Sofia Quintero Back in the Triangle

Author wrote novel about her Bronx neighborhood
By Susan Broili, The Herald-Sun

DURHAM -- As a child in a working-class Puerto Rican-Dominican family in the Bronx, Sofia Quintero loved to read. But something was missing from all those stories and that something encouraged her to be a writer.

"I didn't see myself reflected in what I read. I wanted to tell the same stories with people like me in it. I wrote my first novel at age 12 called 'The Greatest Block' about people on my block," Quintero said in a telephone interview from her home in the Bronx.

As an adult, Quintero has published four novels. She's also a screen writer, a stand-up comedienne and activist. She arrives in Durham today for a four-week residency that includes creative writing workshops for teenagers and adults as well as public readings of her work.

Her residency, with two weeks beginning today and continuing through March 11 and the two more weeks March 18 through April 1, is a program of Carolina Circuit Writers, an organization begun in 2003 by Durham resident Kirsten Mullen as a way to build community using literature as a bridge.

"Our whole thrust is to celebrate literature and writers of color and encourage the community to participate in the arts," Mullen said in a recent interview.

Planners, including representatives from 23 community partners, have met for a year to plan the residency in which Quintero will also visit Durham Academy, Lakeview Public School, Durham Literacy Center, Duke University, North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The writer made two weeklong visits here last year in October and April, to meet with planners and make public appearances in preparation for her residency.

"I'm really excited about it -- the diversity of people, the hospitality I've encountered, the opportunity to really learn about the community," Quintero said. "I feel like I'm getting as good as I give."

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