Graduate Student Profile: María Pachón

María Pachón is a third year Literature PhD student, who received a 2023 THI Summer Research Fellowship and a 2024 THI Public Fellowship. Pachón’s research focuses on language and place in relation to Latin American writers, in addition to the formations of relationships and resistance within the language they use. During her THI Public Fellowship, she worked with Pollen Initiative, a non profit focused on media production for incarcerated individuals. We talked with Pachón about her interesting research and public fellowship experience.

Hi Maria! Thank you for talking to us today. First, let’s hear a bit about your research.

Both in my critical research and my creative project, I explore the limitations and possibilities of writing outside one’s own language and place. I focus on the prose of Latin American contemporary writers who live and produce their work in the United States, such as the Colombian Julián Delgado Lopera; the Chilean Lina Meruane; the Venezuelan Enza García, and the Argentinian María Negroni, who recently moved back to Buenos Aires but wrote most of her books in New York. I examine how these writers forge a relationship of dynamic resistance with both their place (and language) of origin and their place (and language) of arrival. I also look at the ways in which their experience of dislocation and relocation allows them to challenge coherent identities and construct unfinished and fluid subjectivities.  

Last summer, I was awarded the THI Graduate Summer Public Fellowships and I had the opportunity to work with Pollen Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing media centers in prisons and jails across the country. 

That is fascinating! Could you talk more about what drew you to this subject?

When I left Bogotá and moved to the U.S., I became obsessed with the question of belonging.  Perhaps it is because it quickly became clear that I did not belong here. However, when I return, I don’t feel like I belong in Bogota either. The experience of moving away from home and using a language one did not grow up speaking is often framed within narratives of loss and grief. While I examine this sense of loss, I also explore new, complex, and affirming perspectives on migratory movements. 

As Cristina Rivera Garza argues, the lack of confidence involved in writing in a second language also entails a paradoxical element of freedom. It is this element of freedom that currently drives me to write most of my creative work in English. From time to time, I include a word or a sentence in Spanish, not only to go back momentarily to the comfort of my mother tongue —my home— but also because I strongly believe in the political urgency of writing in Spanish in the U.S. today. 

Could you share some of your takeaways from your research trip down to Southern California? What were some of the impactful stories you heard?

With the support of the THI Graduate Summer Research Fellowship, I took a research trip to Southern California in the summer of 2023. I was looking to explore the linguistic and discursive practices of migrant and border communities, as well as the relationship between urban spaces, storytelling, and collective memory. I was surprised by how different San Diego is from El Paso, Texas, where I lived for three years while completing my MFA.   Code-switching occurs, for example, more frequently among speakers in El Paso. 

During my trip, I particularly examined how border communities reclaim urban spaces to tell their stories and resist the violence of a monolingual ideology. While in El Paso the murals in Spanish are scattered throughout the city and seem to seek to transform and reclaim urban spaces, in San Diego, they are located under a freeway interchange in Barrio Logan and play the role of monuments; they seek to resist oblivion and erasure.

We’d also love to hear about your experiences as a THI Public Fellow with Pollen Initiative! What kind of projects did you work on, and what skills were you able to hone for future career opportunities?

Working with the Pollen Initiative has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, both professionally and personally. During the fellowship, I helped develop several stories that were published in Wall City, a documentary arts magazine aimed at sparking conversations across prison walls, and CCWF Paper Trail, a pioneering publication that gives incarcerated women an official voice for the first time. Typically, I focused on commenting solely on academic or creative writing, but, with the exceptional mentorship of Editorial Director Kate McQueen, with whom I met weekly, I learned how to provide constructive and effective feedback on journalistic pieces. 

I also had the opportunity to lead two workshops at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF): one on setting and the other on narrative structure. I was impressed and moved by the creativity, sensitivity, and dedication of all the students. 

Before this fellowship, I was determined to pursue an academic career, but now I am open to exploring opportunities in non-profit organizations. This experience has shown me that my teaching, editing, and writing skills can be utilized in contexts beyond academia.

To wrap up, could you talk about one place everyone should visit in Santa Cruz before they leave?

I recently went elephant seal viewing at Año Nuevo State Park, which is not in Santa Cruz but just a half-hour drive away. I  can’t believe I didn’t know about this place during the three years I’ve lived here. I recommend visiting during the breeding season, which typically runs from December through March, to see the pups.

Banner Image: Pachón’s picture of a mural while visiting Chicano Park in San Diego