Interview of Sarah Rafael García
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| Sarah Rafael Garcia |
Xánath Caraza (XC): Who is Sarah
Rafael García?
Sarah Rafael García (SRG): Listed in order of
preference:
Mentor, always first because if I’m not
role modeling then what legacy will I leave as a human being?
Artivist second, because I don’t see how I
can be an artist without being an activist.
Author, always last because the title is
not a priority, it is really just based on perspective. Some days I’m an author
other days I’m just a person writing in order to heal myself, and I can only
hope it helps others too.
XC: As a child, who first introduced
you to reading? Who guided you through
your first readings?
SRG: My parents, they both contributed
to my love for books. My father gifted books for my birthdays and Christmas; he
inscribed them himself. My mother used the library as her nanny, we were
dropped off to read books while she ran errands. Both parents encouraged us to
carry books on trips and participate in the annual summer reading contests at
the local library. Books taught me about a world outside of my life, they also
helped me escape my world when I needed to as a kid or teen.
XC: How did you first become an
artivist/writer/mentor? Where were your
first poems written?
SRG: In 2004, I ran away from Corporate
America and the “American Dream” to live in Beijing as an English teacher and
write my first book for 18 months. At the time, I was stressed and
disillusioned about many expectations in my life—becoming financially
successful, getting married, having children and supporting my sisters and
mother. I began writing 1988 after my father passed away, but never shared my
work with anyone outside of my immediate family. I was waiting to retire (with
tons a money) and spend beach vacations writing my childhood stories. Yeah I
know, not realistic, but since I didn’t grow up with any mentors or support to
be a writer that’s all I could imagine for myself, since I had to have a “real”
career.
After
having published a childhood memoir, Las
Niñas, in 2008, I had a negative experience with a publisher but positive
reviews from readers and writers like me—Mexican-Americans, Chicanas, Tejanas,
and first-generation college students. This motivated me to find a way pass on
my inspiration to youth. I founded Barrio Writers in 2009; guiding youth
through the creative writing process has changed me personally and as a writer
in many ways. It forced me to do what I was most scared of doing but yet I
encouraged youth to do it every summer. There was a time when I was inviting
youth to attend and participate in local open mics, then one of them turned to
me and asked why I hadn’t presented my own work. So I had to role model, I
began to write spoken word poems just to be able to get behind the mic with my
youth. Honestly Barrio Writers made me a better writer and human being. The
experience teaches me to confront my fears of not being accepted by the
mainstream writing industry and my counterparts—male, white writers. It reminds
me each year to challenge the notions of what is literary in white America. I
still catch myself revising for workshop, doubting my use of Spanish when I get
rejected and judging where to submit based on the ethnicity or gender of the
editor. But slowly, I’m beginning to decolonize my writing. I no longer feel I
need to italicize my Spanish, justify my history or pander to white readers. It
made more diligent and proud of the various parts of my identity. Soy Xicana, I
am womyn, el español es parte de mi cultura and my writing is too.
XC: What is a day of creative writing
like for you?
SRG: I need routine and my own space. So,
I have one designated area to write. I also need a window. I need to be able to
glance away and see something I may have forgotten was there. After a few hours
of writing, the real world just looks so magical, everything has meaning, old things
become new and inspiring again. I tend to block of 4 hours of time to write.
But when I can’t ride I at least read. I don’t allow myself to go a day without
one of the practices. Even if it means I write an impromptu poem I share
instantly or simply read for 10 minutes.
XC: When do you know when a text is
ready to be read?
SRG: I’m super impatient, so I read or
submit before I should most of the time. Then I go back and edit again. Through
the years I’ve been less critical of myself and can share my work easily, but
sometimes I don’t need anyone to read it to be content with the finished
version. It just depends on whether I’m focusing on style or a personal
narrative. I don’t need approval on stories I’m emotionally invested in, but I
can always improve my style. As a mentor, I’ve learned I need to challenge
other writers like I challenge myself. If I don’t challenge them, they won’t be
ready to move on from rejection when they face it elsewhere, and then possibly find
themselves hesitant to share their work in the future.
XC: Could you describe your activities
as author and mentor?
SRG: All my work starts with some sort
of collaboration—my writing, Barrio Writers, LibroMobile and SanTana’s Fairy
Tales are all collaborative works. I started writing by journaling, with the
occasional poem sneaking onto the page. Then I moved on to writing memories,
which led me to deconstruct my identity as a first-generation college student,
Chicana and woman of color—who never married nor has children. But, of course,
that came after I completed a degree in Sociology. After my first book was
published in 2008, I recognized I needed to learn more and wanted to offer more
to my community. In 2009, I founded Barrio Writers. By leading writing
workshops for youth, I broadened my writing interests as well as my style. I
began to use more code-switching, experimental format as well as spoken word.
Then in 2012, Barrio Writers led me to seek a M.F.A in Creative Writing. I had
not written fiction until I submitted a writing sample for M.F.A. applications.
Now, I write a lot of hybrid stories—a cross between fiction and non-fiction,
contemporary narratives of women and my community. I select a gender role
imposed on women or cultural community issue and find a way to tell a story
through fiction—sometimes it’s like an ethnographic description, other times it
transforms into a parallel world through the lens of magical realism.
XC: Could you comment on your life as a
cultural activist?
SRG: I’m a first-generation born in the
U.S.A. Mexican-American/Chicana. Culture is vital to my writing, not only
because I find myself battling to keep Spanish as my own language in and out of
the workshop experience but also in future publications and part of my personal
identity. I choose to fight to create visibility for my culture in all aspects
of my life, my goal is to offer counter-narratives to negative stereotypes,
media headlines and hold folks accountable when they do not include my culture
or writers of color. It isn’t just about the lack of diversity or establishing
equity; it’s about cultivating acceptance for all cultures, genders and races.
I have addressed these issues through writing and community building, from
confronting my MFA experience to book festivals and other types of literary
spaces to establishing positive safe spaces for writers of color and youth. If
our youth don’t see themselves as role-models on the page, how will they
develop into role-models and mentors off the page?
XC: What project/s are you working on
at the moment that you would like to share?
SRG: Oh! I have too many, something I
don’t advise at all for any artist. But let’s just concentrate on sharing my
writing projects today—I focus on contemporary female narratives, which include
identity, gender and cultural themes. Currently, I am seeking to publish a
travel memoir that shares my adventures as a Xicana crossing, literal and
figurative, borders. Along with this, I also wrote a collection of feminist
short stories as my MFA thesis. The short stories are inspired by news
headlines or a quote that typecast female narratives. I use magical realism and
play with point of view to deconstruct the role and stereotypes of women in our
society.
As
part of my artist in residence, I’m working on a special project from March
2016-2017. SanTana’s Fairy Tales is an oral history,
storytelling project, which integrates community-based narratives to
create contemporary fairy tales and fables that represent the history and
stories of Mexican/Mexican-American residents of Santa Ana (inspired by
the Grimms’ Fairy Tales).
The
forthcoming exhibit at Grand
Central Art Center in Santa Ana, California will present a multi-media
installation, curated in collaboration with local visual, musical, and
performance artists. The exhibit will showcase bilingual, single-story zines, a
fully illustrated published book, an ebook, a large format classical book,
graphic art by Sol Art Radio‘s
Carla Zarate, an “open book” performance, along with composed
music by Viento Callejero‘s
Gloria Estrada, who is supported by local singer/songwriter Ruby
Castellanos and members of the Pacific Symphony. The entire
collection will be translated by poet Julieta Corpus and published by Raspa Press. The ebook will be
produced by Digitus Indie
Publishers.
SanTana’s
Fairy Tales is
supported in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts,
through a grant supporting the Artist-in-Residence initiative at Grand Central
Art Center. The exhibit is scheduled for March 2017, with a live performance on
April 1, 2017.
Through Santana’s
Fairy Tales, I hope to give back to the community, which instilled culture,
pride and perseverance in my daily life as an artist. I returned to Santa Ana
not as a writer, but as a storyteller/artivist who invokes real stories from
real community members in order to offer a counter-narrative for the
stereotypes and media headlines that feature Mexicans/Mexican-Americans from
Santa Ana, California. By using multi-media, I want to initiate a literary
discussion and preserve local culture through revitalization in the form of art
versus the recent change Santa Ana faces through the influx of gentrification.
XC: What advice do you have for other
writers/poets?
SRG: As writers who have to challenge
stereotypes daily, I advise youth (as well as new older writers of color) to be
their own mentors and rise above the microaggressions and dismissals from any
part of society that seems to be an obstacle to reaching life goals—as so many
have done before them. I tell all writers to push through, to write in any
shape or form they desire, to adapt critical-thinking in daily life, to share
their culture whether it be based on race or just your love for a particular
type of music, to speak assertively, “Your voice is your weapon!” Don’t just be
the bigger person, role model to those younger and older than you. I also
remind all writers to find their support in their community. And if they can’t
find it, then create it—begin your own community to empower others like you.
Sarah Rafael García is a writer,
community educator and traveler. Since publishing Las Niñas, she founded Barrio
Writers and LibroMobile. Her writing has appeared in LATINO Magazine, Contrapuntos
III, Outrage: A Protest Anthology For Injustice in a Post 9/11 World, La
Tolteca Zine, The Acentos Review, among others. Sarah Rafael is currently a
Macondo Fellow, the Editor for the annual Barrio Writers anthology and
Co-editor of pariahs writing from outside the margins anthology.
Most
recently, Sarah Rafael’s essay “My MFA Experience” was published in As/Us
Journal Issue 6 and she was awarded for Santana’s Fairy Tales, which is
supported in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, through a grant
supporting the Artist-in-Residence initiative at Grand Central Art Center in
Santa Ana, California
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