Episode 114 with Reyna Grande: Brilliant and Award-Winning Memoirist, Novelist, and Author of 2022’s Triumph, A Ballad of Love and Glory

Episode 114 Notes and Links to Reyna Grande’s Work 

 

 

      On Episode 114 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Reyna Grande, and the two discuss, among other topics, Reyna’s early reading and love of stories of all kinds, her evolving ideas of “El Otro Lado,” her early writing and “finding her voice,” and the intensive research she undertook for her latest book, A Ballad of Love and Glory. Reyna expands upon themes and events from this chapter in US/Mexican history, as well as legacies of The St. Patrick’s Battalion and connections between the book’s events and events of today.  

 

     Reyna Grande is the author of the bestselling memoir, The Distance Between Us, (Atria, 2012) where she writes about her life before and after she arrived in the United States from Mexico as an undocumented child immigrant. The much-anticipated sequel, A Dream Called Home (Atria), was released in 2018. 

Her other works include the novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, (Atria, 2006) and Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009) which were published to critical acclaim. The Distance Between Us is also available as a young readers edition from Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Division–Aladdin. Her books have been adopted as the common read selection by schools, colleges, and cities across the country. She has two forthcoming books due to be published in 2022: A Ballad of Love and Glory (Atria, March 15), a novel set during the Mexican-American War, and an anthology by and about undocumented Americans called Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival and New Beginnings (HarperVia, June 7).

Reyna has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the International Latino Book Award. In 2012, she was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards, and in 2015 she was honored with a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature. The young reader’s version of The Distance Between Us received a 2017 Honor Book Award for the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and a 2016 Eureka! Honor Awards from the California Reading Association, and an International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award 2017.

Reyna is a proud member of the Macondo Writer’s Workshop founded by Sandra Cisneros, where she has also served as faculty.

 

Buy A Ballad of Love and Glory and Reyna’s Grande’s Other Work

 

Reyna Grande's Opinión Piece for The New York Times- " ‘American Dirt’ Has Us Talking. That’s a Good Thing."

 

Reyna Grande’s Website

 

Article: “During the Mexican-American War, Irish-Americans Fought for Mexico in the ‘Saint Patrick’s Battalion’ ”

At about 3:10, Reyna talks about how things are going in the week leading up to the publication of A Ballad of Love and Glory (the episode was filmed in the week before the March 15 release

 

At about 4:00, Pete asks about Reyna’s experiences with words, language, and intellectual curiosity as a kid; she talks about access and cites the radio show that really moved her 

 

At about 10:00, Reyna discusses how dramas helped her escape   

 

At about 11:05, Reyna responds to Pete’s question about how she’d define “El Otro Lado”

 

At about 13:00, Pete asks Reyna about her love of reading and story as she was newly arrived in the US

 

At about 14:00, Reyna describes “discovering” Latino/a literature and coming into awareness that she “wasn’t in the books [she] was reading”

 

At about 16:00, Reyna talks about “being connected” to VC Andrews’ work

 

At about 18:00, Pete recounts a random run-in with romance novel model Fabio

 

At about 18:30, Pete and Reyna discuss Reyna’s opinion column and her role in the aftermath of the American Dirt publishing fiasco, as this eases the transition into Reyna’s ideas of changes in representation for Latinx writers

 

At about 22:40, Pete wonders about Reyna’s thoughts on being at a point in her career where she has more independence 

 

At about 24:10, Reyna expounds upon the importance of a Prop 209 protest in her college days

 

At about 26:45, Pete asks Reyna about “finding [her] voice” and realizing that she was, little by little, performing activism through writing

 

At about 28:20, Pete asks Reyna about contemporary writers who are making a difference through their writing, including Viet Thanh Nguyen

 

At about 30:55, Pete thanks Reyna for her visits to his school a few years back, and talks about how cool it 

 

At about 32:10, Reyna responds to Pete’s questions about the separation between author and narrator in Across a Hundred Mountains; she talks about how this book and Dancing with Butterflies didn’t need a lot of research 

 

At about 34:30, Reyna details the excruciating research for A Ballad of Love and Glory

 

At about 36:50, Pete remarks on how well Reyna depicts the “fog of war” and the idea of “war is hell” 

 

At about 37:40, Reyna provides a background for the seeds of the book 

 

At about 40:00, Reyna details her mindset in designing the book’s structure and love story

 

At about 41:00, Reyna gives background on John Riley and Irish immigrants to the US

 

At about 42:30, Pete wonders about research done for the book, particularly with regard to the language used by the battalion and the mindset of the immigrant; Reyna shouts out The University of Galway’s History Department’s help

 

At about 44:45, Pete cites a telling quote from the book about ideas of “conquered” and “conqueror” and asks Reyna about connections between the book and today

 

At about 47:00, Pete remarks on the realistic battle scenes of the book and asks Reyna who plays who if a movie were to be made

 

At about 49:40, Reyna discusses Ximena’s story, her background, and how she explored Ximena on the page

 

At about 51:45, the two discuss Santa Anna and his depiction in the book, as well as how he is seen in contemporary México 

 

At about 53:30, Reyna details how The Battalion of San Patricio is remembered today

 

At about 55:00, Pete asks Reyna about “moralizing” in the novel

 

At about 57:00, Reyna shares how the book’s characters are still “living with [her]”

 

At about 58:15, the two discuss themes of healing and class and the military’s racial/class  differences in the book

 

At about 59:30, Reyna responds to Pete’s questions about healing herself after writing such brutal battle scenes; she connects the pandemic to the writing of the book

 

At about 1:00:50, Pete wonders about early feedback from readers regarding the novel

 

At about 1:03:10, Reyna highlights upcoming book publication events

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The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

    Please tune in for Episode 115 with Jennifer Fliss. a Seattle-based writer with over 200 stories and essays that have appeared in various publications. She has been nominated four times for The Pushcart Prize and her story, Hineni, was selected for inclusion in the Best Small Fictions 2019 anthology. Her flash fiction collection, The Predatory Animal Ball was published in late 2021. The episode will air on March 29.