NBC5 In Depth sits down with Julia Alvarez

NBC5. IN DEPTH. STORIES ARE DEFINED AS MEMORIES OF EVENTS, REAL OR IMAGINARY, OFTEN TOLD FOR ENTERTAINMENT OR TO OFFER LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE. BUT WHO DECIDES WHOSE STORIES GET TOLD AND WHAT HAPPENS AS MEMORY BEGINS TO FADE? THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE QUESTIONS EXPLORED IN THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES, THE LATEST NOVEL FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR JULIA ALVAREZ. WE SAT DOWN WITH HER DURING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH TO LEARN ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NOVEL, AND HOW HER STORIES HAVE OPENED A WINDOW INTO THE COMPLEXITIES OF LATINO CULTURE. FIRST OF ALL, I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE. IT’S SUCH AN HONOR TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF JUST SIT WITH YOU HERE TODAY. YOUR STORIES HAVE LEFT SUCH AN IMPACT ON PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF. GROWING UP READING YOUR WORK, PEOPLE IN THE LATINO COMMUNITY, LOOKING BACK AT YOUR CAREER, DID YOU EVER THINK YOUR WORDS WOULD RESONATE ACROSS GENERATIONS IN THE WAYS THAT THEY HAVE COME ON? FIRST OF ALL, I’M THE ONE THAT’S HONORED TO BE HERE, AND IT’S ALWAYS A SPECIAL TREAT WHEN I MEET ANOTHER LATINO IN VERMONT, BECAUSE WE’RE NOT THAT COMMON HERE. BUT I NEVER HAD ANY IDEA THAT I WOULD BE READ. I KIDS LOVE TO HEAR THIS. WHEN I GO TO SCHOOLS. I WAS A VERY POOR STUDENT. I WAS NOT A READER. I FLUNKED EVERY GRADE THROUGH FIFTH GRADE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, WHERE I WAS GROWING UP. IN THE 1950S, IT WASN’T IMPORTANT FOR A GIRL TO GET EDUCATION, AND IT WAS A DICTATORSHIP. SO SCHOOLS WERE A LOT ABOUT DOCTRINAIRE AND LEARNING THE PROPAGANDA, AND THEY WERE BORING. BUT I ALWAYS LOVED STORIES. THE MINUTE I GOT HOME AND THE DIAZ AND THE ABUELITA STARTED TELLING STORIES, I WANTED IT TOLD AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. I DIDN’T GROW UP THINKING I WOULD EVER BE A WRITER, BUT I KNEW THAT I LOVED STORIES, AND WHEN I CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AND LEARNED ENGLISH AND GOT A GOOD EDUCATION AND FOUND OUT THAT THE BOOKS COULD BE INTERESTING, I REALLY, YOU KNOW, YEARN TO BE ONE OF THE STORYTELLERS INSIDE THE BOOKS. AND I DIDN’T KNOW WHETHER IT COULD BE DONE. BUT I KNEW THAT’S WHAT I WANTED TO BE EARLY ON. YES, A LOT OF YOUR CHARACTERS LIVE IN WHAT I KIND OF DEFINED AS THE IN-BETWEEN, WHETHER IT’S THE IN-BETWEEN OF CULTURES IN BETWEEN OF ENGLISH AND SPANISH, KIND OF THINKING ABOUT THE LATINO IDENTITY, BUT ALSO HOW WE BECOME MORE ALIGNED WITH THE AMERICAN IDENTITY. WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE, WHETHER IT’S IN YOUR WRITING OR EVEN IN YOUR DAILY LIFE? IS IT ENGLISH? IS IT SPANISH? IS IT IN THE IN-BETWEEN? WHEN I CAME, IT WAS LIKE YOU WERE AMERICAN OR YOU WERE DOMINICAN. YOU IT WAS ENGLISH OR IT WAS SPANISH. AND WHAT I’VE DISCOVERED, LOOKING BACK NOW MANY YEARS, I CAME WHEN I WAS TEN AND I’M 75, 65 YEARS IS THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE. IT’S A RICH COMING. TOGETHER THEY INFUSE THE AMERICAN CULTURE AND WE INFLUENCE THE AMERICAN CULTURE, AND THEY INFLUENCE US. AND IT’S A SORT OF AN ONGOING ORGANIC PROCESS OF CREATING CULTURE. SO I FEEL I FEEL WHAT I FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH IS THE PLACE I’VE REACHED THAT I DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE, THAT THERE’S RICHNESS IN BOTH. AND TO CUT OFF EITHER PART IS TO BECOME A SMALLER VERSION OF MYSELF, AND I DON’T WANT THAT. WHY IS THAT SUCH AN IMPORTANT IDEA FOR THE FOLKS WHO ARE LIVING AND READING TODAY? WELL, YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT WE WHO ESCAPED A DICTATORSHIP AND FELT OPPRESSION. I’M JUST IN SHOCK THAT NOW, SO MANY YEARS LATER, THE LAND WE CAME TO THAT WAS OFFERING US OPPORTUNITY IS KIND OF CLOSING ITSELF DOWN. AND I THINK THE REASON THAT I STILL HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF STORYTELLING IS THAT WHEN YOU GET AWAY FROM THE POLEMICS AND YOU CONNECT WITH PEOPLE AT THE LEVEL OF THEIR STORY, YOUR STORY THERE AN OPENING STARTS TO HAPPEN. AND I THINK STORIES ARE EVER MORE IMPORTANT. AND THE COMMUNITIES THAT STORIES CREATE, BECAUSE YOU START TELLING A STORY, THEN THE PERSON TELLS THEIR STORY AND THEN IT BECOMES YOU’RE CREATING A CULTURE TOGETHER, CO-CREATING THAT COMMUNITY. A LOT OF YOUR WORK FINDS WAYS TO BLEND THE REALITY WITH THE MYSTICAL OR EVEN THE MAGICAL. IS THERE A PARTICULAR REASON THAT YOU KIND OF DRAW TO MAGICAL REALISM IN YOUR WORKS AT ALL? YOU KNOW, I DON’T THINK OF IT EVEN WITH THAT LABEL. I REMEMBR WHEN I GAVE MY FATHER A COPY OF 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE THE BOOK THAT IS, YOU KNOW, INTRODUCED MAGICAL REALISM TO NORTH AMERICAN CULTURE. I SAID, PAPI, BECAUSE I WAS NOW A COLLEGE STUDENT, AND I KNEW SO MUCH MORE THAN HE DID. I SAID, PAPI, THAT’S, YOU KNOW, THIS BOOK THAT YOU WERE LOVING. THAT’S MAGICAL REALISM. HE SAID, MAGICAL REALISM. THAT’S THE WAY WE THINK. SO FROM THE OUTSIDE, IT LOOKS LIKE THAT’S EXOTIC. BUT WITHIN THAT CULTURE, IT’S AN UNDERSTANDING AND AN INCLUSION OF THINGS THAT ARE NOT RATIONAL. MAYBE THINGS THAT ARE NOT SCIENTIFIC AND ANALYTICAL, THINGS THAT ARE SOMETIMES VERY EMOTIONAL WAYS OF THINKING AND BEING THAT ARE DIFFERENT FROM THIS. MORE NORTH AMERICAN TRADITION. AND I THINK, AGAIN, THAT IT INFUSES SUCH ENERGY AND SUCH RICHNESS TO AMERICAN LITERATURE AND TO THE AMERICAN CULTURE. SO WE WE JUST HAVE A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE DON’T UNDERSTAND IN OUR LATIN CULTURES THAT IS DIFFERENT. FOR INSTANCE, YOU CELEBRATE DAY OF THE DEAD IN MEXICO. WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU GO TO THE CEMETERIES, YOU HAVE A PARTY, YOU MAKE THE FAVORITE FOOD OF THE PERSON THAT DIED. YOU CELEBRATE THEM. YOU SIT AROUND AND YOU TELL STORIES ABOUT THEM. AND IT’S A PARTY. IT’S A CELEBRATION SO DIFFERENT FROM THE WAYS THAT PEOPLE ACKNOWLEDGE AND GRIEVE THEIR LOVED ONES HERE. AND NOT ONE IS RIGHT AND ANOTHER ISN’T, BUT IT’S JUST ANOTHER WAY OF BEING. I WANTED TO GET A KIND OF MORE DEEPER INTO YOUR MORE RECENT BOOK, THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES. I WAS JUST WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO THINK OF THE IDEA OF A CEMETERY WHERE UNFINISHED STORIES WERE LAID TO REST, RIGHT? AND UNTOLD STORIES AND STORIES THAT NEVER GET THE MICROPHONE, NEVER GET RECOGNIZED, NEVER GET ON A BESTSELLER LIST. NEVER GET ATTENTION. ALL THOSE LITTLE STORYTELLERS, THOSE THINGS IN AN ORAL CULTURE THAT I GREW UP IN. AND THEY WERE THEY TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING ABOUT STORYTELLING THAT I LATER LEARNED IN GRAD SCHOOL. BUT IT WAS VERY INFORMAL. I JUST OBSERVED IT AND NEVER CELEBRATED. THEY’RE ANONYMOUS. BUT WHY A CEMETERY? BECAUSE I MENTIONED EARLIER, I’M 75 YEARS OLD, AND WHEN I WAS A YOUNGER WRITER, IF I GOT STUCK ON A STORY AND I JUST COULDN’T GET A CHARACTER RIGHT, OR I JUST HAD TO SOMEHOW BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE SITUATION TO WRITE ABOUT IT, I HAVE ALL THESE FOLDERS AND BOXES AND I WOULD SAY, DON’T WORRY, I’LL GET BACK TO YOU. WELL, THE TRUTH IS, AT 75, WHEN YOU HAVE DOZENS OF THOSE BOXES, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET BACK TO THEM, BUT THEY STILL HAUNT YOU. THOSE CHARACTERS THAT YOU NEVER GOT DOWN, THOSE STORIES THAT NEVER GOT TOLD. SO I BEGAN TO WONDER, AS AN OLDER WRITER, WHAT IS THAT PROCESS OF CLOSING DOWN NOT JUST A LIFE, BUT A STORY IN LIFE? SO I THOUGHT, WELL, THEY NEED A CEMETERY. I THOUGHT, A CEMETERY. HOW ABOUT A CEMETERY? THAT’S NOT FOR PEOPLE, NOT FOR PETS, BUT FOR UNFINISHED, UNTOLD STORIES. BUT OF COURSE, WHAT YOU DISCOVER IN THE BOOK IS THAT PROTEST SIGN THAT YOU SEE IN MANY PROTESTS BY THE DACA YOUNG PEOPLE, AND IT SAYS THEY TRIED TO BURY US. THEY DID NOT KNOW WE WERE SEEDS. WELL, IN THE BOOK YOU SHE TRIED TO SILENCE US. SHE DID NOT KNOW WE WERE STORIES. SHE BURIES THEM, BUT THEY’RE NOT READY TO GO DOWN AND BE QUIET. THERE’S A PASSAGE IN THE BOOK THAT READS, THERE ARE STORIES IN THE SILENCE, TOO. DID ELEMENTS OF THE STORY REVEAL THEMSELVES TO YOU? WHERE YOU KIND OF GOING IN ONE DIRECTION, AND THEN IT KIND OF JUST CAME TOGETHER AS SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT. THAT’S ALWAYS THE TRUTH. I MEAN, EVEN WHEN YOU’RE WRITING HISTORICAL NOVEL, YOU HAVE CERTAIN FIXED POINTS. THIS HAPPENED AND THIS HAPPENED AND THIS HAPPENED. BUT FROM POINT A TO POINT B, WHAT HAPPENS ALONG THE WAY? AND I’M ALWAYS SURPRISED IF I’M NOT SURPRISED, I’M NOT. IT’S NOT HOT. IT’S NOT REALLY GOING FROST. ARE. VERMONTER NEW ENGLAND POET SAID ABOUT HIS WRITING. NO SURPRISE FOR THE WRITER, NO SURPRISE FOR THE READER. IT’S THAT STUFF OF BEING SURPRISED AND OF BEING KIND OF AMUSED OR DELIGHTED OR SHOCKED BY A CHARACTER. THEY’RE IN CONTROL OF THE NAVIGATION THERE, AND YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION. AND THAT’S A FORM OF LISTENING TO THE SILENCE, BECAUSE IT’S NOT YET WRITTEN. THEY HAVEN’T YET SPOKEN ON THE PAPER, BUT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN FOR THEM. PAY ATTENTION. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOLKS TO CARRY WITH THEM FROM YOUR WORK? I HOPE FOR ANYTHING. IT’S FOR THE PEOPLE THAT READ MY BOOK. CAN ENTER INTO IT, AND IN SPITE YOU NEVER LEAVE A BOOK THAT REALLY TOUCHES YOU AS THE SAME PERSON THAT WENT INTO IT SOMEHOW. FROM THERE YOU CARRY, YOU STRETCH THOSE MUSCLES OF THE IMAGINATION, WHICH ARE ALSO THE MUSCLES OF COMPASSION AND TOLERANCE AND ALL THOSE GOOD THINGS. WE TALK ABOUT. AND YOU COME OUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT AND ENLARGED. I THINK THIS BOOK, MY BOOKS THAT I GET A READER LIKE PHILOMENA, IS A LISTENER. SHE LISTENS TO THESE STORIES WITH SUCH HUNGER. SHE NEEDS THEM TO MAKE SENSE OF HER LIFE, TO UNDERSTAND THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE HURT HER, AND TO UNDERSTAND THE PEOPLE THAT MYSTIFY HER. AND SHE JUST TAKES IT IN AND SHE’S SHE IS THE REAL HEROINE OF THIS NOVEL. AND THAT’S I WISH TO PROPAGATE PHILOMENA OUT THERE SO THAT PEOPLE READING THE NOVEL CAN FEEL MORE CONNECTED TO OUR CULTURE, TO ITS RICHNESS, TO ITS FLAWS, BECAUSE IT’S A MIXED BAG, LIKE ANYTHING THAT’S HUMAN. SOMETIMES AS LATINOS READING A WORK, IT BECAUSE WE’RE ENMESHED AND EMBEDDED IN IT, SOMETIMES WE’RE NOT AWARE OF WHAT IT IS, WHAT THIS CULTURE IS ABOUT, OR WE DON’T RECOGNIZE BECAUSE IT’S SO IN OUR FACE THAT YOU STEP BACK AND YOU GO, OH, YOU KNOW, I HAD AN ABUELITA LIKE THAT. WHAT IS ONE STORY THAT YOU HAVEN’T TOLD YET? BUT YOU’RE KIND OF HOPING TO. YOU’RE TRICKING ME. BECAUSE IF I TELL YOU, IT WON’T GET WRITTEN DOWN. I HAVE TO. IF I TELL IT, YOU KNOW, IF I START TALKING ABOUT IT, THEN I AM IN CONTROL OF IT. I HAVE TO SIT DOWN AND LET IT COME THROUGH ME. THE WAY A BOOK STARTS FOR ME IS A PEBBLE IN MY SHOE. SOMETHING MYSTIFIES ME. SOMETHING THAT I CAN’T GET RID OF. IT’S LIKE A LITTLE A LITTLE DISQUIET. AND I CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY SHOE OR OUT OF MY MIND UNTIL I WRITE IT DOWN. SO I HAVE MANY LITTLE PEBBLES. I HAVE SOME LITTLE PEBBLES IN THERE, AND I. I HOPE I HAVE TIME. I ALWAYS SAY JUST ONE MORE BOOK, JUST ONE MORE BOOK. AND THIS ONE, I THOUGHT, JUST ONE MORE BOOK. AND THEN WHEN IT WAS DONE, I SAID, WELL, MAYBE JUST ONE MORE. I DO HAVE A BOOK OF POEMS. WHAT AM I FORGETTING? MY BABIES, A BOOK OF POEMS CALLED VISITATIONS COMING OUT NEXT APRIL FOR POETRY MONTH. POETRY MONTH. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN TELL US ABOUT THAT? WELL, THEY’RE THEY’RE POEMS THAT ARE WRITTEN. THAT’S MY FIRST LOVE POETRY. MY FIRST BOOK WAS A BOOK OF POEMS, ACTUALLY, AND IT’S WHAT I ALWAYS GO BACK TO BETWEEN BOOKS. SOMETIMES EVEN AS I’M WRITING A BOOK, SOMETIMES AS I’M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND A CHARACTER, I WILL. A POEM WILL COME IN THE VOICE OF THE CHARACTER ABOUT THE CHARACTER. SO IT’S MY FIRST LOVE, AND IT’S LIKE THE LITTLE HANSEL AND GRETEL CRUMBS THAT I’VE BEEN LEAVING BEHIND ME OF POETRY AND MY AGENT, STUART BERNSTEIN, SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT DOZENS OF THESE DOZENS. I MEAN, I HAVE HUNDREDS OF THEM, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM ARE GOING TO GO IN THE BOOK, BELIEVE ME. BUT YES, I SAID, WELL, YEAH, I CAN GATHER THEM TOGETHER. SO THEY’RE SOME OF THEM ARE NARRATIVE POEMS. SOME OF THEM ARE LYRIC POEMS. BUT IT’S IT’S CALLED VISITATIONS AND IT’S JUST A WONDERFUL FEELING. YEAH. THERE WAS A QUOTE OF YOURS THAT I CAME ACROSS KIND OF NOT INTENTIONALLY. I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE IN IN THE PLANNING OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH FOR OUR COVERAGE THAT WE DO. AND YOU HAVE THERE’S SOMETHING OUT THERE FROM YOU THAT I BELIEVE READS THE POINT OF KINDNESS IS NOT TO PAY IT BACK, BUT TO PASS IT ALONG. WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITIES AS WE CONTINUE TO GROW AND, YOU KNOW, INTERACT WITH THAT FUSION THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT BEFORE? WELL, I THINK THAT IT’S, YOU KNOW, THAT WE ARE BECOMING. A SMALLER GLOBE. WE’RE SO INTERCONNECTED. YOU KNOW, I REMEMBER THAT WHEN WE WANTED TO BE IN TOUCH WITH FAMILY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, THERE WAS THAT LONG DISTANCE CALL THAT WAS VERY EXPENSIVE. AND YOU BASICALLY SHOUTED LITTLE, LITTLE SNIPPETS OF WHAT YOU WANTED TO SAY. AND THAT WAS OVER. AND NOW THERE’S WHATSAPP AND VIDEOS AND PEOPLE ARE SO INTERCONNECTED. SO WE’RE WE’RE MORE AND MORE REALIZING THAT WE ARE ONE FAMILY, ONE. GLOBE, AND THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF IT. SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF MENTALITY THAT WE COME FROM OUR INDIVIDUAL CULTURES, OUR INDIVIDUAL TRIBES, BUT WE HAVE TO JOIN THE BIG CAMPFIRE IN PERSPECTIVE IS SO IMPORTANT. I MEAN, THAT’S MY HOPE GOING FORWARD. AND I HAVE A LOT OF HOPE IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE CHALLENGES WE’RE FACING RIGHT NOW. BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN A TEACHER AND BECAUSE I’M STILL CONNECTED WHEN I GIVE READINGS AND GO TO SCHOOLS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEY’RE THEY SO MANY OF THEM GET IT AND THEY’RE SO READY, SO READY TO, TO TAKE ON THINGS THAT ARE HUGE CHALLENGES. THIS CONVERSATION HAS BEEN SO WNDERFUL. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE WITH US TODAY. THANK YOU ADRIAN. SO WONDERFUL TO YOU.