Venezuelan writer. @MichenerCenter Fellow. Work in: Best American SS 2020 @asfmag @idahoreview @tin_house. Got a job for me @Marvel? Slide into my DMs!

Austin
Joined June 2009
So. This thing happened this week... if I'm dreaming don't wake me up. Out next summer!!!
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My essay for @TIME about my experience voting with my mom, who just became a citizen. And how we feel about wannabe despots.
"For months now, Trump has been using Venezuelans as the boogeyman." Column: Taking my Venezuelan mom to vote reminded me what's at stake in America 📝 Alejandro Puyana time.com/7130906/alejandro-p…
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My essay in @TexasMonthly, where I tell the story of how I found my identity as a Venezuelan writer in the heat of Austin, TX.
"If home is where the heart is, half of mine will always be in Caracas. But the other half swims in the cold undercurrent of Barton Springs, sweats among the bodies dancing at Sam’s Town Point . . ." texasmonthly.com/arts-entert…
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Wrote this list of my favorite debut books (old and new) for @worldlittoday. Featuring Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende, @NK_Adjei @jesmimi @megankakimoto @samanito @tangykat and @szilmolnar
“Every aspiring writer should have debut books as the most fundamental part of their book diet.” Author of the debut novel Freedom Is a Feast Alejandro Puyana recommends 4 classic and 4 recent debuts. worldliteraturetoday.org/202…
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
Pronto con @Puyana y su @FreedomIsAFeast. Qué momento para esta conversación indisociable de la lucha democrática en Vzla. I am very pleased to present Alejandro Puyana's novel on September 19th #theworldsboroughbookshop. We hope you can join us! theworldsboroughbookshop.com…
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Nombrado el libro de la semana por el gran @cmrondon. Y con una entrevista maravillosa. Gracias, César!
El Libro de la semana: "Freedom is a Feast", de Alejandro Puyana. cesarmiguelrondon.com/intere…
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
Here is our Black Kos/@dailykos post of this past week's new release books of special interest to Black and Latino/a readers (But also recommended for ALL readers!): dailykos.com/comments/226489… Kudos to the authors/illustrators! @alexispauline @fguridy @Drsaritalyons @KhristiLauren @VernonDavis85 @SianAnderson @MariselSalazar @kwamedawes @carole_hopson @Nnedi @Puyana @theginamaria @EngageReaders @query_queen339
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This is my character Emiliana’s favorite songs. (A few of them are mine as well).
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
ON REPEAT: Alejandro @Puyana's playlist inspired by his new novel FREEDOM IS A FEAST! open.spotify.com/playlist/16…
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
The seeds of Alejandro Puyana’s debut novel were planted in 2012 with a call. His parents in Caracas, Venezuela, told him his brother, Manuel, was going to be OK. Manuel had been kidnapped and was being held hostage, but police had surrounded the house. austinchronicle.com/arts/202…
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I love talking about character in craft. @poetswritersinc gave me some room to talk about what I learned from @elizmccracken and Bret Anthony Johnston and the rest of the faculty over at the @MichenerCenter.
"Whenever I felt stuck with a character, I leaned on three things to shake free: motivation, physicality, and complexity." In today's #CraftCapsule Alejandro Puyana (@Puyana) explores tactics for creating three-dimensional characters. at.pw.org/3Dcharacters
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Since the international "left" is so convinced Venezuela is not a dictatorship and the voice of the people is being heard with these elections, here's a thread: ✨poor/indigenous/racialized people protesting/voting against the Maduro government in the last 48 hours✨
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
Fue una noche muy difícil para los testigos de la oposición. Quiero explicarles cómo se robaron las elecciones anoche: 1.- Cada mesa emite un voto anónimo que va a sistema, pero al mismo tiempo entrega una boleta física. 2.- Las boletas quedan por si hubiese caída de sistema y el conteo se debiese corroborar de manera manual. 3.- Cada máquina, además, totaliza los votos y entrega un acta impresa. 4.- La oposición tiene un 40% de las actas impresas, pero luego empezaron los problemas. 5.- Miembros de las fuerzas armadas intentaron llevarse las cajas con los votos físicos. En algunos casos se los llevaron, en otros los testigos lo impidieron. 6.- En otros puntos, funcionarios de las mesas negaron copias de las actas a testigos. 7.- La transmisión de datos se detuvo súbitamente y las alertas se encendieron desde distintos centros de votación, desde donde llegaban al comando las denuncias. Todo esto empezó a ocurrir cerca de las 9 de la noche. 8.- Paralelamente, a esa hora, los testigos generales de la oposición fueron impedidos de entrar al CNE para supervisar la transmisión de datos. 9.- La oposición logró computar de manera paralela el 40% de las actas en su poder. En el 99,9% el ganador es Edmundo González, en una razón de 2:1 en votos sobre Nicolás Maduro. 10.- Tras frenar la transmisión de datos, y mientras en distintos centros la gente defendía las cajas con votos, el CNE hace “aparecer” un 40% más de mesas, que no habían sido transmitidas desde los centros de votación, y entrega un resultado con un 80% de las actas computadas. 11.- El problema para un recuento es que las mesas con los votos manuales son “protegidas” por el ejército, es decir, por Padrino López. 12.- De las actas, la oposición espera poder recolectar mas, pero hay muchas que definitivamente les fueron denegadas. 13.- La comunidad internacional puede exigir las actas y los votos físicos, pero ya nada asegura que ese otro 60% corresponda a las actas y votos originales. 14.- Sin embargo, las actas que están son muy representativas del territorio nacional. Cualquier experto electoral sabe que esa muestra, repartida, si muestra una tendencia clara y amplia, es representativa totalmente de la realidad electoral del proceso.
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
Venezuelan pres. Maduro’s declaration of victory with no published detailed vote results is a brazen act, but not so surprising. With no prior negotiated guarantees of safety from prosecution, Maduro opted to simply ignore the results. 1/4
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When I first read A Brief History of Seven Killings by @MarlonJames5 I had never seen anyone marry history, politics and character like he had. In my own writing I wanted to capture the essence of Venezuela, like he had done with Jamaica. To have this on my book now means so much
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Alejandro Puyana🇻🇪 retweeted
All I'll say about this publicly right now is that Ben George is an incredible editor and human being & I was heartbroken by this news. Ben and I have put out three books together over the course of a decade. He puts his entire mind, heart, & soul into his work. Irreplaceable.
BREAKING: Hachette Book Group has laid off a number of editorial staffers at Little, Brown, including Tracy Sherrod, VP and executive editor at Little, Brown. A representative at HBG confirmed a restructure at the imprint but declined to comment further. buff.ly/3KCownr
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