Interview with Waasnode Fiction Prize judge María Alejandra Barrios
Waasnode Fiction Prize judge María Alejandra Barrios is a writer and educator from Barranquilla, Colombia. Her novel THE WAVES TAKE YOU HOME is forthcoming from Lake Union Publishing in the spring of 2024. She was the 2020 SmokeLong Flash Fiction Fellow and her work has been supported by Vermont Studio Center, Caldera Arts Center, and the New Orleans Writing Residency. She is a Kweli Art of the Short Story Writing Workshop alum and Kweli fellow and also edits SmokeLong en Español. Learn more about Maria on her website: https://mariaalejandrabarriosvelez.com/, and follow her on twitter and on Instagram.
Passages North: What qualities do you look for in a story to help you decide if you like it?
María Alejandra Barrios: I value specificity and intentionality a lot. But what really is a defining factor for me are stories that make me feel something. I don't need stories to be perfect, but I appreciate when a story stops me and demands my attention! I love it when the author makes me sad, angry, distressed, or even mesmerized.
A character that I feel very close to is always special, too. It's such a gift to spend half an hour or so in someone's mind and see the world through their worldview.
PN: What story have you read recently that you can't stop thinking about? Why?
MAB: I just read Dead End Memories by Banana Yoshimoto, and the first story, “House of Ghosts,” made me cry so much!
The story is about a young couple that falls in love when one of them is planning to leave Japan to study Patisserie in France. This person also shares his apartment with the ghost of an old couple who hasn't realized they're dead yet. The story is contemplative and written in generous and sensory prose. But what I appreciated the most was how well the author captured those fleeting moments of happiness in life and how sometimes life happens in a way that feels meant to be. “House of Ghosts” never feels cheesy or overwritten—it feels heartfelt.
I usually start reading Banana Yoshimoto for the ghost stories and food descriptions and stay for the life lessons!
PN: As a writer and writing educator, what's one piece of advice you give your students, or that someone gave you, that you think is most useful?
MAB: To focus on the joy of writing (this doesn't mean avoiding writing about sad things, by the way) and centering the pleasure I get from showing up to the page. When I'm enjoying the process of drafting, editing, and dreaming, I feel the best about my writing and have no trouble fitting it into my schedule or doing it consistently. It makes it easier to remember why I write and see it as a gift rather than something to be endured. That moment when you're truly immersed in a world of your creation is truly so special!
As a bonus, I've also been thinking about something my editor told me while editing my novel. She told me that my main character seldom told the truth about how she felt (she said it nicely). I sat with those words and looked at the manuscript, and to my surprise, yes, I found that my character would avoid moments of earnestness or jump into beautiful prose to avoid talking about her feelings. So I sat with my character and thought long and hard about how she would feel during these moments; how did she feel in her body? I started to detangle the mess of complex feelings dawning on her: sadness, guilt, etc., and put them on the page. At first, I let myself be long-winded and cheesy if needed; I told myself I could cut back. But the more I did it, the more natural it felt. I realized it couldn't be cheesy if the character was honest about how they felt.
It wasn't easy, but it improved the manuscript a lot. This advice doesn't apply to all genres or all characters, but it is a lesson that will stay with me.
The Waasnode Fiction Prize is open from February 15, 2024, until April 15, 2024. The winner is awarded $1000 and publication in Passages North’s issue 46. Entry fee is $15 (we will make room for free submissions nearer the deadline), and each paid entrant receives a copy of the print journal. Go to https://www.passagesnorth.com/contests for more information or to https://passagesnorth.submittable.com/submit to submit.
