As I wrap up my time in my MFA program, I am writing more than ever. I’ve recently written a few short stories that I’m excited to find a home for. My mother and brother still live in North Carolina, where we first landed when we arrived in the United States. I’ve since moved away, but for the first time I’ve started drafting a story set in the Carolinas with the immigrant experience at its center. It’s been incredible to transport myself over there and put my mom’s haunted house on the page. I haven’t read many stories about Dominicans in that part of the South, but I promise we are there!

Furthermore, I’ve been dedicating most of my time to writing my first novel, my thesis I hope to defend this upcoming May. The novel will follow the “cursed” lineage of one family, starting with one young girl. Spanning a century of Dominican life, the novel explores how the fulfillment of these prophecies was perhaps tied to both supernatural beliefs and the real hardships of their time. Where did the lines blur between magic and reality during these lifetimes?