Conversations with Eugenia Gallardo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eugenia Gallardo.

Hi Eugenia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
How did I start? How did I get where I am? The short answer is that the journey from point A to point B which has lasted almost 70 years by now is the core material of almost everything I do as a writer. But I am aware that such an answer leads you nowhere in this context. Let us say, briefly, that I began living a regular life in a small town in Guatemala but my family circumstances soon revealed themselves as a chain of mishaps and not-so-normal events.

My mother died when I was one year old, and my father raised me as an only child with the help of my maternal uncle who was single. I never had a substitute mother or a mother figure and that made me the daughter of two men that were not a couple. I spent my school years with my father in the capital of Guatemala and vacations with my uncle in the small town where I was born (Coban). At that time, the latter was populated almost completely by Mayan people with their own language (q’eqchi) while the former was a place inhabited by people of Hispanic descent speaking Spanish in the context of a modern city.

The nature of my out of the ordinary family and the harsh contrast between Cuban and Guatemala capital made me very aware at a very early age of the fascinating differences between behaviors and beliefs, on one hand, and the expectations of one family or group with respect to other families or groups. The landscape, the nature, the buildings, the markets, the churches were not important to me unless they were saying something about human beings and the relationships among them.

That curiosity, that point of view, that comprehension, that fascination made me a writer from the very beginning because I am sure that the most important thing for a writer is the way he or she perceives reality. The act of writing or learning to write properly comes later just as a tool. A wonderful and joyful tool, but a tool, nevertheless.

A way to communicate what I am seeing and feeling and understanding and questioning about the most amazing creation: The human being. Where am I now? I am in a place of a serene and very active life as a writer where I am mature enough to understand and elaborate on what I just said.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Has it been a smooth road? I will dare to say that almost everybody in my circle had not an easy road. And even those who pretend that everything was alright, I know now the obstacles and challenges that they faced in their family and community: saying that there were no problems as part of a culture that protected privacy and intimacy even at the cost of allowing abuses or refrain people from asking for help.

In my case, I think the main obstacle has been a lack of stability: From moving from house to house in my childhood and early youth (probably 20 places or more) to two problematic marriages (and the suicide of the uncle I mentioned), been forced to seek exile in Costa Rica while pregnant and with a 3-year-old girl, and, from my part, a need for adventure to satisfy my curiosity in humans and the way they treat each other. As a result, I have lived in 3 different towns in Guatemala. Overseas in Sao Paulo Brazil, Costa Rica, Madrid, London, New Orleans, Atlanta, and now in my lovely Raleigh where I feel at home with my family.

All those obstacles in the way to gaining some kind of stability (that I always needed because I am a person with a rich internal life that likes structure and routine) I overcome with the help of two traits of character: Resilience and obstinacy. Being an only child, I got used to having it my way but no longer a child I get things done because I cannot say no to myself. All those obstacles, all those interruptions to a stable life, all that time when I had to adapt to new environments, gave me the treasure of a long list of interesting stories to tell as a writer and from a point of view of someone who never had what is considered a proper or normal upbringing.

And I need to add another companion that has been with me since I got a consciousness of being an autonomous being: The right to make my own decisions with freedom. As society is not always like that stand, I turned myself into a kind of polite rebel, a contested area with intelligence and wit which reflect in my body of work. At this point of the road, my most outstanding accomplishments are my two daughters and my two granddaughters that I consider with no bias indubitably perfect and balanced exemplary human beings.

Besides, I am a published and translated author praised by the critics; I am an actress, a visual artist, a Master in Sciences from the University of London in the field of Economics of Latin America. I had worked for international organizations as a researcher, as a consultant for the Ministries of Culture and Finance in Guatemala, as a university professor, as an expert in Cultural Development. Even as a nurse during the devastating earthquake in 1976 in Guatemala.

And no. I am not tired. I always carry my iPhone and my sense of humor with me to keep me busy and in good mental health.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I would like to share my Literally Biography which describes me very well.

Literally, Eugenia defines herself as the daughter of Asturias and Cervantes; cousin of Monterroso and Batres Montúfar; friend of Yourcenar and Christie. Her work has been translated into Italian and French and included in anthologies. Published little and write plenty; critics have been generous with the fruits of her inventiveness. In 2020 and 2021, she was nominated for the National Literature Award. Eugenia blossomed into two daughters and two granddaughters.

Married from two boils, today she is a confirmed single. Grew up in Cobán, Huehuetenango, and Guatemala City. Between adventures and exiles, she lived in New Orleans, Sao Paulo, Atlanta, North Carolina, London, Madrid, and Costa Rica. She holds a Master of Science in Latin American Economics (University of London). As a political economist, she has devoted herself mainly to social research. Writer, playwright, actress, and plastic artist, her main motivation is creativity and experimentation.

Her purpose as a writer is to build an autobiography that, extrapolated, is the biography of a generation. He currently publishes the eugeniaTimes Literary Magazine from Raleigh, North Carolina, exploring the genres of narrative, poetry, theater, autobiography, humor, and essay.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I wish I knew that you learn how to write writing. I am not saying simply writing because if you aim to translate your everyday writing into literature you must not forget that literature is an art, the art of verbal expression, in this case, written verbal expression. As an art, you must aim as high as you can and, even if you can rely on other sources like books or workshops, the point is that you learn about your personal way of writing, writing.

And paying attention to what you are doing and learning to do it on purpose when the result is beautiful. My advice is the following: sit down, pretend that you are already a writer, and write. Do it again the next day or when you have the chance (with time you will always have the chance because you will learn to love your quiet moment with your words, your thoughts, your feelings, your memories, your observations, your opportunities to know you better).

Then, live like a writer: Look at your surroundings, pay attention to people’s behavior and relationships, read, listen, dream… as a writer, as a hunter of great stories, as a collector of words and ways of sayings. Remember to read as a writer, that means to read trying to find out how the author (now your fellow writer), deal with the art of verbal expression and how he or she constructs the castle that is the final poem, or short story, or novel, or drama.

Never forget that writing and publishing are two very different animals. I am talking here about the art of making literature. How you share and with whom is another venue. Another fascinating adventure where you will leave your quiet place and you will open yourself to others. My experience is that if you are true to your literature and you talk with your sincere and honest voice, your reader will find your work worth reading.

I wish I knew from the beginning that writing is a joy, a pleasure, even when it hurts as you go inside your feelings and turn them into something readable. The joy of finishing work is a great and gratifying as finding the right choices of words, the best rhythm, the humorous twist, a marvelous ending, or an intriguing beginning.

Finally, I want to finish these answers with a question: Where did you find me? How did you decide that my journey had some interest to your readers? Thank you for your attention and your support in sharing my thoughts with a wider audience.

Contact Info:

• Email: cristinaespanagallardo@gmail.com
• Website: https://eugeniatimes.weebly.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gallardo_eugenia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010698965455
• Other: https://eugeniagallardo.wordpress.com/