FEATURES
FEBRUARY 7, 2014
7
Lopez finds success in writing, will publish memoir
BY NELLIE VINOGRAD
Staff Writer
A life of trauma and pain,
determination and hope. It
seems unfair to try to sum up the
captivating life of Victor Lopez in
ordy a few words. That is why a
new book will give full justice to
his story.
Lopez, a CCE senior English
major, will publish his memoirs,
"Victor's Luck," in the next year.
The publication opportunity
publication came to Lopez after
his piece "Transcending Trauma"
won the annual Student Writing
Contest for The Nation Magazine
while he attended Guilford
Technical Community College.
Lopez received attention from
agents and publishers. After 290
pages and a five-figure advance
from a publisher, his memoir is
heading into the editing stages.
As of yet, Lopez does not know
an exact publication date but
hopes to see it published in 2014.
His book will focus on luck and
perseverance amid growing up
in foster homes throughout the
country and experiencing life
long trauma.
"A lot of people who know me
now know me as a mysterious,
outgoing 32-year-old who has a
story," said Lopez. "I now have an
attorney as a father and a doctor
as a mother, so others probably
assume I'm some spoiled rich kid,
and that's not the case."
Lopez said he grew up in a
toxic environment created by an
unstable and abusive biological
family and lived in 40 foster
homes and three group homes
during his early years before
being adopted. His adopted
parents were killed when he was
14, which returned him to a life
without a steady home.
Throughout his youth, he
bounced around the country,
encountering homelessness,
incarceration and constant
upheaval.
After hearing his story on
a radio show, Elaine Feraru
corresponded with Lopez and
took him in as her adopted son.
She worked with him to develop
his grammar and writing skills
and was his main inspiration for
writing his winning essay and
eventually, his memoir.
"I forced him to write," said
Feraru in a phone interview. "I
bugged him everyday. We joke
that I am the editor-in-chief of his
life."
Without Feraru's influence,
Lopez said he probably would
not have entered the essay contest
inw the first place. Though Lopez
said he never intended to get
published, he always wanted
to write his story and said the
process has been therapeutic for
him.
"Time and time again I've been
told by others that my story will
help someone else," said Lopez.
"It's like one big 'it gets better'
story with a couple of twists in
the middle."
Lopez has always had a passion
for the raw art of storytelling. At
around age 26, he started getting
published and a year later, came
to Guilford College where he
CCE senior Victor Lopez’s memoir tells of his difficult life. He lived with an abusive family, moved to 40 different
foster homes, lost his adoptive parents and lived on the streets. Lopez hopes his book will be published by next year.
further honed his craft.
Through work on The
Guilfordian and in English
classes, Lopez developed his
academic writing abilities and
distinctive style.
Assistant Professor of English
Myl^ne Dressier said Lopez's
honesty, clarity and unadorned
prose were some of the qualities
that made him stand out to her
as a writer as well as his obvious
passion for writing,
Lopez plans to attend law
school and continue a life of
helping people. He hopes that
whoever his story reaches will be
inspired, whether they themselves
are in a bad position or have the
ability to help sbmeorie who is;
"There's a lot of unhappy in
the book," said Lopez. "I've gone
through a lot in life, but there
has to be an upside. Most people
would have said my story was
finished at a very young age, but I
just kept on going."
Four students to be published in national anthcdogy for undemaduate work
BY NAILE MUNRO
Staff Writer
"A spider-web pattern, they call it, when
tempered/glass cracks this way, not breaking
aU the way through but/broken just the same,
useless now. A spider spends — how long? /
an hour, a lifetime? — literally hanging its life
on a thread. A broom/handle in the hand of
a bored schoolboy brings down in no time;/
broken, lifeless now. Residual matter. Sticky."
These poignant opening lines from CCE
student Brian Smith's poem, "Spider-web,"
introduce an intriguingly mysterious story of
a fawn playing possum, a wheelchair and the
S-curve. "Spider-web" was published in the
2013 edition of the Greenleaf Review and is
now moving on to a much bigger platform. ‘
"We think of writing as a solitary activity,
but it can't just exist within you," said Smith.
"It has to go somewhere."
For many Guilford students that
somewhere is the yearly publication of the
Greenleaf Review. And now, for the first time,
Guilford writers and artists will be published
in Bennington College's national anthology
of undagraduate work "plain china: Best
Undergraduate Writing 2013."
Published on a website that has gotten
mcKe than 43,000 hits from all 50 states and
more than a 150 countries, "plain china"
offers undergraduates another publication
through whidh young writers and artists can
be connected.
Sharing on such a large platform can be
intimidating.
"When you make art, it's an extension of
yourself," said junior Juliet Magoon, whose
old Hollywood-inspired photograph will be
published in "plain china." And the fear of
exposing that extension of yourself is great, but
so is the reward. ?
"It's important to be vulnerable because
when people are vulnerable, they connect,"
said Magcxrn.
Myl^ne Dressier, assistant professor of
English, Greenleaf Review advisor and
published author, speaks of the time she
received an ink drawdng of a rooster from a
reader who wanted to reciprocate the sharing
of creative work- This call and response
between the artist and the audienca is what
makes art special and worthwhile.
An audience can reassure the author that
they are not alone. An audience can draw
attention to themes that the author did not
consciously intend. The conversation between
the artist and the audience creates community.
"You have to spread your voice around,"
said Hannah Reed, senior art major who will
have an oil painting published.
Reed, inspired by the idea of theater sets,
asks for a response in making art that creates
a place for a story.
In regards to the creative community at
Guilford, the process is cyclical. Whether
in Digital Darkroom or Creative Writing,
professors at Guilford challenge and encourage
their students to create work worthy of being
in an anthology.
"Creativity has a way of breeding more
creativity," said Dressier.
Make sure to check out Smith, Magopn,
Reed and senior Raina Martens in "plain
china" later this year, and enter the cycle
yourself by submitting your short stories,
poems and artwork to the Greenleaf Review
{litmag@guilford.edu) by Feb. 10.
THE GREENLEAF
REVIEW WANTS TO
HEAR FROM YOUl
omail your lubmlssionf to
Utnug^guUford.^