Lillian Elizabeth Roque,"Lilo" named 15th Valdez Scholar

I am writing to share my journey as a writer and to seek your support in attending a prestigious writer's retreat in Italy. This opportunity is a significant step in my artistic development, and I am eager to participate and grow through this experience. Throughout my writing career, I have been fortunate to receive several accolades and opportunities that have shaped my craft. I was honored to be a finalist in the Victor Howes Contest, which was a pivotal moment for me. Additionally, my internship at Grub Street during the summer of 2023 provided invaluable insights into the literary world and honed my skills further. In recognition of my dedication to writing, I was awarded a scholarship from the City of Boston to attend a workshop at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. This experience was transformative and deepened my commitment to my manuscript, titled "Polar Garden." Currently, I am working at Spoke with the Youth Speak, where I engage with the arts on a grandiose scale. This role has been incredibly fulfilling and has reinforced my belief in the power of storytelling. When I saw the opportunity to attend the writer's retreat in Italy, I knew it was exactly what I had been looking for. This retreat will provide me with the space and inspiration to further develop my manuscript and connect with other writers. I am reaching out to seek your support in raising the necessary funds to attend this retreat. Your contribution will not only help me achieve this goal but also support the broader mission of fostering literary talent and expression.

Below is a poem that was published last Fall in the Tell Magazine;

Loíza on her tongue

talk about the island

coconut trees and highway fruit stands

feel the hunger of the mango man

no half truths regarding paradise

home can be broken

I know of los gigantes de Carolina

how our people disgraced their own

keep it light at first

I know that’s what you’ll do

maybe discuss the recipe to mayoketchup

give up the instructions ingrained in your brain

lots of us on the mainland

you came across a few

Vieques and Poncè

where are you from?

say the name and low it strikes

deep into the earth

you can find the dirt they compare us to

rich roots

black as coil

morenos they say

the irony of escaping to a mainland only to find a place where boricuas are considered too Latina

to be African or too Mexican to be white

slander taken from all sides

even allies

I often think about the girl I would be if I grew up in the barrio

would I be Pentecostal

wearing skirts that crawl down to my ankles while I attend the house of god after breakfast each

humid morning

or a tiguera

wandering the streets after the sun sets toting a gun in one hand and a lit cigar in the other

I’d like to think if I lived in Loiza I could be a mango woman embellished in black soaking up

the Caribbean sun, writing a poem off the freeway waiting for you to come home

Thank you for considering my request. Your support means the world to me.

Sincerely,

Lillian Elizabeth Roque

Roberto Valdez Scholarship Fund

We are looking for 400 people to give jut $10.00 apiece

Team Members