Russell ContrerasVerified account

I wrote columns for my college newspaper and tried to mimic (very badly) another idol of mine: Molly Ivins. She was funny, witty and crafty. Everything I was not. (5of15)pic.twitter.com/zzSv6CW7yU

I also tried to mirror George Will and his writing about baseball. Loved his use of language. It was my language too (6of15)pic.twitter.com/ZhtzMDcOxk

As an MFA creative writing student at @ColumbiaSOA I came across “Family Installments: Memories of Growing Up Hispanic” by Edward Rivera. The memoir chronicles lives of 3 generations of a Puerto Rican family. He was a graduate of @ColumbiaSOA and opened door for me (7of15)pic.twitter.com/Ny1vIJfGyN

He was a mentor to writers Junot Diaz, Abraham Rodríguez and Ernesto Quiñonez. But I never got to meet Edward Rivera. He died a day before Sept 11, 2001. He is largely forgotten today (8of15)pic.twitter.com/Wa0RVUi4P7

While I was at @ColumbiaSOA I cofounded the grad group #OurWord mirrored after #NuestraPalabra in Houston. #OurWord host in 2001 the first reading on campus devoted to MFA writers of color. The annual event continues to this day. @mat_johnson @victorlavalle (9of15)pic.twitter.com/BURrd767Kt

In their honor, I promise to finish my book soon. JFK’s last night and with Latino civil rights leaders. Nonfiction. New stories. No longer asleep. (10of15)pic.twitter.com/FiPD1ftBJf

My book will cover Mexican American WWII soldiers who were Holocaust liberators and who came back home to fight for civil rights (11of15)pic.twitter.com/ofVGwW6VdM

You will read about Dr Hector P Garcia, who volunteered to give medical care as an Army Medic to Muslims in Africa and then returned to the US to fight discrimination (12of15)pic.twitter.com/BF4Vfpxn5G