The Nuyorican Hallway: Belonging & Living Between Worlds

My guest today is J.L. Torres (no relation), the author of Migrations, the inaugural winner of the Tomás Rivera Book Prize. His previous publications include another short story collection, The Family Terrorist and Other Stories; the poetry collection, Boricua Passport; and the novel, The Accidental Native. He has also published stories and poems in many journals and magazines. A Fulbright recipient, he recently retired as a scholar and professor of American literature, Latinx literatures, and creative writing. Born in Puerto Rico, raised in the South Bronx, he now lives in upstate New York.

His work focuses on the diasporican experience—living in the inbetweeness that forms and informs the Puerto Rican experience. He aims to go beyond issues of identity, although these are central to that experience. 

Through his writing, J.L Torres says he explores "what it means to live a life yearning for ‘belongingness’ at a time when you’re told nation and home are empty concepts, and you have no historical memory of what they ever meant.” He wants to explore what this means in a world becoming smaller and where geography cannot ground anything.

I’m very excited to share my conversation with J.L Torres. We dissect the central themes of his new book, Migrations, which is a collection of stories deeply rooted in the history of Puerto Rico, where he elevates the experiences of Othered individuals. This is a far-ranging conversation that spans colonialism, Nuyorican identity, Latine colorism, Critical Race Theory, trauma, healing, and much more.

We spoke on July the 2^nd, of 2021.

You can learn more about J.L. Torres at: jltorreswriter.com

and follow him on Twitter: @rican_writer

 

The Nasiona Podcast amplifies the voices and experiences of the marginalized, undervalued, overlooked, silenced, and forgotten, as well as gives you a glimpse into Othered worlds. We focus on stories that explore the spectrum of human experiences—stories based on facts, truth-seeking, human concerns, real events, and real people, with a personal touch. From liminal lives to the marginalized, and everything in between, we believe that the subjective can offer its own reality and reveal truths some facts can’t discover. Hosted, edited, and produced by Julián Esteban Torres López. 

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Original music for The Nasiona Podcast was produced by the Grammy Award-winning team of Joe Sparkman and Marcus Allen, aka The Heavyweights. Joe Sparkman: Twitter + .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}