The authors and panelists of the Bronx Book Festival responded to personal questions about their lives, the writing process, and current literary inspirations. To see their panels and hear more about their books, RSVP for the Bronx Book Festival below.

IVELISSE RODRIGUEZ

AUTHOR OF LOVE WAR STORIES

Why did you become an author?

I became an author to offer new narratives about Puerto Ricans, women, and blackness. Books have also offered me balms for my heart and lessons on how to be human, and I hope to do the same with my writing.

 What are you reading right now?

The House of Deep Water by Jeni McFarland.

 Have you ever been to the Bronx? If so, what's a favorite memory you have? If not, what do you know or think about the Bronx?

Friends and family live in the Bronx, so I have been there plenty of times. But my favorite memory is of visiting my mother’s aunt, Ida, in the Bronx as a child. She was a great cook, but we had to wait hours upon hours to eat. She was such a good cook that one Thanksgiving, she made a turkey taste like pernil. Ida also had this great painting of her mother. In it, against a turquoise background, an elderly black Puerto Rican woman with brown eyes stands staring out at you. She holds a cigar in her hand. The painting emanates power. If you slept under it during a time of duress, you can imagine the woman saying “recojete”.

 What is a quote you live by?

Though I am a big fan of being realistic and abhor toxic positivity, I seem to have overly peppy mantras for some reason. The first is “leap and the net will appear”. The second is “Where there is life, there is hope”.