Tag Archive: Latinx Literature

Red Dragon Reading Series–SUNY Oneonta

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Thanks to Dr. Sheena Mason for inviting me to read at the college’s Red Dragon Reading Series on November 10, 2022, to commemorate the Black List. I read excerpts from two stories in Migrations: “Clemente Burning,” an early version of the beginning of my novella, Clemente Between the Worlds; and “Sucio.” I had a wonderful time and enjoyed the exchange with the audience and also the conversation as a guest with creative writing students in Prof. Tully’s class.

Interview: New Books Network

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My interview with Minni Sawhney for the New Books Network covered many aspects of Migrations, my short story collection. Dr. Sawhney posed excellent questions that allowed me to discuss this collection at a deeper intellectual and critical level than other interviews. This interview also gave the book more critical context. Please take a listen and let me know your thoughts.

From the New Book Network website: Migrations (LA Review of Books, 2021) is a collection of short stories by the Puerto Rican born writer and now retired university professor J. L. Torres. Each story condenses a bit of the experience of a cross section of Puerto Rico: the rich who treat it like a playground, the stereotypical macho men, the shanty town dwellers. The ramifications of the stories are deep and the varied tales range from climate change and the destruction of natural ecosystems by tourism, to the Puerto Ricans of the diaspora who struggle in dysfunctional families and who long to be part of the mainstream but have weathered the subtle racism of American society that has taken a toll on their inner lives. Torres’s stories bring alive Puerto Rico to us, its natural beauty but also try to show the colonial economy that the country is.

Minni Sawhney is a professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Delhi.

https://newbooksnetwork.com/migrations

THE DIASPORICAN EXPERIENCE

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On this podcast, I talk with Dr. Karen Bryson, The Curious Professor, about the diasporican experience. We discuss how it has influenced my work, including Migrations, my award-winning story collection. Take a listen and please let me know what you think or if you have any questions.

https://www.thecuriousprofessorpodcast.com/the-diasporican-experience-with-author-jl-torres/

You can find more information on Dr. Karen Bryson and her podcast here: https://www.thecuriousprofessorpodcast.com/about/