Images that Release Words

Writer’s block is so widespread that it’s a common theme in movies and fiction. Over the past year, I’ve seen what used to be a steady stream of new ideas and work reduce to a trickle. Like many artists, this is due to personal transitions that have taken much of my focus from my work.Continue reading “Images that Release Words”

Writing with Eyes Wide Open

Writer’s block: it’s a Hollywood cliché to see a writer pining after ideas, when inspiration suddenly jumps out beside them. A murder happens next door or a love interest enters their life, flooding them with ideas. In real life though, writer’s block is more nuanced and harder to cut through. Sometimes the cause is obvious:Continue reading “Writing with Eyes Wide Open”

My Hispanic Heritage

October is Latinx Heritage Month in Canada. Reflecting on my Latin American heritage brings both nostalgic joy and a sting of bitterness. 2021 marks a decade since I set foot in Venezuela, a country that shows no progress towards peace or the oil-fueled prosperity that made it so famous in the 20th century. Instead, weContinue reading “My Hispanic Heritage”

2020: Creative Reconstruction

The year of the pandemic has shattered many things: it’s left millions without work or precariously employed, challenged our mental health and forced us to come to terms with many subjects that we generally avoid, like the impact that environmental destruction and polarized politics have on the lives of millions around the world. Having toContinue reading “2020: Creative Reconstruction”

Breathing Life into Words

Writing as an act of conception- that was my take-away when I read Jorge Luis Borges’s short story ‘Circular Ruins.’ Tackling classics isn’t always easy for a contemporary reader. Even though I mostly read 19th and early 20th century books early on, I’m hooked on modern writers and their easy prose, gripping plots and charactersContinue reading “Breathing Life into Words”

The Ghosts that Brought us Together

How do keep a family together when your country is tearing you apart? In Venezuela during the Chavez-Maduro rule, increased political conflict has separated friends and families. As the economic and political situation became more tumultuous, tales of ghosts and spirits kept us together. These stories – from a child ghost at our grandparents’ homeContinue reading “The Ghosts that Brought us Together”