#Dominican Writers

[iambic-stan]

last book read + last stethoscope used, part 34

This is my Littmann Master Cardiology in plum with Julia Alvarez's latest novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, a unique, woke, but also cynical take on the act of storytelling. (I'm afraid that if I explain my use of those particular adjectives, I'd risk spoiling the story). Alma is an accomplished novelist who has decided to retire from public life with many of her stories unfinished. She chooses to create a "cemetery" to bury them in her native Dominican Republic and live out the rest of her days on inherited property there. In the process of establishing her new residence, she meets and hires Filomena to be something like a steward to the cemetery, not realizing that Filomena will come to interact with these as-yet-untold stories in unexpected ways. I fell in love with In the Time of the Butterflies in college, which was almost certainly a better work of Alvarez's than this, but this serves as a worthy companion. Butterflies should be read first if one is unfamiliar with Dominican history (as I was).

[rbtbc]

Book Review: Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado | An Education of the Burning and Rebuilding of 1970s Bronx

#SummerReading2023 #summerreading #blogpost #BurnDownRiseUp #socialhorror #youngadult #QueerLitread #dominicanbooks #dominicanwriters #bronxwriters #vincenttirado

[lolamkelly]

Selfie-ish

Whenever I ask someone to take a picture of meThey never get the composition rightThey don’t adjust the settings to best suit my features under the given lightingThey don’t capture my full lengthThey don’t capture my smileThe picture is blurryAnd my feet are cut offMy face is distortedAnd my eyes are closed They click the button whenI sneezeI blinkI fallBut not when my eyes are openWhen my smile…

[massiveladycat]

hello!! i'm planning to be a future writer, and i want to make more hispanic ocs in the future. but, i'm not hispanic. i'm a black woman, yes, but hispanic and black experiences may be very different. i'm trying to research the culture and i'm learning the spanish language already, but i'd love if some hispanic people on tumblr could tell me the do's and don't's of writing a hispanic character and a few tips. thank you very much, and please feel free to tell me if anything comes off as offensive because that's not my goal here

[punkeropercyjackson]

The Pjo books,constantly,nonstop,in your face,to the point it may as well be a plot point:Percy literally just looks like a boyish version Poseidon and a few of the other gods mistake him for his dad at first glance

Y'all for some reason?????:Afrolatino Percy would be a lightskin with biracial kid tears🤪

[leyllethecreator]

Professional Afro-Hispanic Teen Author: where you can find my works

I have two ongoing novels releasing serialized updates.

One is a disability romance novel called "Damsel in the Red Dress" available here on Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/365913868-damsel-in-the-red-dress

The other is a YA novel called "Rigamarole" available here on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103159083

[spiritual-knowlege]

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[brokenmusess]

the broken muse herself :/

[yourdailyqueer]

Rita Indiana

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: 11 June 1977  

Ethnicity: Dominican

Occupation: Singer, songwriter, writer

[andthenlightningstrikes]

it must be established soon that this is where i’ll share my experience as an individual that is based on the caribbean whose search bar terms when looking for images always included “tumblr aesthetic” at the end and that just loves the term “slice of life” and the imagery it evokes

the beauty in the mundane, the grunge and the 2014 collages and skins and the halsey music videos, the movies tangerine and the florida project that forever changed my perception of reality and made me think i was able to shoot a short film with an iphone 4s to document the caribbean aesthetics i'm surrounded with

that and that i already feel unhinged here considering my usual social media silence in other apps (i barely post anything anywhere) i’m supposed to be mysterious on instagram i can’t share my thoughts too much

what helps the most here is i don’t see anyone’s face and that’s so>>> thank u tumblr your email marketing campaign is actually working i’ve been reading some of them and also thank u slayyyter you’re also motivating me to let my thoughts out and to finally just talk shit online and share anything i vibe with

also i'm kind of a writer don't let my unpunctuated style fool you please understand that i'm going for a bret easton ellis less than zero kind of narration style that's the picture i'm trying to paint with a slight tint of dirty havana trilogy by pedro juan gutierrez, i'll dive deeper into my influences and how i'm a sucker for the hedonistic cloudy aesthetic caribbean kind of vibe i've been living and chasing my whole life

[awakeneddominicangirl]

I see you mind.

I see you, mind. The way that you keep me imprisoned, the way that you keep my soul imprisoned. You say things that are so incredibly believable that I cannot help but stop what I'm doing and do what you want me to do. It doesn't have to be clearly stated by you; I will naturally just feel the urge to do something else. Whenever you perceive that I will be vulnerable, you come in the most subtly to sway me in another direction. Whenever you perceive that I will finally do what may put me in fear's way but will give me the grandest results, unknown results, you sway me in another direction. It's so...insidious.

I'm upset with you.

How can you do that to me? You have betrayed me the most of all the things in life. In your efforts to keep me protected, you have caused me the most pain. You have set me on a path of unmet expectations that has led me down a depth—a hole—so deep of despair and dissatisfaction with life that I struggle to see clearly enough to find where I can grasp onto to climb out.

I have been left to my own vices because you don't have the capacity to get me out of the hole you've put me in. I leave that to my heart and soul, which are one and the same. It has wisdom and strength that you have yet to catch up to and maintain. For you, wisdom takes time to integrate, while with the heart, it is felt so deeply in one's core that you cannot help but remember it.

Step down. Stop speaking to me in different convincing voices and stories..." maybe this time" stories. The voice of fearful oppression. The feeling of a halt, an invisible wall in my chest, stopping my will. Give up. Let me go. What could I accomplish if you just stepped aside to the lowest notch? Let me show you, I will be okay. Let me be free in my spirit's longing to connect with my soul and create the simplest essence of what I am. Let me be.

[girlwiththeladybugtattoo]

A million poems live here✨

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.

.

[nandostateofmind]

Getting Married………Again

Vow Renewal Vibes…..

Every five years my wife wants to get remarried again. Treats our relationship like a car lease except we not getting the newer model. I just want her happy so I agree to most of her ideas. I love a good party. Getting to see old friends and family. I hate to pressure people to come to anything I invite them to, if you pressure people or insist they may come with a vibe that isn’t what you are looking for. I also don’t believe in being sore if someone doesn’t come because I understand, life can happen, sometimes you agree in the moment then you regret it later when the time approaches because you tired or broke and finally sometimes you hold someone in certain esteem in your heart and they don’t see you in the same light as you see them. If the event doesn’t move them to attend then why be bitter allow them the room to do what they want. While you would love everyone that you love to be there with you during the important events in your life sometimes for whatever reason they can’t be there and you shouldn’t hold that against them. Those who do make get to be there for life long memories.

In total about 50 people attended. I remember I got a terribly mean text from one of my sisters and it bothered me really bad because it felt like it was meant to be as painful as possible. This particular sister doesn’t love me, we do not speak. She did it because he wasn’t invited and she wanted to make it about her. It really threw me off mentally. I spent the day with in the back of my mind. She won that battle, had me being short with my wife and children I wasn’t excited I was upset. Then my wife left to get ready. I texted one of my groom’s men Richie and he asked if I was good. I said yes. Then I remembered calling him the night before my wedding I sat in my car my 1990 Mazda protégé for two hours listening to Nas Getting Married. I immediately put the song on repeat as I ironed my sons suit. It put me back in the zone I was in the wedding morning. My sister and her text suddenly meant nothing I was in love again all I could think about was my wife. I looked over at my son looking cool as could be dressed like a miniature model. I was back.

The set up was beautiful on the beach everyone including us dressed in all white. The music started playing. I started to recall what the church felt like on my wedding day. You can’t always remember exactly what happened but often you can remember the feeling. I remembered that feeling. You ever smell your mother’s cooking and you are transported to the moment in time and you remember exactly how it felt. That is exactly what happened to me at that alter. I was 25 again standing at the alter waiting to exchange vows again. Getting choked up holding back tears but I’m not sad. We changed vows we’ve written. The moment was perfect, again. I’m grateful, grateful to have these moments that provide perspective. Things that remind me when things get difficult. Every time, I get mad every time, we fight every time, when I cant figure out life. I cant remember everything but always there for me is the vibes and I can never forget that.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Elizabeth Acevedo

Poet and novelist Elizabeth Acevedo was born in 1988 in New York City. Acevedo is the author of The Poet X, a New York Times bestseller and winner of multiple awards, including the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She has also published two more novels, With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land. In 2022, Acevedo was named the Young People's Poet Laureate.

[andthenlightningstrikes]

that’s actually been me these last few weekends after my routine started consisting in hitting the pen in the morning after a quick breakfast then taking a 20 minute walk to the gym, working out and then going to buy groceries all while enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin during the way, the breeze gently hitting my face and clothes while also making the trees and leaves dance its green around

and also enjoying the satisfaction that only getting exhausted after lifting weights and struggling with machines brings and feeling a little awkward yet confident with my playlist blasting through my ears even though the playlist on the gym doesn’t sound bad at all

and then enjoying going to the supermarket with the playlist still going strong while looking around finding the things on my list and romanticizing my life quite a bit as if i were on a studio ghibli film or one of those influencers that document their so aesthetic it hurts daily routines

but in reality where i am is in a breat easton ellis less than zero kind of haze i believe the weeknd also lives on as well, but in my haze i don’t think things get as dark, i just take the imagery and borrow the stream of consciousness barely punctuated perhaps drug influenced style of narration of bret easton ellis that honestly works for me so well in terms of allowing me to just let out my thoughts

[outsidethebeautybox]

How It Started (Part 3): The Bengali Boy

I have come to terms with the fact that I am not easy to work with.

Okay, I’m trying really really hard to come to terms with it.

“Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day” is one of my favorite poems and, in the words of Nikki Giovanni, “I know I’m not an easy girl to love.” (Technically, the poem says “woman” but I don’t want to get in trouble for copyright mumbo-jumbo.)

‘I’m very opinionated,’ is what I’m trying to say. I’m passionate, and sometimes that passion means that I have to stand my ground, even when it makes me less popular.

Ya’ll remember that I tried to make a comic with a pinoy artist last year?

Well, a few months after our ugly business-partner break up (might go more into how that whole mess ended later) an Indian artist hit me up asking if I wanted to work together on a project. I’d grown a bit less enthusiastic about partnerships thanks to my previous experience, but I still agreed to give it a shot.

This new artist had a lot of suggestions/preferences for the project. No problem. In my opinion a good partnership means meshing everyone’s ideas into something both parties can be happy with, so I tried really hard to adapt to my new partner without sacrificing my artistic integrity.

She wanted to write a story that would draw a lot of fans and make us money. I try my best to write for the sake of artistic expression, rather than profit, but I agreed we could try to write a story in a more popular genre to increase our likelihood of gaining supporters.

At first the artist was thinking “dark romance,” but dark romance isn’t really my jam.

So, still in the interest of business and “what sells,” she asked if I could do a romance-fantasy story. 

I agreed. 

I love speculative fiction. I write romances. I hadn’t written a fantasy romance since I was 13, but it would be fine.

Or…that’s what I told myself anyway.

The artist's second request was that I make part of the cast Indian, because she was Indian and wanted to see more Indian characters in the media. Again, I agreed. No problem.

I love mixing ethnicities in my fictional casts and have already put numerous Indian characters in my other stories. Adding a few Indian characters would have been easy, but just to lean into her request, I decided to set the story in a modern fantasy world where everyone was either Indian or Dominican. 

It was whimsical and leaned into my quirkiness. I also thought it could make our story more of a “blue ocean” because I don’t know of ANY other stories that have mixed those cultures together.

But then she wanted some changes.

For one thing, she asked me to change the male lead's surname. She didn’t like the way the surname ‘Sarkar’ sounded. I liked the name Sarkar, but she asked me to change it insisting “Trust me, I’m Indian. I know how it sounds.” To be honest, that felt condescending, like the decision to give him the surname ‘Sarkar’ was somehow wrong or silly, rather than a matter of preference.

She strongly suggested that I give him the surname ‘Roy.’ I didn’t care for the name, so compromised, changing his name from ‘Sarkar’ but not to ‘Roy.’

Then she asked me to change the plot I had written. She wanted the male lead to have secretly fallen in love with the female lead before she fell in love with him, though she didn’t know he was in love with her.

I agreed to keep the idea in mind, but as it didn’t really make sense with the rest of the plot, and was kind of tropey, I didn’t think I would be adding that suggestion. Maybe it was unreasonable, but by that point, I was starting to get a bit frustrated.

Then she commented on the fact that all the main characters had dark hair and dark eyes. 

In my mind that made sense, because most Dominicans have dark hair and eyes and every Indian I’ve ever met did too, but again, I compromised. No problem.

I gave the Dominican female lead silvery-blue eyes. It’s a rare trait, but thanks to the fact that most Dominicans are part European, some of us do naturally have light colored eyes and even blonde or reddish hair. I’d recently read a book by Madhur Jaffrey which mentioned that some Indians have naturally red hair and green eyes, so I decided to make the female lead’s Indian bff a ginger with green eyes.

Finally, I thought, we could move forward. I made reference image folders on Pinterest and got to drawing character design sheets for the artist to use as a reference.

I successfully completed three. 

We hit a sticking point when I drew the male lead.

We’d agreed toward the beginning of the process that we would make the male lead Bengali and the female lead Dominican.

While the different Dominican characters had varying features (slanted eyes, round eyes, blue eyes, dark eyes) and complexions (from dark brown sugar to cashew), they all fell under the umbrella term of “Dominican” because we don’t have different distinct cultural groups and languages. 

The Indian characters, however, would be from different cultures, primarily Bengali and Rajasthani, and I was pretty proud of the diversity of features and complexions I had given them all. One had medium brown skin, one had a caramel-brown complexion, and the male lead was dark, chocolate brown.

Up until that point, most of my ethnic male leads had light or medium brown skin tones, though some of my female leads had very dark, or even (literally) black skin tones (I’m looking at you, Essence Walker and Mora Glas.)

I personally think dark skinned people need more representation in the media, so when this character appeared in my mind with a beautiful ‘dark brown sugar’ complexion, I rolled with it instantly.

But…the artist didn’t want him to have dark skin. 

In fact, she wanted to give him light brown skin and hazel eyes, saying that dark hair and dark eyes aren’t actually that common in India, and north Indians usually don’t have very dark skin.

“He doesn’t look Bengali.”

Even after all I’d read about colorism in the Indian subcontinent, I didn’t really know how to respond to that statement.

I realize I’ve never been to India or Bangladesh, so I didn’t want to disregard her opinion, but I also know it’s foolish to accept any one person’s statements as fact without getting cross-references.

Doing a little research, I found that 98-99% of the population of Bangladesh is Bengali by ethnicity (though their nationality is “Bangladeshi.”) 

Then I looked up some articles from Bengali newspapers and surprise-surprise, most of the people in the crowds had medium to dark brown skin, as opposed to the medium to light brown complexions which the Indian artist had told me were most common.

I sent the artist these images for reference, but still she insisted that Bengalis don’t look like “these dark-skinned people.”

So who was I supposed to agree with?

I don’t want to disregard anyone’s opinion, especially when it comes to subjects where I KNOW I am ignorant.

But the articles I’ve read by Indian and Bangladeshi people keep insisting that there are dark-skinned people in India. The videos filming ordinary citizens in Bangladesh and West Bengal all show footage of dark or dusky skinned people.

So I couldn’t in good conscience lighten my male lead’s complexion.

Especially not when the artist praised the characters having rare European features but was opposed to giving the male lead dark skin, which she also claimed was ‘rare,’ though possible.

Red is the rarest hair color in the world but the artist liked it when I gave one of the Indian characters red hair and green eyes -

Just not when I give the Bengali boy dark skin. 

It really really rubbed me the wrong way, so I ended the collaboration before things could go down hill any further.

Even after my other failed partnership, it still wasn’t a fun or easy decision.

I don’t WANT to be a pain. I don’t want to be difficult to work with. I’d already changed names, hair and eye colors to suit her preferences, but there are some places where I need to put my foot down. 

As our argument over the male lead’s skin continued, she’d shared her plans to make all the Indian character’s light-skinned, and I simply couldn’t agree with that.

For too long, the whole world has scorned dark skin and refused to give dark-skinned characters a turn in the spotlight. India is no exception. Skin-lightening creams have been renamed (yes, I learned about “Glow and Lovely” because of this situation) but the problems still remain. 

Dark/dusky skin is scorned. People refuse to acknowledge it as beautiful. I refuse to work on a project that perpetuates this disparagement and mistreatment.

This bigotry needs to end now.

Dusky skin is beautiful. It doesn’t make you any less Indian. 

My male lead will have dark skin, even if I have to wait years to find another artist who is willing to draw him in all his glory.