By Samantha Arriozola
By Samantha Arriozola
The types of friends you can always return to are those you meet under specific circumstances. As we grow older, these circumstances are often work-related. Having mutual dislike of that one manager at the office or being underpaid and overworked in your late twenties. The first time I met María Alejandra Barrios Veléz (she/her), author of the forthcoming novel, The Waves Take You Home (Lake Union Publishing, March 19, 2024), we were on our way to a youth sleep-away camp for writers. For the next 12 days, we would spend our time slathered in sunscreen and drinking cafeteria coffee from paper cups before throwing down our Nalgenes to lead a writing workshop. In between the prompts and edits, there were conversations much like the one I was able to have with María on the first weekend of Women’s History Month.
María’s early life in Barranquilla, Colombia was made up of a circle of strong women. Her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunt shared space with María during her formative years. She notes that the love of her family and the leadership that she saw in the actions of the women around her home allowed her to dig into her career as a writer. “I grew up in a very matriarchal system,” she explains. “The most present figures in my life were always women.” She emphasizes the drive that these women had was sewn into her own work ethic. From creating worlds on the page to finding an agent in the first steps of publication, María recalls the community strength being at the root of this path, “When I was little that love of my great-grandma and grandma and mom all formed into one, like a village. I didn’t see my mom a bunch because she was working a lot, but I grew up in a circle surrounded by women.”
“The most present figures in my life were always women.”
The element of magical realism that can be found in María’s writing similarly connects to this environment through the ghost stories told by her grandmother, Juana Margarita Angulo. María describes a “woman in a white veil” walking the halls of her “Abuela Juani’s” childhood home. María’s great-grandmother insisted on these events being the results of an overactive imagination, but it was certainly a surprise when Juanita’s uncle casually mentioned that he had been seeing this same entity all along.
It was important to María to have these connections in her writing to show the deep influence of the origins of her storytelling. But María’s grandmother wasn’t just an influence on the creation of her novel, The Waves Take You Home. She credits her grandmother’s love language for introducing her to the expressions she resonates with today. “It was very meaningful to me. It was more about actions than just sweet words. An easier-to-understand love,” María explains. María mentioned not feeling like a lovey-dovey type but does hold similar representations of love through acts of service. Instead of gushing in words alone, María will provide her attentiveness and actions to demonstrate her love.
María’s writing also carries parallels with her own experiences. Her protagonist, Violeta “Vi” Sanoguera, experiences the loss of her grandmother and must return home to Colombia. “I wrote [The Waves Take You Home] the year that my grandma was dealing with a terrible battle with cancer, and then she eventually passed away,” María shares with Serial Lover Conversations. During the rise of the pandemic, with quarantine lockdowns and limited travel, María faced the difficult reality that many during this time experienced. “I couldn’t go to the funeral,” she says, “but [Violeta] was able to.” While bringing her character to life, María created a unique bond in ancestry that mirrored her own experience while allowing Violeta to discover her own complex emotions.
“My grandma would talk about life without holding back — she would tell it like it was.”
María fondly recounts the honesty that she learned from her late grandmother. “My grandma would talk about life without holding back — she would tell it like it was.” The strength María continues to find in familial love resides in the way that her grandmother took care of her and others she held closely. María has been open about dedicating this book to the memory of her abuela, and despite the grief, she has centered her writing on the biggest takeaways from the memories she still holds. “She loved you so deeply and was always concerned for her family…making sure everyone was okay so she would be okay.”
María’s writing stands out in its exploration of distance, both in concept and actuality. She mentions that, just as her country of Columbia is centered in The Waves Take You Home, New York makes a special guest appearance. “The book takes place 80 percent in Colombia and 20 percent in New York City,” María explains. But María emphasizes that some of her favorite places are shared with fellow writers that she keeps in community. Meeting María will change your concept of the stereotypical “troubled author.” “I’m not Bukowski. I’m not Hemingway. I can’t write stressed or when I’m sad, I need to be okay. I need to feel safe and feel loved and healthy. That’s when I do my best writing.” Just as her family, husband, and “scruffy prince” dog named Gus have contributed to her joy, she has been grateful to be part of her fellow writers’ support system as witness and active participant. María says that her primarily BIPOC writing community represents a beautiful combination of different stages of the writing world. With an agent or without, editing the final pages or developing a concept, María can appreciate the path towards publication, and she can especially appreciate the genuine care found in supporting her people. “How amazing to be part of that [process],” María says. “That is a joy of mine that is a privilege to experience.”
María’s debut novel, The Waves Take You Home, is out for release on March 19th, 2024. Celebrate the debut by attending The Waves Take You Home Author Event with María Alejandra Barrios Vélez in Conversation with Zoraida Córdova (28 Adams St., Brooklyn, NY). You can purchase The Waves Take You Home on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, and other places where books are sold. To request a signed copy you can buy a book from Greenlight Bookstore. Stay up to date with María Alejandra Barrios Velez by following her on Instagram and visiting her website at https://mariaalejandrabarriosvelez.com/.
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