Cassidy Diaz
Staff Writer
Creative writing students Gonzalo Felix, Giselle Morales and Natalia Rodriguez shared their original stories before an audience of about 40 on Nov. 6 in the Ludwick Center Sacred Space.
Felix, a senior creative writing major, read his piece “DLOP” which stands for “Deprived Life of Piracy.” He explained that the story is about a pirate who doesn’t feel regret for the things he does. But he feels a tremendous amount of guilt and goes through cycles of change, when he meets a kid named Jarvie.
“He reminisces a lot about when he was a kid,” Felix said. “When he got into the piracy gang, he kind of seems like a younger version of himself, and starts to have a different influx of emotions when he’s trying to prevent this kid from becoming a pirate.”
Felix said he was inspired to write this piece to provide a different perspective on pirate stories, and shoe the pirate’s internal feelings of guilt, specifically, while also representing the character accurately.
He also talked about his process.
“I learned that … you can bring stories that you have in your brain or your mind and make them come to life,” Felix said.
Morales, a senior creative writing major, read her story “Bodily Autonomy,” which she said was inspired by the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Her story and style was influenced by her appreciation of the horror genre as a way into this topic.
“(I) write about the topics, issues, or concepts that I am deeply passionate about,” Morales said. “Even if people don’t like what I have to say through my writing, in the end it’s meant for whatever audience it reaches.”
Rodriguez, sophomore creative writing and communications major, read her short story “The Porcelain Girl. ”
She said she was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s, “The Little Match Girl.”
“We were learning in class using fairy tales to discuss motifs that you often find in fairy tales,” Rodriguez said. “So we were encouraged to pick a fairy tale and then kind of rewrite it in a way that still included motifs.”
Her story explores grief and sadness, similar to Andersen’s story.
“I did want it to be a bit different in which the girl survives, but someone very close to her dies,” Rodriguez said. “And in fiction stories I love a good father daughter trope. So I was like, I kind of want to do something with that and highlight how close they are.”
Rodriguez also talked about stuff she’s currently working on.
“I’ve been dipping my toes into first person stories,” she said.
Creative writing professors Sean Bernard and Aimee Campos instructed the students. Both were on hand at the reading.
“I think it’s fun when students finish a short story even if they’ve never written before,” Campos said. “They’re excited to read and share it with other people.”
Cassidy Diaz can be reached at cassidy.diazgomez@laverne.edu.
Cassidy Diaz is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. She is also news editor for the Campus Times, and previously served as an assistant editor and a staff writer.
Ronald Banks is a senior photography major and a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
