We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gloria Muñoz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gloria below.
Gloria, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Writing is how I make sense of the world. I wander and wonder when drafting. Each project explores questions that I carry. Sometimes the questions span over multiple projects and often the questions become more layered as I’m writing. It’s not about finding answers necessarily. Rather, writing hold space for big and small considerations. It’s honestly always different:a question, an image, a conversation. I’ll never run out of curiosity for the world and for people, so my creative practice is always expanding. There are moments when I feel a resistance to write, sure. But that’s when I take writing off the page. So much writing happens while walking, driving, and being outside. I feel most creatively alive in nature.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a Colombian American writer and advocate for multilingual literacy who writes about plants, migrations, star stuff, and the environments that shape us. My debut novel This Is the Year was just published in January. It’s a genre-bending novel that explores the themes of immigration, climate justice, friendship, grief and the power of communities. I’m also the author of the poetry collections Your Biome Has Found You and Danzirly, which won the Ambroggio Prize and the Florida Gold Medal Book Award for Poetry. I’m an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow, a Hedgebrook Fellow, a Macondista, a member of Las Musas, and a Highlights Foundation Diverse Verse Fellow. When I’m not writing books, I am writing songs and stories for kids media with the creative media company I cofounded, Moonlit Música.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
It took me a while to believe in myself enough to fully pursue writing. Many of my friends and mentors believed in me so much more. Eventually, their support helped me find the confidence to leap with both feet into writing. Find your writing community. Writing does not have to be solitary. My work is deeply enriched by my writing group and trusted critique partners. I can’t recommend writing groups enough! Mine has been there with me through many drafts.While drafting, find a good rhythm to spend a time writing on or off the page as much as you can.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Finding my writing community has been one of the most essential parts of my writing path. I believe in collaboration as a means of spending time with a social question. Many of the interdisciplinary collaborative projects I’ve worked on have resulted in social change in my community. I also work to advocate for myself and other Latine writers who are hoping to work with editors and publishers who value both underrepresented authors and their stories. Social change happens in community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gloriamunoz.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bygloriamunoz/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriamunozwriter/
Image Credits
Jasman Wynn
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