Julia Alvarez and Oscar Hijuelos: Putting and Keeping Fellow Writers in Touch

The light that radiates from the great novels time can never dim, for human existence is perpetually being forgotten by man and thus the novelists’ discoveries, however old they may be, will never cease to astonish.
Milan Kundera

It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.
James A. Baldwin

Every writer has to find their own way into writing.
Margaret Mahy

In February of this year, I reprinted a review of Julia Alvarez’s novel, ¡Yo!, in my weblog. The piece had been originally appeared in the Fall 1997 issue of Cold Mountain Review.

Several days afterward I received a charming reply from Glendaliz Camacho, a young Dominican-American from New York City who is, I believe, taking the right steps to become a successful author in her own right. Glendaliz is a creative, hard-working, and candid person. I predict that some day, and relatively soon, she’ll master the craft and readers shall then be delighted by the stories churning inside of her.

A couple of days ago, Glendaliz responded to my entry on Oscar Hijuelos’s The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. In her reply, Glendaliz wrote:


Dear Silvio,

I enjoyed your recent post. I have been reading American literature all of my life—a byproduct of schooling in the States. I started reading Latin American literature a couple of years ago during a confused phase of my life. I wanted to write but I didn't have the guts; I didn't think I had the ability or talent and my private life was in shambles. My father lent me a copy of ¡Yo! by Julia Alvarez and I read it while I stayed at his house trying to decide what to do for the rest of my life. I loved the novel. I was so proud to be reading something by a person with a similar cultural background and telling the types of stories that make the rounds at my house. My father told me, “You can do this,” pointing at the novel. He didn't mean that I could write as well as Alvarez; he meant that I could tell our stories.

The editorial director at the literary agency where I've been interning has been strongly recommending The Mambo Kings to me, as well. I can't believe I haven't read it before. Needless to say, I'll be picking it up at the bookstore. I read a short while back that Oscar Hijuelos graduated from City College in NY. City College is a city university, not private or Ivy League. This fact jumped out at me because I was fretting over finishing my degree at a large university, regardless of the cost.

Anyway, your posts are great and I hope all is well with the work on your new novel.

Glendaliz


I urge everyone to visit Glendaliz Camacho’s entertaining weblog titled The Brain Bombs