Lourdes Vazquez

Fiction Writer, Poet

NY
New York US

Author's Bio

"When did you begin writing literary works?
I began writing a bit late compared to other writers of my generation. I had a scholarship to study dance, but it ran out. I danced for a while until I developed an injury in my back. That experience pushed me to consider other ways of expressing myself. I polished my skills in a heterogeneous group of artists, poets, and musicians, and I would sit and listen to their discussions, debates, dialogues; but it wasn’t until I heard the poets read and “perform” their works that I realized what I was capable of doing.

-Which was the first genre you explored? Why?
Poetry. In poetry, I found a compact resource in which metaphor, which remains to this day an enigma, insists upon uncovering dissonant signs. Poetry is also a communicative vessel in which I can find a way to immerse myself in its subversive plasma. Poetry is a way of reinterpreting things we wish to distance ourselves from. I have worked a great deal with poetic prose, and from there I have been able to move comfortably towards short stories and essays." Part of: "Un punto de vista diferente: entrevista de Lourdes Vázquez por Selfa Chew.” Bilingual Review 28(3) (September-December 2004-2007) : 265-268.

Publications & Prizes

Fiction

Books:
Adagio con fugas y ciertos afectos (Verbum, 2013)
,
Not Myself Without You (Bilingual Review Press, 2012)
,
Not myself without you (Bilingual Review Press, 2012)
,
La Rosa Mecanica (Huracan, 1991)
Journals:
Babab
,
Blanco Movil
, ,
Calabash
,
Caudal
,
Centro Journal
,
Cuadernos del matematico
, ,
How 2
, ,
Journal de Poesia
,
Kaleidoscope
,
Lamina Lina
,
Phatitude
,
Rattapallax
,
Revista Actual
,
Salinas
,
Sibila
,
Site
,
The Thing Itself Literary Journal
,
Tse Tse
,
Turnrow
,
Xinesquema

Poetry

Anthologies:
Writing Toward Hope (Yale University Press, 2007)
,
Caribbean Creolization: Reflections on the Cultural Dynamics of Language (University of Florida Press, 1998)
,
Winds of Change: The Transforming Voices of Caribbean Women Writers (Peter Lang Publishing, 1998)
Books:
Salmos del cuerpo ardiente (Artist Book, 2007)
,
Samandar: Book of Travels (Tse Tse, 2007)
,
Samandar: Libro de viajes/Book of Travels (Tse Tse, 2007)
,
Bestiary: Selected Poems 1986-1997. (Bilingual Review Press, 2004)
,
La Estatuilla (Cultural, 2004)
,
May the transvestites of my island.. (Belladonna Books, 2004)
,
Salmos del cuerpo ardiente (Chihuahua Arde, 2004)
,
Historias de Pulgarcito (Cultural, 1999)
Journals:
Mandorla
,
Sibila
Prizes won: 

She was the winner of the Juan Rulfo Short Story Award (France) in 2002. In 2004, her Bestiary: Selected Poems 1986-1997 received an Honorable Mention in the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards. Bestiary was selected also as one of the "May-June 2004 Picks" by Small Press Review. Her novel Sin ti no soy yo (second edition) is part of The New Essential Guide to Spanish Reading (2012), and its English translation, Not Myself Without You, was selected as part of "2013 Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch". She was awarded an Honorable Mention for the National Poetry Series 2014 Paz Prize for Poetry as well as an Honorable Mention for the Premio Nacional Luis Lloréns Torres, Casa de los Poetas, 2014 (PR). She was selected as Judge for the BorderSenses Literary Prize in Fiction, 2014.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Latino/Latina/Latinx, Puerto Rican
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
Spanish
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Nov 22, 2014