Charlie Vázquez
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Carlos Luis "Charlie" Vázquez (born May 14, 1971) is a self-identified
queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...
American artist, writer, and musician of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent and a New York Foundation For The Arts and NEA Fellow for poetry. He is also the editor of Fireking Press, where he has published a novel and a book of short stories. He serves as the deputy director of the Bronx Council on the Arts, and runs the group's writing center. His fiction,
erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...
and essays have appeared in a number of anthologies, magazines, and websites. He lives in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, with his partner, poet John Williams.


Early years and education

Carlos Luis Vázquez was born at Fordham Hospital in
The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, New York, on May 14, 1971, to a Cuban-Puerto Rican mother and Puerto Rican father. He is oldest of five children. His earliest years were spent in the disinvested East Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx, where his parents befriended several members of the Reapers, a notorious
South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...
street gang. His family then moved north, to the Fordham neighborhood, where he became fascinated by a small white cottage in a nearby park that was poet
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
’s final home. Before divorcing in 1981, his parents moved the family east, to Allerton Avenue and White Plains Road, where Vázquez attended the Richard Rodgers School, PS 96, Whalen Junior High School and Christopher Columbus High School, where he served as a lead
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
player in orchestras and jazz bands. Vázquez recalls, “I grew up with a range of influences, some very dark. But music and books were always a way to open up my eyes to a different world, something to escape to,” who, as a young child “became attached to playing the trumpet and reading through scores of second-hand books”.


Career

Vázquez's first novel, ''Buzz and Israel'' (Fireking Press, 2004), details the complicated relationship between Israel, a closeted Puerto Rican actor, and Buzz, a junkie and jewelry store thief. Inspired by the writings of Jean Genet and William S. Burroughs, the novel follows the passionate and dysfunctional relationship from Portland, Oregon, where they meet, to New York City, where the story ends, by way of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
and
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
. The “intoxicated work of transient fiction” was inspired by his youthful years on the West Coast, where he experimented with drugs, sexuality, recorded experimental music and traveled throughout the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...
and
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, British Columbia. He had left New York City for
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
in 1988. He joined a band and studied music production believing music “was the voice he had long been searching” but learned the “written word held a magnetic attraction”. ''Buzz and Israel'' explores the twilight worlds of transsexual shamans,
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
addicts,
Santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, Afro-Caribbean religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose amid a process of syncretism between the traditional ...
priestesses and queer criminals. Its third-person voice examines the unique experiences of a New York Latino (Israel) immersed in a mostly white American
subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
. In a panel on Latino contemporary literature at
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
, Vázquez stated, “I’m Latino. I’m gay. I am both of those things and to recognize that is a celebration of my sexuality and my roots.” ''Buzz and Israel'' was followed by ''Business as Unusual'' (2007, Fireking Press) is a fiction collection composed of two novellas and three short stories that were written in Southern California, Baja California, Oregon, and New York City. This collection of fiction explores themes of transsexuality,
fortune-telling Fortune telling is the spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115–116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle ...
,
reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...
, mesmerism and
fetishism A fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent non-material value, or powers, to an object. Talismans and amulet ...
, as told through the first-person narratives of strange and revealing narrators. His second novel, ''Contraband'' (2010, Rebel Satori Press) superimposes a 1959
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
-styled technological overhaul of government onto the United States of the near future, where intellectuals, queers and artists are sought and executed by a faceless
dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
. Vázquez is one of thirty bloggers who support '' Latino Rebels'' website which launched May 5 ( Cinco de Mayo) in 2011, and features on social media. Their primary objective is to "kill stereotypes with humor, insight, ndcompassion" while empowering the Latino community. The book ''Hustler Rave XXX: Poetry of the Eternal Survivor'' (2013), is a collection of poems about gay male prostitution written by Vázquez and David Caleb-Acevedo. In 2013 he co-founded the start-up Editorial Trance (ET) with Marlena Fitzpatrick, and serves as Chief Creative Officer. The
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
publisher covers works "...that are culturally and historically relevant to the Latino community, which has been largely ignored by the major ublishers, according to Vázquez. ET's launch title was ''Demystifying a Diva: The truth behind the myth of La Lupe'', about La Lupe, the "Queen of Latin Soul". Vázquez's fiction, erotica and essays have been published in a number of anthologies, including ''Best Gay Love Stories: New York City'' (2006), ''Best Gay Erotica 2008,'' and ''Queer and Catholic'' (2008). His short stories, articles and interviews have also appeared in print and online publications such as ''Advocate.com'', ''NYpress.com'', ''Tanglefoot'', ''Dreck Magazine'', ''BigFib.com'', and ''Mensbook Journal''. He is also a former contributor to the Village Voice
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
''Naked City''. Vázquez hosts a monthly reading series called PANIC! at Nowhere in the
East Village, Manhattan The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street on the ...
, where he first witnessed
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
,
Gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...
and queer culture in the 1980s. The series features both published and unpublished queer, female and transsexual writers of erotica, horror and unusual fiction and poetry. Vázquez cites Edgar Allan Poe, James Baldwin,
Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...
,
Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...
, Celia Cruz,
Arsenio Rodríguez Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; August 31, 1911 – December 30, 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4, p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandl ...
, Celina y Reutilio, Diamanda Galás and
Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...
as cultural influences. Starting in 2016, novelist Álvaro Enrigue, and writers Vázquez and Lisa Ko founded and led PEN America's DREAMing Out Loud workshops. The free workshops for undocumented immigrant students for all of
City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
since 2016, giving the students a framework to “develop original writings and empowers them to use their voices to help change the misinformation on immigrants”. The workshops have led to public readings and an anthology, ''DREAMing Out Loud: Voices of Undocumented Students''. In June 2017, Vasquez was among the ten New York City essayists—including
Mira Jacob Mira Jacob (born January 5, 1973, in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American writer. She is the author of ''The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing'' (2014), a novel about a patriarch who starts talking to ghosts, and ''Good Talk'' (2019), a graphic me ...
, Tracy O’Neill and Anelise Chen—in Electric Lit’s ''Bodega Project'', who wrote “personal portraits of their local bodegas”.


External links


Fireking Press Home Page

Charlie Vázquez Wordpress.com Blog


See also

* List of Cuban American writers * LGBT literature * List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people * List of LGBT writers * List of Puerto Rican writers * Puerto Rican literature


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazquez, Charlie 1971 births Living people Musicians from Oregon American writers of Cuban descent 21st-century Puerto Rican novelists Puerto Rican male novelists Puerto Rican male writers Puerto Rican male short story writers Puerto Rican short story writers American queer artists American queer writers American queer men American musicians of Puerto Rican descent American LGBTQ novelists American male novelists LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers Queer novelists