Last Saturday, the fourth Tertulia Voces Hispanas met at the Oasis Botanical Lounge in the heart of Carrboro, NC. This literary open mic was an initiative I started last year, and today I want to tell you all about it. You might even want to start this trend in your own hometown!

The Extraordinaire

Nowadays, we expect our videos to go viral and our content to reach the four corners of the visible universe. In reality, only a handful of content creators actually achieve this. Here is why: only extraordinary and heroic stories seem to make it. For instance, a disabled girl who can only express herself through art, a young man buying and remodeling a tiny home, or a solo sailor journeying around the world. Needless to say, I’m not trying to dismiss or minimize anyone’s story—starting with my own. But let’s be honest: people out there want the extraordinary. That is the mentality of modern, fast-paced life.

Reality

Honestly, we often feel bored with our day-to-day routines: fighting traffic, paying bills, feeding the family, and dealing with isolation. Consequently, when seeking entertainment, we want a story that will take us away from our reality, at least for a little while.

Then there are people like me, who simply don’t have the time, patience, or drive to put a YouTube channel together. To give YouTubers credit, they record hours of footage and spend up to twenty hours editing just to create a thirty-minute video. Just thinking about that makes me anxious! I don’t have that much time to dedicate to content creation, and neither do most artists out there.

Truth and Awakening

An even harder reality is that, unless an artist has a support group helping them handle social media, content creation takes away from the time needed to actually create art. Think of the mothers trying to fulfill their dreams while working a job and taking care of a family. Think of the young artists working two or three jobs just to pay off school loans and rent. Think of those who are sick or navigating tough life situations, for whom art is a means of emotional survival.

Community vs. Social Media

Last year, after leaving a writing group, I felt a void for community like I had never experienced before. Coming from Cuba, I belonged to a poetry club and attended many art events. That’s why I initially joined an online writing club, but it ended up disappointing me because they wanted to use Artificial Intelligence to critique the stories. Even though we only met online, the support of a true writing community was an emotional haven. After much pondering, I decided to create a group myself—not to critique, but to share stories. A community of storytellers, poets, and artists.

Hispanic Voices

In 2024, I was invited to a Hispanic Heritage book fair. Without a doubt, it was a blast! I felt right back home in Havana. I collected business cards from authors from all over North Carolina. I had no idea there were so many of us here, so close to my Carrboro-Chapel Hill area. First, I created a chat group on WhatsApp and proposed the idea to my fellow writers. Then, I asked the owners of the Oasis Botanical Lounge if they would be open to hosting our venue.

Reality Meets Extraordinaire

Wouldn’t the extraordinary love to meet reality? Especially since everything out of the ordinary starts as something simple: a simple dream. What makes anything amazing is not the object itself but the time, effort, and people supporting it.

Tertulia brings together people who share a passion for literature and books, as well as those who enjoy listening to poetry and music. Stories and poems are shared in Spanish, my mother tongue. Sometimes they are bilingual, and other times a guest reads something purely in English. But after a while, all the words mix to the point where I don’t even know what language is being spoken—it’s all just music to the ears.

My goal is to bring in the visual arts as well, creating a permanent space for our Hispanic Heritage to settle in as another heartbeat in the center of North Carolina. My dream is for people to come and see exactly how ordinary people become extraordinary.

Au Revoir

Thank you for reading and sharing a love for literature. Nowadays, authors are competing with AI to get attention. But I’m not aiming to go viral. I am creating for those who care about books and art made entirely by humans.

I hope you leave a like or a heart on my social media pages—Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. They mean a lot to me! Please note that I will no longer accept comments directly on my blog, as I receive too much spam and it just isn’t right.

Mark your calendars: on August 1st, I will be at the Beaufort, NC Farmers Market selling art and books. Until next time!

Anechy Padron