The rich and revealing essays in Something to Declare offer Julia Alvarez's dual meditations on coming to America and becoming a writer. In the first section, "Customs," Alvarez relates how she and her family fled the Dominican Republic and its oppressive dictator, Rafael Trujillo, settling in New York City in the 1960s. Here Julia begins a love affair with the English language under the tutelage of the aptly named Sister Maria Generosa. Part Two—"Declarations"—celebrates Alvarez's enduring passion for the writing life. From the valentine to mythic storyteller Scheherazade that is "First Muse," to a description of Alvarez's itinerant life as a struggling poet, teacher, and writer in "Have Typewriter, Will Travel," to the sage and witty advice of "Ten of My Writing Commandments," Alvarez generously shares her influences and inspirations with aspiring writers everywhere.
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I. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few.
--ZEN MASTERS
II. The obligation of the artist is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly.
--ANTON CHEKHOV
III. Do not be afraid!
--ANGELS APPEARING TO SHEPERDS TENDING THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT
IV. If you bring forth what is inside you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is inside you, what is inside you will destroy you.
--ST. THOMAS, GNOSTIC GOSPELS
V. Poetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling. It should be precise about the thing and reticent about the feeling.
--WEI T'AI
VI. One must write a poem the way one rules an empire, the way one cooks a small fish.
--AUTHOR UNKNOWN
VII. El papel lo aguanta todo. (Paper holds everything.)
--MAMI
VIII. You must change your life.
--RAINER MARIA RILKE
IX. The function of freedom is to free someone else.
--TONI MORRISON
X. If you want to be a writer, than write. Write every day!
--SAMUEL JOHNSON
Excerpted from Something to Declare Copyright (c) 1998 Julia Alvarez. Reprinted by permission of Algonquin.
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