time” at Word Theatre and, weeks later, I turned around and read it on television, during the 30 minute segment on David Starkey’s Creative Community Channel. By the time I arrived in San Diego, after having done the LiL panel with Reyna Grande and Sandra Ramos O’Briant in Santa Barbara the week before, I decided to do something different. I read some of my poems instead. However, a woman in the audience shook things up in ways I never imagined. Our audiences for Latinos in Lotusland have been warm and welcoming, made up mostly of friends and family. However, in San Diego, we had a less than friendly questioner.

The audience started off with the usual queries. However, when one woman asked, “how do we find time to write?” -- a standard question to pose to writers -- another woman in the audience wanted to impose her own agenda on the panel of four Latina contributors from Latinos in Lotusland: Helena Viramontes, Reyna Grande, Melinda Palacio, and Jennifer Silva Redmond. We kept our cool in light of what Jennifer calls, the question that wasn’t a question. The comment went something like:

I believe you are either born with the talent to write and if you don't have talent, you should not be writing. I was always told I had talent and I've gotten some things published and I don't think people who don't have a natural ability to write should be writing. There are so many people who claim they want to be writers and can't even formulate a proper sentence. They don't know anything about grammar and they say they want to write and I think they should not be writing if they can't put together a proper sentence.

Helena took the floor first, emphasizing the importance of craft and paying attention to details on the sentence level. Viramontes then stressed the potential to learn, especially when you are from an underserved community, where families don’t have regular access to books in the home and other priviliges that might foster a love for reading and writing. I was especially touched by Helena’s comment that she didn’t grow up with books in the home, other than a set of encyclopedias, because I had a similar experience and, as a child, pored over those torn encyclopedias that were relegated to a closet. I could picture my grandmother putting those books on lay away because she couldn’t say no to the door-to-door salesman, no matter that the books were in a language she couldn’t read.

Jennifer emphasized the importance of discipline, of joining a writing group. “Practice may not make perfect,” Redmond said, “but it helps. If someone has a really great, orginal story to tell, their writing style is less critical -- if they don’t have a really great story to tell, then writing ability is obviously much more important (Which is why interesting people who aren’t great writers can often write compelling memoirs).”

I chimed in and told the audience not to let anyone tell them they can't write, not to believe in naysayers, to tell their stories and not let anyone stop them from achieving their dreams. In my opinion, it’s important to listen to positive voices, to the one voice telling you that you can do it, even if that one voice is your own, especially if that one voice is your own.

The woman in the audience was not satisfied when we didn’t validate her point or start arguing on stage with her. I can’t say which reaction she would prefer, especially when she went on to say something about how 90% of high school grads in the U.S. can’t write a comprehensible sentence. Helena offered the audience a chance to pause and laugh when she said, “Well I personally do not know 90% of students in the U.S. so I couldn’t say.”

We’ll never know why that lady with an upperclass British accent said all that she said. Why she felt it her mission to silence new voices who want to try their luck at writing, who want to find time to tell their stories. As our panel of four Latina authors proved, silencing new voices is not the answer. After the panel, so many people in the audience came up to us and thanked us for encouraging students and community members to follow their dreams.

Aside from the zinger of a comment, the San Diego City Book Fair laid our the royal author carpet and treated us to a two-night stay at the Sheraton, beautiful brochures and t-shirts with our names on it and a well-organized fun festival, the honorarium was generous as well. Gracias San Diego City College for a warm welcome on the Latinos in Lotusland Tour.

[Pictured in descending order: Melinda Palacio, Helena María Viramontes, Jennifer Silva Redmond, Reyna Grande and Sandra Ramos O’Briant.]

◙ We at La Bloga will be doing some political posting leading up to the election next Tuesday. So, on Monday, I will make my predictions on the presidential race and perhaps add a few other thoughts. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadres at La Bloga. And remember: ¡Lea un libro!