Episode 141 with Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Brilliant Storyteller and Master of the Ethereal and the Concrete, and Author of the Stunning The Man Who Could Move Clouds

Episode 141 Notes and Links to Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ Work 

 

On Episode 141 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and the two discuss, among other topics, her childhood in Colombia that was full of incredibly-interesting, loving, and charismatic family members and memorable experiences, roots for her storytelling, her pivotal accident that led to amnesia, how she wrote so skillfully and memorably about such an event, ideas of curanderismo and medicines of all types, the roles that ghosts have played in her family history, links between her and her mother and her paternal grandfather, and how her genre-bending book thrills with a varied approach to history, sociology, family stories, etc.

 Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor's choice. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Buzzfeed, Nylon, and Guernica, among others. Her latest book, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, has been universally-beloved and covered on NPR and in The New York Times. 

Ingrid Rojas Contreras' Website

 

Buy The Man Who Could Move Clouds

 

New York Times Book Review by Miguel Salazar for The Man Who Could Move Clouds

 

Ingrid talks about Her Book on NPR All Things Considered with Ari Shapiro

 

 

At about 2:00, Ingrid talks about the importance of finding writing community/ies and the support systems and paths that help writers on their way and supporting the arts

 

At about 4:35, Ingrid describes a relaxing and productive getaway during a recent writing retreat/fellowship 

 

At about 5:35, Ingrid responds to Pete’s questions about indigenous roots in the many forms of speaking Spanish in Colombia

 

At about 7:30, Indrig describes the “creativity” and “speak” that comes with Spanglish and similar iterations of languages 

 

At about 8:00, Ingrid describes the ways in which she and her mom and tias played a funny game of telling the most boring, mundane stories 

 

At about 10:20, Ingrid shares examples of beautiful tinkering with Spanish

 

At about 11:20, Ingrid breaks down the connotations of the terms “curandero” versus “homeopath,” as used by her grandfather, Nono

 

At about 13:00, Ingrid reflects on who is/are the protagonist(s)

 

At about 14:40, Pete highlights the journalistic and varied writing skill used by Ingrid, and he asks her about the experience of observing others but also writing about herself

 

At about 17:50-20:05, Ingrid replicates the pitch she had made originally to her editor and recounts the circumstances that led her editor to meet Ingrid’s mother

 

At about 20:05, Ingrid discusses the significance of the ways in which she inserted photo in her book

 

At about 21:50, The two discuss the amnesia events linking mother and daughter and how Ingrid was able to write about such an ethereal experience

 

At about 26:00, the two discuss mirrors as a motif and as literal in the book, especially regarding Ingrid’s first view into a mirror after her accident; they also talk about conceptions of “what are we”/“who are we” in history and in connecting to the book 

At about 31:45, Pete asks about The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Ingrid points him towards a strong depiction of amnesia with the movie Solaris (1972 version)

 

At about 38:00, the two discuss the immediate aftereffects of Ingrid’s accident and how her family 

 

At about 39:00 Ingrid talks about ideas of storytelling and metaphor that she learned directly and indirectly from her mother and grandfather and how it affected her outlook on the world and on writing 

 

At about 44:40, the two analyze the term “desandar” and the multiple ways in which ghosts run throughout the book

 

At about 48:00, Ingrid describes a sense of wanting a fresh start and living a life surrounded by the ocean and people who didn’t know her after her accident

 

At about 50:00, Ingrid responds to Pete’s questions about ideas of the pull of “home”

 

At about 54:00, Pete and Ingrid discuss ideas of history manifested in her book

 

At about 55:30, The two discuss some almost-unbelievable stories related in the book, including a possible ghostly possession of her grandfather 

 

At about 1:00:00, Ingrid discusses her interactions with her grandfather when she was a baby and ways in which he tried to safeguard her future, and he responds to Pete’s questions about her grandfather's duality

 

At about 1:03:00, Pete highlights the interesting history recounted in the book and asks Ingrid about the use of the term “The Situation” to describe Colombian conflicts

 

At about 1:05:00, Ingrid discusses the “yin and yang” of her parents’ relationship

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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 142 with Robert Lopez. He is author of three novels, including Kamby Bolongo Mean River—named one of 25 important books of the decade by HTML Giant, All Back Full, two story collections, and a novel-in-stories, A Better Class Of People. The LA Times wrote, "Lopez has the ability to give readers whiplash with his unconventional and bewitching stories." 

The episode will air on September 9.