What inspired you to write “One Suitcase, Two Languages”?
For ENG 101 I was a student of Prof. Tara Coleman. She introduced me to the writer Amy Tan. We read one of her stories, “Mother Tongue.” I loved her writing style as well as the topic of her mother’s life as an immigrant in the USA. The topic brought me back to how I felt when I first came to the US in 2016. I think being a foreigner in this country is a big issue because somehow we (immigrants) try to be born again in this country. No matter what we did in our countries, we start all over again. Here begins our second life story. It starts with language. Even knowing the language, our accent and how we use the language always makes people ask “where are you from?” Challenges, difficulties, funny parts, sad parts, loneliness. These feelings are all a part of how I felt and the story came later.

What was your writing process like for “One Language, Two Suitcases”?
My writing process was painful and enjoyable at the same time due to all the memories it brought up. Sometimes the first paragraphs appear in my mind, sometimes the final sentences. In this case, the final paragraph came to me first and I worked backwards. I am an old style writer so my writing process mostly starts with writing by hand on paper. After I have begun, the story comes everywhere with me, staying on my mind day and night. I am constantly thinking of it until I finish the piece. I always listen to music while writing creatively and so every story of mine has some background music or songs. This music helps me to create the energy of my writing and evoke emotions in my readers.

How has COVID impacted your creative work?
Covid started as a really dark time for me. Constant ambulance sirens disrupting the silence in the middle of the night, dead bodies being counted, feelings of despair and fear, economical struggles, being far from my parents. The first weeks were a blur but later this pain turned into art. Pain turned into painting, creating, writing and reading more and more. I wanted to wake myself up and vomit this heavy pain inside of me by creating art. I do not want to say it was a silver lining for me while people were dying but this pain helped me to create more. I needed to create more in order to feel alive.

Read Özgür Peksen-Saccone’s “One Suitcase, Two Languages.”

What inspired you to write “My First Funeral is Yours”?
It was maybe my second or third Creative Writing class, which I’m currently taking at LaGuardia, when my professor asked that we “Write what we can’t remember.” I felt perplexed by the whole notion of it. How can I write what I don’t remember? And so, I just thought back to a year, any old year, and that year–2009, ended up being the year my best friend died. It was interesting because she’d been recently popping back into my consciousness quite a bit, not sure why. It’s been over a decade since she passed. But anyway, I did my best to remember a day I could never really forget.

What was your writing process like for “My First Funeral is Yours”?
It took me no less than a few days to write this piece. This is not usually my process. I usually groan and moan, and stand up and pace, and leave a piece of writing for days or weeks or even months on end before finishing it. But for whatever reason, this piece came very naturally. The idea came from a prompt in class, and then when asked to write a memory from my body, I just decided to extend this piece into its fullness.

How has COVID impacted your creative work?
COVID has both inspired me and bled me dry when it comes to not only my creative process, but my survival in general. The world has been going through a great trauma that we fail to name as such, and it weighs on us all whether we admit it or not. Times like these are both very inspiring and exhausting, because being up against death and war and disease are visceral fears we so often retreat from. It’s also true, whatever we retreat from usually has a wellspring of gifts lurking within its depths if we dare to dive in. Sometimes I dare, sometimes I just need a nap.

Read Samantha Morgan’s essay “My First Funeral is Yours.”

CHRISTOPHER GONZALEZ is a queer Puerto Rican writer living in New York. His collection, I’M NOT HUNGRY BUT I COULD EAT, follows the lives of messy and hunger-fueled bisexual Puerto Rican men who strive to satisfy their cravings of the stomach, heart, and soul in a conflicted unpredictable world. Gonzalez is a 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Fiction for the New York Foundation of the Arts. His writing appears in the Nation, Catapult, Best Microfictions, Best Small Fictions, and elsewhere.

Elias Bailey served as co-editor in chief for The Lit in 2022. He is a four-time Grammy nominated jazz bassist who has been pursuing a Journalism major at LAGCC since March 2021.is a four-time Grammy nominated jazz bassist who has been pursuing a Journalism major at LAGCC since March 2021.

Dr. Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez is an associate professor of English at LaGuardia Community College.

RICARDO ALBERTO MALDONADO was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He is the co-editor of Puerto Rico en mi corazón and the recipient of fellowships from Cantomundo, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and Queer| Arts| Mentorship. He lives in New York, where he serves as managing editor at 92nd Street Y.

Viviana Peña served as co-editor in chief for The Lit in 2022. She is a single mother of two born and raised in New York City. She’s a full-time Creative Writing major at LaGuardia Community College. She’s a lover of languages and words. She aspires to continue her education after La Guardia and major in Romance Languages, and eventually travel writing. Her hobbies include hiking and biking, and spending time with her children.

Elias Bailey  served as co-editor in chief for The Lit in 2022. He is a four-time Grammy nominated jazz bassist who has been pursuing a Journalism major at LAGCC since March 2021.is a four-time Grammy nominated jazz bassist who has been pursuing a Journalism major at LAGCC since March 2021.

Dr. Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez an associate professor of English at LaGuardia Community College.