Contributor Spotlight: Ricardo José González-Rothi
Ricardo José González-Rothi’s essay “Peeling Back the Burlap” is part of Issue 76 of Bellingham Review. Subscribe or purchase a single issue through our Submittable page here.
What would you like to share with our readers about the work you contributed to the Bellingham Review?
“Peeling Back the Burlap” is one of many vignettes which are recollections of my childhood growing up in Cuba. Years ago it occurred to me that my children could never imagine what my childhood was like, so I began to jot down “one-phrase” recollections of meaningful childhood memories. I had hoped I could share these with my family. In the process, I began to realize that nestled in these events were epiphanies that went on to shape my ethics and morality in adulthood. They say all you ever really need to know, you learn in kindergarten. Perhaps it took me a bit longer, but the template for my personal, spiritual and professional life was forged based on these experiences. I am in the process of completing a memoir.
Tell us about your writing life.
I have been jotting poems, song lyrics, stories and vignettes on napkins, pieces of cardboard, looseleaf sheets and gift-wrap probably as far back as college, but I never could make the time to get serious about writing. Being a science major in college and then going to medical school and eventually academic medicine, with 60-70-hour-weeks of teaching, doing research and practicing bedside medicine was not exactly compatible with setting aside quality time to write, other than scientific reports in the line of my work.
Ten years ago I took an adult education class on creative writing, and that is when I started sketching out my one-phrase childhood recollections. Over the past five years I have taken time to focus and have realized that much of what I stuffed (and kept) in boxes, envelopes and suitcases was raw material. Most of the writing was not very good, but many topics and themes brought me to a right place. It took over forty submissions to get my first piece published! If one has to learn to fall before one learns to fly, I’ve had good practice at falling! Three years ago I came across a frayed paperback copy of William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. I figured it was a quarter well spent. Then, in reading it, I had two epiphanies: 1) In his introduction, Zinsser says “Writing is talking to someone else on paper.” I can do that. Further down, he says, “…the essence of writing is rewriting.” It seems that is a lot of what I do now. Write, write, rewrite.
Which non-writing aspect(s) of your life most influences your writing?
Being a physician has afforded me the blessing (and sometimes the curse) of seeing the best (and the worst) in people. Digging in my garden, mending fences, training my daughter’s little filly, being surrounded by a loving family and one or two great friends is not a shabby way of getting inspired. Having said that, reading great authors is also intensely inspiring. Hemingway, Sam Clemens, Junot Diaz, Leonardo Padura, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, Viet Thanh Nguyen…wow.
What writing advice has stayed with you?
Simplicity is simple to conceive, hardest to achieve.
What is your favorite book (or essay, poem, short story)? Favorite writer(s)?
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” a short story by Ernest Hemingway.
What are you reading right now?
One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty
What project(s) are you working on now, or next?
Completing a memoir, a compilation of vignettes about my growing up in Cuba.
Anything else our readers might want to know about you?
At this time in my life, I’m saving up for the things money can’t buy.
Where can our readers connect with you online?
www.gonzalezrothi.wordpress.com
RICARDO JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ-ROTHI is an academic physician and scientific writer, Ricardo is a relative newcomer to creative writing. He has had his fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry featured in Acentos Review, Biostories, Foliate Oak, Lunch Ticket, and others. Born and raised in Cuba, he came to the United States as a refugee in his teens and now resides in North Florida.
Featured Image: “Cock fight” by Hola Troncones