Meet Sofía Aguilar | Writer and Teaching Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sofía Aguilar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sofía, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I chose to pursue a creative career because, from a young age, I knew that there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life. Though I was interested in STEM subjects like science (particularly marine biology), I was never any good at math and wasn’t the kind of child who wanted to pursue things I wasn’t naturally good at. Flaw or not, my true passion lay in more artistic pursuits that felt like intrinsic parts of me: storytelling, collage, crocheting, scrapbooking, embroidering, sewing, and, most importantly, writing. Every book my parents had read me each night before bedtime led to the first moment I put my pencil to paper, igniting a spark in me that has yet to flicker out. There’s something powerful that happens whenever I tell a story, whether true or fiction or even somewhere in-between. It allows me to rewrite moments I wish I could re-do. It brings visibility to people in my family and community. It helps me feel in control of an experience that is otherwise uncontrollable, joyful but often painful, and confusing. Writing helps me make sense of the world and in so doing, helps me discover who I truly am and all the ways I keep changing.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a multi-genre writer with a focus in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, and often I blend together different aspects of these genres to make my work fuller, more dynamic, and engaging. Though I’ve been writing for as long as I could remember, I began writing seriously when I was fifteen, completing my first novel and pursuing publishing opportunities for my shorter-length work. Though I loved it, a big challenge for me was the question of representation and authenticity in my writing. I come from a Mexican background, though all of my characters at this time were non-Latinx and white, and I struggled to reconcile my passion for storytelling with my love for my culture and the expectations of publishing at the time to write universally, almost as if for an audience of blank slated people. When I tried, I received pushback from my peers, as happened in college when my classmates frequently treated my work as if it was something they could make no sense of and couldn’t bother trying to. But I love my community almost as much as I love to tell their stories, and I truly believe that this love pushed me through, regardless of what outsiders thought or believed. Today, I frequently think about how I can responsibly give voice to the people and places who have raised me, how I can mimic the diversity of the world rather than ignore it simply because it’s easier. Everyone deserves to have their story told and I am just one vessel, one possibility for this to come true.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As a lifelong resident of LA, I had to learn to love my home before I could be proud of. Growing up, I was often embarrassed of all of our seeming hollowness, steeped in Hollywood glamour and chauvinism. Ultimately, it took leaving home to truly appreciate what I’d lost and what the city was truly made of, and now I get excited whenever a friend or online mutual comes to town to visit. Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend most of the touristy places, as they’re overpriced and ultimately disappointing. I do, however, love the Huntington Library in Pasadena, which houses different gardens for viewing and a tea parlor. There’s also no end to the indie bookstore landscape including Skylight Books in LA, Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, The Last Bookstore in downtown LA, Lost Books in Montrose, Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, and so, so many more. I also can’t recommend enough the food spots of Urth Café in Pasadena, Taquería Periban in South El Monte, Lupe’s Burritos in East L.A., Thai Thyme in Monrovia, and Ravello Osteria in Monterey Park. For me, the most interesting places are the ones that don’t show up on the usual lists of spots to visit, the ones you find completely by surprise.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to give a shout=out to WriteGirl! Based in LA, WriteGirl is a writing organization that fosters teen girls and nonbinary youth in their own pursuit of storytelling, writing, and self-advocacy. Throughout the program, I learned important skills that I still use today including public speaking, performing, and writing in multiple genres. I owe so much to their monthly workshops for introducing me to other forms of storytelling and giving me the courage to forge my own creative and artistic path.

Website: https://www.sofiaaguilar.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofiaxaguilar/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sof%C3%ADa-aguilar-885a30167/

Twitter: https://x.com/sofiaxaguilar

Image Credits
@portraitsbyrenee and Andy Forsberg