Interview of Alex Espinoza by Xánath Caraza
Alex
Espinoza is
the author of Still Water Saints, The Five Acts of Diego León,
and Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime. He’s
written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times Magazine,
Virginia Quarterly Review, LitHub, and NPR's All Things
Considered. The recipient of fellowships from the NEA and MacDowell as well
as an American Book Award, he lives in Los Angeles and is the Tomás Rivera
Endowed Chair of Creative Writing at UC-Riverside.
Xánath
Caraza:
Who is Alex Espinoza?
Alex
Espinoza:
Never really given it much thought. I guess I would say that I’m a writer who
likes to both read and produce stories that illuminate the marginalized voices
that typically go on undocumented in the world.
Xánath
Caraza:
As a child, who first introduced you to reading?
Alex
Espinoza:
My elementary school teachers who constantly read stories to us, who encouraged
us to fall in love with books, and my mother who would often take us to the
library.
XC: How did you
first become a writer?
AE: I don’t know the
exact moment when I first became a writer. I think I’m in a constant state of
“becoming” with each new project I take on. That is, the process is always
teaching me new things, always challenging and tempering me. I published my
first piece in my community college literary journal. I won the short story
prize and was awarded $50. It was one of the biggest ego boosts, and it
motivated me to continue to pursue the art.
XC: Do you have any
favorite authors?
AE: Tons. James
Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Flannery O’Connor, Helena Viramontes. These are just a
few.
XC: When do you know
when a piece is ready to be read by others?
AE: When I answer
yes to the question, “Is this the best that I can make this piece?”
XC: Could you
comment on your life as a cultural activist?
AE: I see my writing
as a means to incite and support social change. My writing is always grounded
in the belief that art and words can shape communities of color to act up and
resist preconceived notions about class, race, gender, and dis/ability.
XC: What projects
are you working on at the moment that you would like to share?
AE: I just completed
a novel about a family of luchadores. I will be revising it this summer.
XC: What advice do
you have for other writers?
AE: Edit. Revise.
Read. Be humble in your efforts and let yourself be challenged.
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