Los Bookis Podcast

In this episode, AGG and Sergio engage in a conversation with Jaquira Díaz delving into topics such as monsters, how the world sees women’s bodies, how your friends become your family, rebelling against authority, reconciling with family, being sluts for books and how to live now. 

About the Author: @jaquiradiaz
Jaquira Díaz was born in Puerto Rico. Her work has been published in the New York Times Style Magazine, the Guardian, Longreads, Conde Nast Traveler, and included in The Best American Essay of 2016. She is the recipient of a Whiting Award, two Pushcart Prizes,  an Elizabeth George Foundation grant, and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Kenyon Review, and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. She splits her time between Montreal and Miami Beach with her partner, the writer Lars Horn. 

About the Book:
While growing up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Jaquira Díaz found herself caught between extremes. As her family split apart and her mother battled schizophrenia, she was supported by the love of her friends. As she longed for a family and home, her life was upended by violence. As she celebrated her Puerto Rican culture, she couldn’t find support for her developing sexual identity. Díaz writes with raw and refreshing honesty, triumphantly mapping a way out of despair toward love and hope to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be. 

Author Recommended Playlist:
Missy Elliot - Work It
La Lupe - La Tirana
Hector Lavoe - Un Amor de la Calle 

Connect with Los Bookis!
@Los.Bookis.Podcast
@adriangaston.garcia
@que_viva_sergio_lopez

Produced by @CaandorLabs

In this episode, AGG and Sergio discuss Sonora’s love for Ballet Folklórico, fan fiction, their mixed feelings with Catholicism, the fear of being a queer youth and experiencing homelessness, the possibility of a follow-up book, struggling in school, and the need for community. 

About the Author: @sonora.reyes 
Sonora Reyes is a queer second-generation Mexican American who attended a Catholic high school. They write fiction full of queer and Latinx characters in a variety of genres. Sonora is also the creator and host of #QPOCChat, a monthly community-building Twitter chat for queer writers of color. They currently live in Arizona, in a multi-generational family home with a small pack of dogs who run the place. 

About the Book: The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she's gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.

After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that's a problem for Future Yami.

The thing is, it's hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn't going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she'll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?

Author Recommended Playlist:
Hozier - Take Me To Church
Hayley Kiyoko - Sleepover 
Lauren Aquilina - Sinners

Connect with Los Bookis!
@Los.Bookis.Podcast
@adriangaston.garcia
@que_viva_sergio_lopez

Produced by @CaandorLabs

Fresh off winning the National Book Award for Fiction, AGG and Sergio engage in an insightful conversation with Justin Torres. Together they explore the boldness of Jan Gay, the absurdity of the Puerto Rican Syndrome, the march towards death, their gay ass voices, the magic of Disco, and their mutual love for Justin’s debut masterpiece - “We The Animals.”

About the author: 
Justin Torres is the author of We the Animals, which won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and was translated into fifteen languages, and was adapted into a feature film. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Granta, Tin House, and The Washington Post. He lives in Los Angeles and is an associate professor of English at UCLA. In November 2023, Justin Torres won the National Book Award for Fiction for his novel, “Blackouts.”

Connect with Justin at https://justin-torres.com/ or follow him on Instagram at @justin_torres_books. 

Author Recommended Playlist:
The Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
La Lupe

Connect with us at @Los.Bookis.Podcast
@adriangaston.garcia
@que_viva_sergio_lopez

Produced by Caandor Labs 

 In this episode, AGG and Sergio become honorary members of Myriam’s gang: P.P.L. Myriam discusses the history of Creep, her incredible memory, embracing slut terminology, who she wants to surround herself with, recognizing the beauty and pain that her grandfather caused, the urban legend of Pedro Paramo, and her ability to speak up for others.

*Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual assault and may be triggering for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

About the author:
Myriam Gurba is a writer and artist. She is the author of the true-crime memoir Mean, a New York Times Editors’ Choice. O, The Oprah Magazine, ranked Mean as one of the best LGBTQ books of all time. Publishers Weekly describes Gurba as having a voice like no other. Her essays and criticism have appeared in The Paris Review, Time, and 4Columns. She has shown art in galleries, museums, and community centers. She lives in Pasadena, California.

About The Book:
Creep is Myriam's second book and is a blistering and deceptively playful genealogy of creeps: the individuals who deceive, exploit, and oppress. In eleven bold and electrifying pieces, Gurba mines her own life and the lives of others - some  famous, some infamous, some you’ve never heard of but will likely never forget - to unearth the toxic traditions that have long plagued our culture and enabled the abusers who haunt our books, learning institutions, and homes.

Connect with Myriam at https://www.myriamgurba.com/  or follow her on Instagram at @alt_myriam_gurba666

@Los.Bookis.Podcast
@adriangaston.garcia
@que_viva_sergio_lopez

Author recommended playlist:
Chavela Vargas - Paloma Negra
Zapp & Roger - More Bounce to the Ounce
Rosie & The Originals - Angel Baby

Produced by Caandor Labs 

In the first ever episode of “Los Bookis,” AGG and Sergio Lopez sit down with Alejandro Varela, to discuss his latest book, “The People Who Report More Stress.” They dig deep into his work, his job at the US Open, outings to gay bars as a young man, capitalism v. working class issues, what Alejandro would be like if he was on the apps, what we should be advocating for at all times, who he wants to play Eduardo and Gus if there was a movie adaptation, and how he wants to be remembered. 

About the author: 
Alejandro Varela (he/him) is a writer based in New York. His debut novel, The Town of Babylon (2022), was published by Astra House and was a finalist for the National Book Award, as well as a nominee for the PEN America Open Book Award and the Aspen Literary Prize. His work has appeared in The Point Magazine, Georgia Review, Boston Review, Harper’s, The New Republic, and The Offing, among other outlets. Varela is an editor-at-large of Apogee Journal. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Health. The People who Report More Stress, his story collection, was published in April, by Astra House.

About the book: 
The People Who Report More Stress, published by Astra House earlier this year, is a stunning collection of humorous, sexy, and highly-neurotic tales examining issues of parenting, systemic and interpersonal racism, and class conflict in gentrified Brooklyn.

@drovarela 
@Los.Bookis.Podcast
@adriangaston.garcia
@que_viva_sergio_lopez

Author recommended playlist: 
Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield - What Have I Done to Deserve This
Prince - Little Red Corvette
George Michael - A Different Corner

Produced by Caandor Labs. 

Welcome to Los Bookis Podcast - a podcast for queer Latine bookworms who like queer Latine stories. Co-hosted by Adrian Gaston Garcia and Sergio Lopez, join us for lively interviews with some of the baddest queer Latine storytellers in the game. Each month, we dig deep into the authors’ literary works and get all the chisme readers have been dying to know.

Follow, listen, and subscribe to Los Bookis on Apple, Google, Spotify, and anywhere else you listen to your favorite podcasts.  Stay connected with us on Instagram, Facebook and Threads @ LosBookisPodcast.

Hasta luego bookworms! 

 

Produced in Partnership with Caandor Labs