Gessy Alvarez [1]
"I was drinking beer when I told Helena she was the love of my life. Nothing as devastating as her illness had happened to us in the 15 years we were together. Nothing she never forgave, and I forgot. Not even the other women who meant nothing to me, whom I walked home and whom I let pull me inside strange bedrooms. Now, it’s dark again, no lights outside except flashlights and lanterns, no matter how fast we tried to sell the rotting fruit and vegetables, the stench and waste engulf the store. Boxes of decay are stacked out front. Juice and slime stick to the tile and streak the sidewalk. I shall never find someone to love me again. These days’ women are too busy to stop what they’re doing and take care of me. I can’t love them back. I can’t be trusted." --Excerpt from The Last Kingdom in Astoria (novel in progress)
She earned her MFA from Columbia University and is the recipient of scholarships from Columbia University, the Fine Arts Work Center, and the Aspen Writers’ Foundation, as well as, artist residencies at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and the Millay Colony for the Arts, where she was a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellow. She is an alum of the Voices at VONA Workshop and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.
