My first column for Philadelphia Magazine ran last week (read it here).
It isn’t the only place you’ll see my writing (The Guardian US will have a new op-ed piece this week), but it is a place you’ll regularly see my writing … so meet you there every Wednesday!
After four years as the managing editor of AL DÍA, I’ve decided to move on.
One of the best aspects of the job has been covering the amazing Latinx and PoC communities locally and nationally. The wonderful people I’ve met during my years here, coworkers, sources, colleagues, friends and community have made all of it worthwhile.
I, of course, plan to continue to write, edit, comment, and tell our Philadelphia stories — in English and Spanish — as enthusiastically and expansively as a freelancer as I have under the aegis of AL DÍA.
Let’s do coffee and talk about the stories that need writing in our city and nation!
Read Philly Mag’s article about my departure here.
The Latino/a Rising anthology, which will be released by Wings Press in 2017, has made its table of contents known — and it is magnificent. I am so honored to have a short story included:
Foreword: Matthew David Goodwin
Introduction: Frederick Luis Aldama
Javier Hernandez: “El Muerto: Los Cosmos Azteca”
Kathleen Alcalá: “The Road to Nyer”
Pablo Brescia: “Code 51” (translated by Pablo Brescia with contributions by Matthew David Goodwin)
Pedro Zagitt: “Misinformed” and “Circular Photography” (translated by Nahir Otaño-Gracia)
Sabrina Vourvoulias: “Sin Embargo”
Daína Chaviano: “Accursed Lineage” (translated by Matthew David Goodwin)
ADÁL: Coconauts in Space
Ana Castillo: “Cowboy Medium”
Ernest Hogan: “Flying under the Radar with Paco and Los Freetails”
Junot Díaz: “Monstro”
Richie Narvaez: “Room for Rent”
Edmundo Paz-Soldán: “Artificial” (translated by Heather Cleary)
Steve Castro: “Two Unique Souls” and “Through the Right Ventricle”
Alex Hernandez: “Caridad”
Carmen Maria Machado: “Difficult at Parties”
Giannina Braschi: “Death of the Businessman” and “Burial of the Sardine”
Carlos Hernandez: “Entanglements”
Alejandra Sanchez: “The Drain”
Daniel José Older: “Red Feather and Bone”
Carl Marcum: “A Science Fiction” and “SciFi-ku”
Marcos Santiago Gonsalez: “Traditions”
One of the workers at the coffee shop I stop at every morning looks up at me, worry etched on her features.
“What have you heard about the redadas?” she asks.
I’ve just written an editorial about the DHS-ICE raids that, since Jan. 2, have targeted Central American immigrant families with final deportation orders.
“121 people have been apprehended so far,” I tell her. “In Georgia, Texas and North Carolina….”
Elisa (*) shakes her head. “But what have you heard about ICE raids yesterday on 18th and Pine? Or 15th and Spruce?” she insists.
Center City. Not far from where we’re having the conversation.
I can’t answer, I have no information, but it strikes me that I’ve completely misread the expression on her face. It isn’t anything as tame as worry.
It’s terror.
• • •
The more cynical among us might poke fun at, and poke holes into, the idea of “the American Dream” in this era of unprecedented inequality. But the majority of Latino millennials still believe in it, according to a 2014 study contrasting Latino millennials to their non-Latino counterparts.
And much as it pains me to say it, Marco Rubio tells the American Dream – child of immigrants; working class childhood; scholarship and community college; law school; marriage and children; an imperfect but aspirational career – story better than any other presidential hopeful currently in contention.
From fiction to long-form journalism to commentary, here are my personal favorites of the hundreds of thousands of words I’ve written this year:
Fiction
Long-form journalism
Op-ed & commentary
at the Guardian
at Tor.com
at AL DÍA News
My opinion column appeared yesterday at the Guardian:
After Sandy Hook, students across America have seen schools introduce active shooter simulations involving gunfire, masked men running down school halls and “victims”. These drills are realistic, and in some cases, downright terrifying. Arguments that support them hinge on the belief that the verisimilitude predicts actual behavior and increases the chance of survivability in a real event. That may well be true, but it ignores the fact that active shooter drills themselves can leave scars.
Read the full op-ed here.
The Nebula Awards Suggested Reading List is produced through the collaborative effort of SFWA’s 1800+ members, with new listings appearing as members make recommendations. For this reason, works are occasionally introduced in error and may later be corrected or removed from the list if deemed ineligible by the Nebula Awards Commissioner. The list is provided to the public as a service in finding the year’s most noteworthy fantasy and science fiction works.
Please note this list is not the preliminary ballot or nomination tally and does not affect the Nebula Award nominations or final results in any way.
The Science Fiction Writers of America’s suggested reading list contains one of my short stories this year: The Ways of Walls and Words, which was published at Tor.com in April of this year.
You can see the full list of recommended works here —voting to narrow down the field to the final ballot is restricted to members of SFWA, but it is a really good place for anyone to find items for a “to read” list!
Including my story, of course. 😈
After several months of noodling around with design, and teaching myself just enough WordPress (and Adobe Slate) to get myself into trouble, here it is … my new website. You can find links to my fiction and journalism and even my blog (now a bit quiet, but still the repository of unique content).
And, I’ll be posting here, on the landing page, occasionally to let you know about upcoming publications, readings and special events on both the speculative fiction and journalism sides — so come back and check-in every so often.
And, please, comment and let me know how you like the website, or send me comments about how you think it can be improved.
Yours,
Sabrina
Sabrina Vourvoulias 