“I have always written because of a need. The need to breathe, to let go of all that is locked up inside and needs air or else…” –Manuel Lopez

Manuel A. Lopez was born in Moron, Cuba in 1969 and emigrated to the United States in 1980 via the Mariel boat lift with his his parents and siblings. Lopez is a bilingual poet, writer and culture promoter. His poetry in Spanish has been published in various magazines, such as Arique, Baquiana, Contratiempo, La Peregrina Magazine, LaFanzine, Linden Lane and Ventana Abierta, among others. His first book of poems, Yo, el arquero aquel was published in 2011 by Editorial Velámenes. In July of 2012, a digital e-leaf edition of short stories, Room at the Top, was published by TheWriteDeal in New York, and published in a revised edition by Eriginal Books in June 2013, which was presented at Miami Book Fair International on November 2013. In this interview, we discuss Lopez’s latest book, Room at the Top, and his writing process.

Manuel Lopez. Photo by William Riera

Neil de la Flor: Your latest collection, Room at the Top, follows a narrator on a love quest. Along the way, he encounters frogs, not princes, who almost railroad him. He doesn’t give up. Why does he (you) still believe in love?

Manuel Lopez: I still have faith in human kind, and our need to love, and be loved.

ND: Can you tell us a bit about the nuts and bolts of putting the book together? How did it come to life?

ML: The book began as a series of vignettes; a few made it to my blog. Then in the summer of 2012 while attending Cristina Garcia’s Writer’s Workshop in New Mexico, I took some extra time and went to Taos and there I met with writer Teresita Dovalpage, who lives there, and she mentioned that she was collaborating with TheWriteDeal in New York, and asked me if I had any fiction work I might send to them to review. I told her I had these short stories but didn’t’ think they were finished, and she said to finish them and send it to her, and I did. A few days later the editor wrote and said they were interested in publishing them as an e-leaf, and so that is how it all began. After that contract ended, I decided that I wanted to have them published the old-fashioned way, and Marlene Moleon from Eriginal Books was interested in doing so. But before all that, these stories came about in a time in my life where I sought refuge in this studio I lived in; a magical place for me, a Room at the Top.

ND: Are you the kind of writer that sits down every day for a stretch of time, or did it come together organically over time?

ML: I cannot sit everyday to write. I do write a bit every week of my life, but not daily. I email myself a lot with ideas, and bits and pieces of things that pop up in my mind.

ND: Why English vs. Spanish?

ML: This book was always thought out in English. I feel a certain freedom in English, which I still have to deal with in Spanish.

ND: How much does the personal influence your writing?

ML: A lot, as with most writers, yet these particular stories have wild, crazy elements that never happened to me.

ND: How much does the writer/dreamer influence your personal life?

ML: Plenty. I am constantly day-dreaming and conjuring up things in my head, brewing them in a giant kettle.

ND: Who/what are your biggest inspirations?

ML: Everyday life; I like to write about what I see around me, from the UPS guy with a bad attitude, to my kitty who is just unbelievable at times. And then I am inspired from reading. I was a reader first, and I have always found inspiration from reading; when you discover someone else’s world and it connects somehow with yours, or what is going around in your head, that is just delicious.

ND: Do you identify yourself as a Cuban writer, queer writer, or just a writer? Either way, what are you feelings about categorization?

ML: I am a Queer Cuban-American writer, who is not really a Cuban writer or all the time a queer writer, but then I am…sometimes.

I can’t say I am totally a Cuban writer, because I was raised in this country since the age of 10, and my style of writing poetry is much more influenced by American poets than Cuban poets. As a child, the only Cuban poet I knew was Jose Marti, and I am not influenced by him at all. I learned about Cuban literature on my own, as an adult. The Cuban theme is not really that persistent in my work. There are references to a Cuban mother, and grandmother, and to our religious beliefs and those things, but really I am a hybrid.

Then the queer issue comes into play, and I feel very much at ease with being a gay man, despite the Cuban upbringing. I’ve always been a bit of a rebel, so early on in my life everyone knew I was not your typical kid from the block. My own experiences as a gay man are there in my work; in poetry and in fiction.

I am just a writer who is influenced by these labels that are part of who I am.

ND: How do you see the future of the literary scene evolving in Miami?

ML: I think it’s happening! There are days I get up and want to move to … anywhere… but then again, after a few cups of coffee I realize I am in a good place, and just have to move, cross boundaries, and keep doing things in this city. Because you can sit on your ass, and do nothing, and criticize galore, or you can do things, and be critical if need be. And I’ve always been a doer.

But lots of things are happening here. Writers from other cities are gravitating to Miami. I want to create, and build, and Miami is currently under construction.

ND: What’s next for Manny Lopez?

ML: I am going to be presenting my second book of poems in Spanish, Los poetas nunca pecan demasiado, published by Editorial Betania in Spain on February 8th at Centro Cultural Español. I am working on my first book of poems in English, and then need to find a home for them; I am finishing a book of short stories in Spanish and writing and writing to escape—sometimes from myself.