S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , The Power of representation is the topic at a showcase featuring Latina authors who join us for the show. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman tomorrow evening at KPBS. Latina authors are gathering for a new showcase and book fair. The event will celebrate stories by Latina writers who are vastly underrepresented in publishing. Speakers will discuss how to improve representation and inspire the next generation of Latina voices. I'm joined now by two of the featured authors Ailsa Savi Sevilla , host of the Historic Places documentary series , which airs on KPBS. She's also the author of Camera Ready From Hardship to the spotlight. Elsa , it's great to have you back on.
S2: Thanks , Jade. Good to be here.
S1: And also with us , Erika Alfaro. She's author of the book Harvesting Dreams. Welcome to you , Erika.
S3: Thank you. Jane.
S1: So , Erika , I'm going to start with you. This is the first event of its kind here at KPBS.
S3: And that's when I realized that we are underrepresented and that we have to do something about it. And and it started with that idea of trying to contribute and growing that percentage. And that's how I met Elsa.
S1: All right.
S2: Erika and I met a few months ago at the beginning of the year , and she actually helped mentor me to write my book Camera Ready. And so she also created this wonderful group of other authors recently published or who want to publish. And so what's been incredible is this camaraderie of learning from each other in publishing. And that feeling is just , you know , thrilling. It's healing. It's therapeutic. And so to bring all these authors together , 29 authors and in one space to elevate their stories , talk about their stories , and bring representation. It's mostly Latinas. We do have a few brave Latino men , and we're very proud of that. And so it just means a lot. It means , you know , we come together , you know , uplift our communities , our stories , and continue to help others want who want to write a book and publish. So we want to do that as well. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2: I think that , you know , every community should be represented equally always. Right. And in this case , because Latinas and Latinos are so underrepresented , we Erica and I wanted to create this event to bring awareness and create a space for more people of color , in this case Latinos and Latinos , to have a space to learn how to write their book , to publish it. And so , yeah , representation is incredibly important. And I think Erica , of course , is definitely has been working with that and dealing with that. She's she published her book a few years ago , and I'll let her talk about that. And she's been a speaker for about seven years. So she's really been in the middle of all of it. And I think that having her and this event together is just incredible and fantastic. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , Erica , tell me about your own story as an author then , you know , because back in 2019 , you graduate your graduation photos rather went viral , and they were photos of you standing in a strawberry field with your parents. I remember that very clearly. What are our who are both ? They're both farm workers. Yes. You went on to publish this book , Harvesting Dreams. Talk about your own journey and what inspired you to really write about it.
S3: The first time that I share my story , I realized that there's a lot of impact that a story can can have in other people. And when I started sharing my story , it was with the purpose of encouraging the next generation to dream big. When my pictures went viral , I've realized that a lot of people connected with me through my story , and my journey as an author was very lonely. I didn't have no one to mentor me or guide me in the process , and for that reason , it became for me very important to encourage others to share their story and to let them know that there's no one more capable than them to help the person that they used to be. And that is the reason why this event , It's not only for. It is for Latinas , but it's also to inspire our communities to share their stories and to know that sometimes the purpose in their life lies behind their story. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Well , Ailsa , a lot of our listeners are familiar with Historic Places on KPBS , but you're also an author of a more personal story.
S2: My goal was to write about historic places and about history. The places that we talked about for the show from since 2008. Right. The show's been on KPBS since then , and she convinced me that , no , that was not the route that I needed to tell my story. But as a journalist for 20 years before Historic Places , I was trained that we never are part of the story as journalists , and so we always tell other people's stories. So it took a little convincing , and I finally did it. It was really difficult to talk about my personal hardship and crisis and trauma and incredibly listening to instinct , determination and the passion for storytelling. From first grade when I fell in love with storytelling. It's been an incredible experience , and what Erica talks about , how you heal through your story , you help others succeed. Maybe they see themselves in your story. Um , and it makes it easier for them to try more. Um , people come up to me saying that they see themselves in my story , that reading my story made them cry because of the hardship and stuff like that. So it's been a very empowering journey , and one that I did not imagine at all. So I definitely have to thank Erica for being my mentor and helping me , you know , be brave enough to tell that story because it had been buried for 55 years. And so to tell that story , it'll make me cry. Yeah , because it's emotional. But it's so important to tell our stories. And now I'm like , I tell everyone you need to write your story because other people need to learn what you've gone through and what you've survived , and how you've elevated yourself in your community. So I really encourage everyone , and that's why we invite people to come to the event tomorrow , starting at 6:00 here at KPBS , so that they can learn about writing a book , writing their book , and how to publish. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , and I think that speaks so much to the importance of being vulnerable and sharing that with readers. Erica , talk a bit about why that's so important in storytelling to you.
S3: Being vulnerable , you can be vulnerable and strong at the same time. And sharing our stories is with the purpose of empowering another person. Our story can be the survival guide for a person that is currently walking our journey. And that is if I could read. If younger Erica could have read a book where she felt seen , she will have. She will have had hope from the beginning. And that's the purpose of sharing our stories , is to give hope to others that are currently walking our journey.
S1: And there are so many different mediums to for Latina creatives to tell stories , visual art , film , poetry and literature.
S3: And that is the reason why I love books , because it's so easy to to give to another person the gift of a story , the gift of being able to learn something from someone else. And and that is the reason why I love books and I encourage others to write their books. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2: By fifth , sixth , seventh grade , I was reading like a paperback a day. Because I love books , I love reading , I love words , And so I would escape to these wonderful stories that I was reading in books. Right. And so I think that by writing our stories , we get to heal and , you know , learn so much about our life that we kind of tucked away. But you get a chance , like in historic places where I do these wonderful documentaries about local history books are another platform to tell a story , but with more detail , more in depth , more vulnerable , where I wouldn't do in historic places. So there is an incredible platform and there's so many new platforms , but I think books are here to stay , and I think it's just a wonderful format platform to tell your story so that maybe others can learn from you and , you know , maybe live a better life sooner. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S3: The goal of writing a book was in my mind for over ten years , but I didn't know where to start. And not knowing where to start and seeing this big picture made it seem impossible. And so it was extremely difficult for me to believe that I could write a book , or that I could become an author or sell my books. I have sold over 40,000 copies of Harvesting Dreams in the last two years , and now I see that , um , it is possible. But the hardest part was giving the first step and also trying to figure out everything on your own and making so many mistakes. That is the reason why I started this mentorship program , because everything that I learn and work for me is something that I can use to help others become successful authors. And from my mentorship program at this moment is 40 of them , but half of them have already published their books.
S1: Oh that's great. Yes , that is so great. Well , and this event is really about making space for Latina authors in an industry that doesn't always do that.
S2: I think that the more that we talk about publishing your book and giving people permission to write their stories , um , that's one thing , right ? But creating a platform , this incredible mentorship that Erica has created , I don't I wouldn't have published my book without her mentorship. I had wanted to write a book for the last 17 years , and it was in the back of my mind and I'm like , oh , it'll stay there , right ? But then this opportunity came in when Erica began mentoring me. It all fell into place. So I think education , a platform , a a medium , a , um , mentorship , uh , allowing people , giving people those tools to write their book , creating space for them to write their book and to publish it. So those are some of the things and events like we're doing tomorrow. I think that's an incredible space for people to come to learn from other published authors , recently published authors. So I think that passing the wisdom that we have gained from Erica. She's passed it on from everything she's learned. So we like to pass it on to others as well and let them know that the process is not as difficult as you may think. Once you have the knowledge and the guidance and that support system , it is so much easier , I think. I mean , I was able to do it and again , I never imagined writing my own story , and if I didn't have Erica's support and guidance , I wouldn't have done it. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S3: They will learn from those authors directly from them. We will have two panels. Also , they will have the opportunity to learn from Elsa and I. We will provide a free webinar for all the attendees. Tendies. The other thing , the other benefit is that they will be able to purchase books directly from authors , get them signed. It could be a gift for Christmas. We will have a beautiful network system where they can. They can get to know and get inspired by others that are also in the process of writing their book , or that have already successfully published their book.
S1: Wow ! Well , what a great opportunity for people to take advantage of. For more details about tomorrow's Latina Authors Book Fair and Showcase , head to our website , kpbs.org. I've been speaking with Elsa Sevilla , host of the Historic Places documentary series on KPBS and author of Camera Ready From Hardship to the spotlight. Elsa. Thank you.
S2: Oh , thank you so much , Jade.
S1: And also Erika Alfaro , author of Camera Weight. Oh , she's also author of a book. Tell me about your book.
S3: Harvesting Dreams.
S1: Harvesting Dreams , out now. And we'll also be talked about at tomorrow's showcase. Thank you so much , Erika Jade.
S3: Thank you for the opportunity.
