Saraciea J. Fennell is a Black Honduran writer and the founder of The Bronx is Reading. She is also a book publicist who has worked with many award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors. Fennell sits on the board for Latinx in Publishing as well as on the Advisory Board of People of Color in Publishing. She lives in the Bronx with her family and dog, Oreo.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Saraciea about her newly released anthology, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed, which features 15 distinct voices from the Latinx diaspora. This anthology is the perfect mix of well-established writers and up-and-coming voices, and perfectly captures the diversity of the Latinx diaspora community.
Illianna Gonzalez-Soto (IGS): Saraciea! It’s pub day and your anthology, WILD TONGUES CAN’T BE TAMED, is out now! How are you feeling now that the anthology is out into the hands of readers?
Saraciea Fennell (SF): I’m buzzing with so much excitement. It’s been amazing to see the response from reviewers, bloggers, and social media influencers. Now I’m pumped to see what readers and my family and friends will think of the collection, plus I so can’t wait to talk to readers to see which pieces resonate with them and why.
IGS: Tell readers what this anthology is unleashing? The title itself is a statement that refuses to be ignored. How did the work of Gloria Anzaldúa influence this anthology for you?
SF: This anthology is about to shake things up for the latinx canon! Anzaldúa’s book Borderlands was groundbreaking in its own right and I see Wild Tongues in the same vein. I think really just writers like Anzaldúa having the audacity to unapologetically write their truths and subvert stereotypes in our community is the greatest influence for this book.
IGS: How does the word “diaspora” resonate with you and why was it important to you to make sure these15 voices from the diaspora were heard when there exist 33 Latin American countries? I can only imagine that your process for selecting these specific writers was difficult, if only for the simple but hard fact that many voices —Central & South American voices, Black Latinx voices especially—are often noticeably absent from the literary conversation.
SF: The word diaspora automatically disrupts what someone thinks when it’s next to the word Latinx. You kind of know right from the beginning that this collection is going to feature a diverse group of contributors. It was extremely hard to narrow down the list of contributors, but I wanted to make sure there was space for underrepresented voices that never receive the space they deserve, while also balancing it out with well known writers like Meg Medina, Ibi Zoboi, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Naima Coster. I wanted this anthology to be accessible to young people, but also to crossover to the adult space and I think it accomplishes that. Do these 15 voices cover the full latin american experience? Absolutely not, but it’s a start, and who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to do a follow-up to this anthology and include more voices from the diaspora.
IGS: Is there a reason that nonfiction was the genre through which you chose to funnel this anthology? Was nonfiction the best way you were able to make the discussion of Latinidad and its stereotypes more visible?
SF: There is a ton of fiction that features our community (granted there are still experiences yet to be told in fiction, especially when it comes to Central American representation), and I felt that it would be more impactful to have this be nonfiction because there’s nothing like it on the market - sure there’s nonfiction featuring specific experiences from specific countries, but nothing featuring a wide-range of writers from the diaspora. There’s also something about nonfiction and its ability to connect with readers in a direct and personal way that you don’t really get with fiction, so I hope that readers of Wild Tongues feel a deeper connection to this body of work because it’s our real life experiences and that tends to offer up validation in ways that fiction just can’t.
IGS: Did you feel pressure to make sure that the identities reflected in the anthology were represented as accurately as possible? If so, how did that pressure create tension with your own identity as a Garifuna and as a Black Honduran?
SF: Honestly, I didn’t really feel pressure because this is a nonfiction anthology and everyone’s lived experiences are always going to vary, and I think that’s the most beautiful thing about this collection. As for me and my identities, I’m still learning about my ancestry and I felt that was important to note in my essay.
“I don’t want anyone reading this anthology to think that the experiences reflected when it comes to identity and culture is the end all be all because it isn’t, instead I want folks to know that the diaspora is vast and shapes people in our community in different ways. ”
I did feel pressure to make sure the Spanish dialects and languages were as accurate as possible though!
IGS: How did you approach writing your essay, “Half in, Half out?” In the 4th annual Bronx Book Festival interview, you talk about how this piece was a moment in your life where identity and culture were beginning to take shape, and how knowing your roots helped you to begin to dictate your own identity. I’m wondering if writing this piece came naturally for you and how you went about exploring the topics of identity, ancestry, and culture?
SF: Writing Half In, Half Out came naturally to me, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t challenging! It took me some time to sift through my memories from childhood and to focus on what I wanted to include in the essay and what I wanted to leave out. There are so many countless examples of experiences that I could’ve included, but ultimately decided not to. I wanted to focus on the moments where society forced me to figure out my identity and culture, because otherwise the world was going to swallow me up whole and I would just be lost not knowing where I really came from and etc.
IGS: How does your essay align with other works you have written, and are currently working on writing? What can we expect to see from you next?
SF: My essay touches on a lot of things I tend to feature in my writing: siblings, hair, colorism and anti-Blackness, and that sense of finding one's place in the world. I’m currently hoping to have upcoming projects featuring an adult essay collection, and eventually my debut YA novel, the future is looking very exciting!
IGS: Picture your ideal literary scene: what stories do you imagine flooding the minds and homes of readers around the world and how can authors and publishers do the work to ensure that more stories like those are published?
SF: For me it’s not necessarily the ideal literary scene but instead representation of underrepresented people/characters that come from where I come from. Where are the Hondurans in literature? Where is the character that reflects what it’s like to be a Black Honduran growing up in Brooklyn, the Bronx, elsewhere? Where is the Latinx person who is queer and Jewish and etc.
“There are so many untold stories from our community and that’s what I want to see flooding the minds and homes of readers. I’m so tired of reading about the same Latinx experiences, we need and deserve variety. ”
IGS: What resources can you point readers to so that we can find more literature like this revolutionary anthology? If there are outside authors or works from those within this anthology that we all should add to our TBRs, drop those recommendations here!
SF: I’m always looking for resources myself, so I would recommend of course Latinx in Publishing, We Need Diverse Books, and places like Goodreads, you’d be surprised at the diverse listicles on there, I know I certainly was, ha! You should definitely go and follow all of the contributors in this anthology and read their work, and for the others who don’t have books out yet, invest in their career by following them on social media and championing them when recommending new voices to discover.
IGS: Do you have final advice for the next generation of Latinx and BIPOC writers and readers who will see themselves reflected in WILD TONGUES, but who are still struggling to reconcile their identities within Latinx and white spaces?
SF: Such a great question! I encourage the next generation of writers to be kind to themselves. It’s hard navigating the world, but especially as a person of color. Trying to make it in the publishing industry is no different, stay as true to yourself as you can and set boundaries, step away when you need to and build community so you have folks to lean on to ask for advice and to help you find a way forward as you navigate these spaces.
Visit TheBronxisReading.com and follow Saraciea online @sj_fennell & @thebxisreading.
Stay connected to the contributors in the anthology:
Mark Oshiro: https://www.markoshiro.com/
Naima Coster: https://www.naimacoster.com/
Natasha Diaz: https://natashaerikadiaz.com/about/
Meg Medina: https://megmedina.com/
Julian Randall: https://juliandavidrandall.com/
Ibi Zoboi: https://www.ibizoboi.net/
Cristina Arreola: https://www.cristinaarreola.com/
Khalil Haywood: https://twitter.com/DamnPOPS
Zakiya N. Jamal: https://zakiyanjamal.com/
Lilliam Rivera: https://www.lilliamrivera.com/
Jasminne Mendez: https://www.jasminnemendez.com/
Ingrid Rojas Contreras: https://www.ingridrojascontreras.com/
Janel Martinez: https://www.janelmartinez.com/
Elizabeth Acevedo: http://www.acevedowrites.com/
