Storytelling and Space

The stories we shape are largely the result of our physical and cultural contexts. In this episode of ON CITIES, award winning multi-disciplinary writer, journalist and playwright Vanessa Garcia will discuss the themes that shape her creative work through the lens of an American born Cuban (ABC). As an immigrant, she belongs to the space in between two countries – Cuba and the United States. Her work draws on the inherited memories of a displaced homeland while constructing new immersive environments and narratives that center on the timeless themes of home, family and identity.

Vanessa Garcia is a Cuban-American multidisciplinary writer--screenwriter, playwright, novelist and journalist. She is the author of the novel, White Light, which won an International Latino Book Award and was one of NPRs best books of 2015. Her first picture book for children, What the Bread says, was released in October 2022. Theatrically, her work has been produced around the world. She’s the author of The Amparo Experience, a unique immersive theatrical performance that debuted in Miami to critical and popular acclaim. Other plays include: Sweet Goats & Blueberry Señoritas, which she co-wrote with Richard Blanco, and #Graced. As well as her radio play, Ich Bin Ein Berliner, about the fall of the Berlin Wall and what that event meant to her. As a journalist, feature writer and essayist, her pieces have appeared in the The LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Miami Herald and numerous other publications. Vanessa also hosts a podcast about family with her own sister and mother called Never The Empty Nest, available anywhere you listen to podcasts. She holds a PHD from the University of California Irvine in Creative Nonfiction.