aaduna in exile - Duarte

 

I wonder. Probably more times than not. 

Do avid readers and even those occasional purveyors of best-selling novels or short stories in various periodicals, think about the writer’s motivations? 

Do they wonder? 

Contemplate and try to figure out where the writer’s themes, plot lines, characters, and situations come from? Is it a writer’s pure imagination or a temporary glimpse into some reality-based aspect of the writer’s life? 

Do writers “borrow” someone else’s life story and experiences, and then portray the life of others in a fictional or a creative non-fiction structure? 

Now, let’s get real. There are some folks {whose thinking is grounded in a variety of self-declared ideologies unique to them} surmise that so ‘n’ so had to be on “something” to come up with the fantastical plot and/or unusual characters. Others opine that creativity is a platform solely driven by and held hostage by mental or emotional health characteristics. So, where does this “debate” take us?

Do we really know the essence of creativity? How is it manifested? And if a work ignites our imagination or emboldens our emotional response or takes us to a place that we can only visit in our imagination, do we revel in that creative work and not overthink the whys and hows of its creation?

Mario Duarte takes us to places that strengthens our humaneness and  broadens our sense of the world and its inhabitants. Duarte ignites the spirit. Duarte enables us to delve below the surface as we make sense of our lives as we maneuver through his words, themes, characters, and plot lines. Here is the introduction to his story “Cassandra and Las Brujas.”

¡Pinche pendejo! Las bujas, nasty witches, old busybodies, who police the streets with their morality, hit me on the head knocking me out, and then stripped and gagged me, and tied my hands and feet to the bedposts. Next, they took a long string, tied a knot around my pene (my stupid dick), and tied the other end to a doorknob, and left the door ajar. I feel groggy, barely able to move, terrified of the slightest breeze from the open window. Fuck me if one of those crazy brujas returns and slams the goddamn door!

            Why did this happen you ask?

* * *

Readers can expect to read the rest of this story and more from Mario Duarte in February.

 

Mario Duarte (photo provided)

Mario Duarte is a Mexican American writer born, raised, and living in the Midwest. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of New Hampshire. His poems and short stories have appeared in a diverse variety of literary journals including aaduna. You will get to know more of his background when the winter 2021-22 “aaduna in exile” issue is released in mid-late February. And then, you will experience the totality of his stories.

<><><>

aaduna - an online adventure with words and images - a globally read, multi-cultural, and diverse online literary and visual arts journal established in 2010.  

Help us build community!  Share with your friends,  "like" our Aaduna-Inc facebook page and follow us on twitter @ aadunaspeaks !  

 aaduna-Inc  Visit regularly for updates !