Bacá
When I was a child and played in mud, my father was still alive. “Come, m’ijo” he’d say, chewing tobacco, fingernails dirty from working the land. “The night is for monsters,” his eyes glassy from the sun, “and so is the day.”
Alex V. Cruz is a Paterson-born, Dominican-raised speculative fiction writer. His short fiction is heavily inspired by his time in the Dominican Republic and his teenage years in Paterson, New Jersey. He loves animals and is the proud pawrent of two dogs and two cats. Alex graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University with a degree in Creative Writing and Hispanic Studies, and he is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish from NYU. He is a Clarion West 2022 alum and a Tin House’s 2021 Young Adult Workshops member. His short fiction can be found in SmokeLong, LatineLit, Somos en Escrito, and forthcoming in Azahares. Discover the writings of Alex V. Cruz on Instagram and Twitter @Avcruzwriter.
When I was a child and played in mud, my father was still alive. “Come, m’ijo” he’d say, chewing tobacco, fingernails dirty from working the land. “The night is for monsters,” his eyes glassy from the sun, “and so is the day.”