{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/q814m92t5j/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Christine Kandic Torres Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChristine Kandic Torres is a writer whose debut novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Girls in Queens\u003c/em\u003e, tells the story of two Latinx women coming of age in Queens, New York. Kandic Torres, who grew up in Woodside from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, shares memories of spending a lot of time indoors as a child with her grandmother, getting exposed to a variety of literature through the Queens Public Library, and spending time at parks and the Queens Center Mall as a teenager. Kandic Torres reflects on attending public schools in Elmhurst, particularly how normal it was to interact with students from diverse backgrounds, and her experiences taking creative writing courses as a student at Brooklyn College.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKandic Torres explains that she did not commit to writing as a career until several years after college. She began writing short stories circa 2015; from 2017 through 2020 she wrote \u003cem\u003eThe Girls in Queens\u003c/em\u003e, which got published in 2022. Kandic Torres discusses how the novel reflects the people of Queens, especially Latinas and children of working class immigrants, that are underrepresented in literary works; she also explains the significance of the 2006 New York Mets in the novel. Kandic Torres describes her involvement in the Newtown Literary Alliance's free writing workshops for children in Queens through circa 2020, her experience living near Elmhurst Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her decision to move to Connecticut. Kandic Torres shares her hopes that Queens remains a progressive and welcoming place and that women in Queens have opportunities to voice their own stories.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40536"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2023-02-27 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Christine Kandic Torres (Interviewee)","Fran Kipnis (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1986-2023 (temporal)","Woodside, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights, Queens, NY; Connecticut (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChristine Kandic Torres is a writer whose debut novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Girls in Queens\u003c/em\u003e, tells the story of two Latinx women coming of age in Queens, New York. Kandic Torres, who grew up in Woodside from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, shares memories of spending a lot of time indoors as a child with her grandmother, getting exposed to a variety of literature through the Queens Public Library, and spending time at parks and the Queens Center Mall as a teenager. Kandic Torres reflects on attending public schools in Elmhurst, particularly how normal it was to interact with students from diverse backgrounds, and her experiences taking creative writing courses as a student at Brooklyn College.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eKandic Torres explains that she did not commit to writing as a career until several years after college. She began writing short stories circa 2015; from 2017 through 2020 she wrote \u003cem\u003eThe Girls in Queens\u003c/em\u003e, which got published in 2022. Kandic Torres discusses how the novel reflects the people of Queens, especially Latinas and children of working class immigrants, that are underrepresented in literary works; she also explains the significance of the 2006 New York Mets in the novel. Kandic Torres describes her involvement in the Newtown Literary Alliance's free writing workshops for children in Queens through circa 2020, her experience living near Elmhurst Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her decision to move to Connecticut. Kandic Torres shares her hopes that Queens remains a progressive and welcoming place and that women in Queens have opportunities to voice their own stories.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/197/807/small/Christine_Kandic_Torres_Author_Photo.jpg?1689359251","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Christine_Kandic_Torres_2-27-2023.mp4"]},"duration":2761.728,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/197/807/small/Christine_Kandic_Torres_Author_Photo.jpg?1689359251","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/197/807/original/Christine_Kandic_Torres_2-27-2023.mp4?1689357905","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":2761.728,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay. Hi, Christine. And welcome. And before I start the interview, I just want to make sure that you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the Queens Memory informed consent and copyright permission form that I shared with you over email.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2.0,21.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=21.0,21.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay, great. So this is Fran Kipnis, and I'm with Christine Kandic Torres. We are recording on February 27th, 2023, for the Queens Memory Project. And Christine, could you please say and spell your full name?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=21.0,39.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Sure. Christine Kandic Torres. Christine, CHRISTINE, Kandic, KANDIC, Torres, TORRES.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=39.0,50.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay, thank you. And so during the interview we'll be talking about your writing career and your life now. But before we do that, I'd like to talk a little bit about your background. So can you tell me where and when you were born?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=50.0,67.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Well, I was born in Elmhurst, New York, at St. John's Hospital, which doesn't exist anymore [laughs] in December, 1986.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=67.0,78.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: OK.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=78.0,79.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And, tell me about growing up in Queens, what neighborhoods did you live in and what were the neighborhoods like growing up?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=79.0,87.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I grew up in Woodside. I lived in the same house for 21 years, [laughs] in Woodside. And I was very much an indoor kid, an indoor cat [laughs]. I grew up with my mother and grandmother. My grandmother, I mean, my mother worked full-time and was a single mom. And so I, you know, was really raised by my grandmother in a way because of that. And so she was much - my mother was the youngest of four. And so my grandmother was quite old, [laughs] quite older and lived to 103. Yes. But, so she had a good long life. And she was tough. But we had a special bond, I think because I was like her fifth child in a way that she got to raise. And probably she had an opportunity to do things a little differently too, [laughs] than with her, the first round of children.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=87.0,146.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So we had a special bond, but she never liked to go out places. She didn't even like to sit outside the house. So there was like a little area, it was a two-family house, and there was a little area that you could sit outside, but she always thought it was like, she felt like she was, waiting for a bus [laughs], like, why would I just sit outside? So because of that, I spent a lot of time indoors. And I think that that, probably lent to me becoming a storyteller - to like create worlds and entertain myself a lot. I remember sitting at the window and playing with, I had like a box of barettes, like hair accessories, and I'd make up, you know, stories. They, they would like do plays [laughs] and talk to each other at the window.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=146.0,193.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And I had neighbors who I became close with over time who would, tell me later on that they felt so bad for me, like, oh, look at this kid, that they won't let her out and play with the other kids. But I guess I didn't know any different. And so I enjoyed the worlds that I was creating [laughs] by myself. And I'm sure that that, you know, played a role in me becoming a writer. And as I got older, of course, I gained more independence as city kids do. And so I would go out to and spend time at libraries, at Queens Public Library branches, not studying, being like a punk [laughs] like going, going there to hang out and like steal people's umbrellas. But, but I'll say, Queens Public Library, absolutely like helped broaden my world and introduced me to literature that I wasn't being introduced to at school.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=193.0,249.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Like Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston, I feel like I was introduced to at the library. But also the library was like the internet hub for me because we didn't have, I mean, this was the nineties, so I didn't have the internet at home yet. And so I would go on to yahoo.com, [laughs] and search for Buffy the Vampire Slayer websites. And so it really helped. And I also read a lot of R.L. Stein books, so it helped me connect with pop culture and also reading as a leisure activity as well as like introducing me to great literature too. So it was really, it felt like a well-rounded education from the Queens Public Library. In between all of those, you know, time being a dumb kid, [laughs]. And then so we would spend a lot of time at parks, but also, I mean, at libraries, but also at parks is what I was going to say.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=249.0,306.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I feel like there were, I feel like, at least at the time that I was growing up, there were like, different - parks, were like different satellites that you sort of pinged between. So like Hoffman Park, near Queens Center Mall, Broadway Park, which I write about in my novel, The Girls in Queens, which is not actually called Broadway Park [laughs]. In reality, it's called Moore Homestead Park, I think, but colloquially is always known as Broadway Park. And then the park also on Broadway in front of Elmhurst Hospital, [laughs] which I don't remember what we called that, or like 78th Street Park or something. Anyway, there was like a lot of colloquial names for all of these parks that we would spend time in. And as I regret to say as a girl, a lot of times it was just spent watching boys play handball and [laughs] watching boys play basketball.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=306.0,359.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: But, and then of course, like doing more unsavory things like smoking cigarettes [laughs]. But yes, I, one other thing I wanted to say about like, where we would spend time, like the group of friends that I had - we didn't - which I think might be unique to Queens, although maybe it's a New York City thing - there were kids that I was friends with from elementary school in our neighborhood area. I went to PS 12, but then - I was a public school kid throughout my whole life. PS 12, IS 5, and then Newtown High School eventually. And so high school in New York City, I believe still you have to apply, you apply to different high schools and you can go anywhere across the City, which is different from other places in the country. And so we would become dispersed around the time that we were 14, but we would always somehow end up reconvening, reconverging at Queens Center Mall because there were subway lines and bus lines that would all - usually we would have to funnel through there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=359.0,426.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I had friends that I had, or not even friends, like acquaintances, you know, that would go to Francis Lewis or Brooklyn Tech. And yet still in the afternoons after school, you never knew who you would run into. And that was a meeting place. Like we would go to the food court, whatever, and you never knew who you were going to run to. And it was a special kind of community feel for teenagers at that time. And I, that was - that was special [laughs]. I know it's a little cliche to say that teenagers hung out at the mall, but it was a different, it had a New York City flavor to it, you know, that these were kids commuting in from all over the City to meet up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=426.0,470.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: That's cool. And so tell me a little bit about going school. What was your elementary school and high school like?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=470.0,478.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I loved elementary school, and I have very fond memories of it. I've told, you know, people that did not grow up in the City, how wonderful and special it is that you don't - that at the, you know - while you're growing up, you don't realize that you're friends with people from all different cultures. You don't realize it's unique that you're eating Kimbap with your Korean friends and learning. I knew Korean phrases that I would say with friends, that you're exposed to so many different cultures and languages - you know, I've been talking a lot about how walking through Queens, you hear so many different languages and that - there's no choice but for that to affect you or, you know, help you become, I don't know, sensitive to the musicality of the neighborhoods. And you know, let's, let's leave that [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=478.0,541.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: But so I had a wonderful time at PS 12. There were teachers, I mean, there's always good and bad teachers, but I have like a, warm, place in my heart for some of the teachers that I had there. And then high school was complicated because teenagers are complicated. I actually originally went to Forest Hills High School, and then went through some mental health issues and had to, or I left Forest Hills, and I went to Newtown, which was my zoned high school in the neighborhood. And you know, high school, I felt, and I think that that's probably informed by the fact that you apply to high school in New York, and you were already probably more mature [laughs] as a City kid, but it very much felt like, all right, I'm putting in this time so that I can graduate and like, get out, get my life going, you know, I was like a jaded student.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=541.0,602.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I was not some, I was not in poetry club. I was not flexing my muscles like that. And in fact, I did end up taking some college courses and I was in AP classes, and I felt even in high school that I had to prove to teachers that I could write [laughs]. Like, I've had interesting experiences with teachers, in high - in middle school one accused me of plagiarism outright in front of the whole class because she said, I, you know, nobody can write this well at 12. So I think that that has, that's probably, a reoccurring theme in my career, education career that I felt like I had to prove that I really was capable of doing, you know, good work [laughs]. But honestly as unhealthy or unfortunate, that might be, it's good training for becoming a writer and having to send out your work all the time, [laughs] and being rejected constantly. So it helped like reinforce belief in myself, you know, that nobody else is going to advocate for you like you will. And I knew that from early on. It would've been wonderful to have more support [laughs] in an educational setting. But I mean, that was a, that was a lesson I learned too. That was certainly valuable for me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=602.0,699.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Right, right. So, one more question before we go more into your writing. How has Woodside changed from the time you were young until you left? What do you see - what changes in the neighborhood did you see?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=699.0,716.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: [laughs] So first, I lived on like the Woodside Elmhurst border, so it was pretty diverse where I was, and I acknowledge that there's like a very strong Irish expat community within Woodside, but I wasn't really there [laughs. So the diversity remains, I think that they're, instead of like - where the countries people are coming from, might have changed, but it's always been a huge mix of people. Why did I laugh? Oh, the contractor work [laughs] is different. The way that people have redone their homes, [laughs] adding in certain, like, you know, the shinier gates. And like I don't love [laughs], I don't love the visual changes, the aesthetics that have changed to the housing stock. But that is something that I have certainly noticed that has changed. And certainly, you know, plots of homes have been razed to the ground to create bigger apartment buildings, like either high rise, I'm aware of some high rises that have gone up on Queens Boulevard that happened after I've left. But, even like erecting a six family home, you know? So of course that's a common story, right? That like, you feel like some of the character and soul of a place is gone. But I appreciate that Woodside does seem to remain, the constant remains that there is a diversity of, of the people that live there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=716.0,834.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay. And then you went to Brooklyn College, is that correct?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=834.0,838.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I did go to Brooklyn College, yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=838.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And why did you decide to go there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=840.0,842.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: [laughs] Because I wanted to get out of Queens [laughs]. I mean, okay. The true answer is, like I said, I was pretty jaded and I didn't want, I was not interested in going away to a dorm. I had toured one college in the tri-state area, and it seemed very depressing to me, and I had already dealt with depression, and I was like, no, we, we're not tempting fate here by doing this. So I - and also, CUNY did not require an essay. I know that this doesn't sound correct for a writer not wanting to write an essay [laughs], but - so I, I was just, I viewed it very transactional, like, all right, I'll go to Brooklyn College and have, you know, some time, spend some time in Brooklyn [laughs]. And, you know, I'm grateful for my time at Brooklyn College. I took some creative writing courses there that I think really helped me to be able to see a possible future as a writer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=842.0,903.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Like, you know, I had professors or adjunct professors who were, who had published books, and that was, I'd never, I'd probably never met anyone who had written or who had published a book before. So that opened up possible futures for me. But it was a three hour round trip commute [laughs]. Yeah so that's that was tough sometimes, but it also allowed me time to like dream, to do work, to do homework, probably [laughs], but also to have the time to dream and to write. I wrote a lot on, you know, small little notebooks that I carried around with me. So yeah, I appreciated that time that I was able to, to spend in Brooklyn, too.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=903.0,947.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: So tell me a little bit about when you, or if you - was there a certain point where you decided that you were going to be a writer? That that was, that would be your career? How did that come about?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=947.0,958.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So as I mentioned, I did take some creative writing courses at Brooklyn College, but I majored in psychology and ended up working outside of writing. You know, I did not focus on that at all. I, you know, I was, I'm Puerto Rican and Croatian, so both my parents raised me to think of writing as like, cute, but like, that's not some, that's not a viable career path. And so I worked in an advertising, I worked in marketing, I worked in non, I ended up working in nonprofit, work for, and doing research, for quite a while. So for about 10 years maybe, where I always had writing in the back of my mind and allowed it to come to the forefront around 2015. I was, I picked up a pen to start writing some short stories again, and I had one published in Newtown Literary, the journal in Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=958.0,1022.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And that started a relationship with them, which I can go into a little bit later. But, I, they invited me to do a - to read at a reading event that they had. And they - it went - I was - it was received very well. And people said, oh, you read, you read well. Like, not - writers don't always - writers are not always the best readers [laughs]. And that was the first time that I'd ever thought that what I could do, that I could speak in front of people [laughs], I guess. Like, oh, there's other things that could be done in the writing world that is not only writing, you know, there's [unclear], there's teaching, there's coordinating classes, there's all this, or events. So that was the first like \"HA\" moment. Like, oh, hey, I could do other things in this world.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1022.0,1079.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: But it was also a boon to my confidence that, oh, I'm, I should, like, continue writing. Definitely, I'm going to continue writing. Around that time, I had the beginning, the very first ideas for the what would become The Girls in Queens, a full novel length project, which I'd never really had before. I'd never thought, oh, I, I'll write a novel someday, because that seemed intimidating. But I really liked short stories. I'm very good at like, zeroing in on minute details of a scene. And like, you know, small, you know, specific epiphanies. I do enjoy writing that. So around 2015 into 2016, I began refining this idea for The Girls in Queens, you know, wanting to dive into why does it that girls turn away from each other, turn away from sisterhood and towards supporting the patriarchy, towards defending men accused of bad behavior. And then Donald Trump was elected [laughs]. And at the same, or yeah, at the same time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1079.0,1148.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: This is wild to realize this has all happened at the same time, but I had, I was lucky enough to be able to take a sabbatical from my job doing research at this religious nonprofit. They offered sabbaticals to clergy that worked there, but also to lay people if you worked there for a certain amount of time. So I took a sabbatical and I went on a writing retreat in Tuscany, actually. And that was another place where I was able to see working artists, working writers, and felt very motivated that, oh, like, that I could do this too, right? I could, I saw how they were putting it into action. And then when I got back from the sabbatical, lots of things were changing in my job and the organization. And I was shuffled around to different departments, and I realized, oh, I'm going to, this is the time. It was 2017, you know, politically everything was a mess, right? So, it felt like I needed to give myself this chance to really write, to really see if I can get this book made. And I did, I mean, another small asterisk we should mention here is that I also had a child then [laughs], like I had my first child. And so it really, like, everything felt like it's now or never, I have to give this a real shot. And I did [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1148.0,1235.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And so what was the timeline for the book? How long did it take you to write it? And, when was the book first published?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1235.0,1241.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Okay, so I had the first idea in 2015, but I didn't start writing it in earnest until 2017. And then I, there were several versions of it, until, - so from 2017 to 2020, I worked on revising it and then signed with my agent, and then sold it the following year. So from first idea to published was, seven years, actually.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1241.0,1276.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: So tell me, and you sort of referenced this, but why was it important to focus on Queens in your first novel? What, what was the inspiration for that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1276.0,1289.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So, I personally have a deep love of Queens and I've described this sense of feeling like Queens writers or Queens people have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder [laughs] that we don't get as much love or as much attention as other areas of New York City - in media, certainly, and in literature. The New York Times last year came out with like 100 best novels about New York City, and one was set in Queens. So, I absolutely knew that, you know, my stories that I wrote were going to be set in Queens by and large. And for this novel, which heavily involves the Mets, who are also historically an underdog team, and a novel that also deals with loyal - themes of loyalty - and questioning loyalties. I knew it would be set in Queens, and I wanted to, you know, write, my New York, working class kids of immigrants, kids of color whose parents, whose families, come here and make the City run essentially.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1289.0,1362.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And also, while it's undeniably and identifiably Queens, I think that anybody who lives in these kinds of immigrant rich communities will identify with that sense of feeling caught between different cultures, either being, feeling caught between, overwhelmed by, or excluded from, the cultures and the countries of your families of origin. You end up feeling such a kinship and deep love and pride for the neighborhood that raises you really, who, which involves people from all different backgrounds. So for us in Queens, Queens became like our homeland, our, you know, our patria that when we didn't necessarily feel the right to claim Puerto Rico or wherever our families were from.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1362.0,1415.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Interesting. So tell me about the Mets and your interest in the Mets and your love of the Mets and how that played out.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1415.0,1423.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I have to say, I didn't necessarily grow up in a big baseball family, but my grandmother, who played a huge role in raising me, she enjoyed, she was like tickled by the Mets. She enjoyed watching them. And so I, as an adult, I got into going to games, and I did, in the, in my book, the 2006 Mets are - play a large role. They, sorry, I'm telling this out of order [laughs], but the 2006, team was heavily Latinx and was run by a Dominican American who grew up in Queens as well. And they were as an organization marketing to the Latinx or the neighborhoods that surrounded Shea Stadium, the old Shea Stadium for what at least felt like the first time. I write in the book that there were advertisements on the 7 train and on the, in the stations, that were in Spanish.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1423.0,1484.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And it felt to me at the time, sort of revolutionary and exciting that they were including us, right? They were including the neighborhoods where they were making their money [laughs]. And so, when I had that idea, in 2015, I was actually at a Mets World Series game [laughs], I was lucky enough to win tickets to attend a World Series game. And as you might know, I'm sure, as other people involved with Queens Memory know, the Mets don't always make it to the World Series, right? That's very unusual. So it was a big deal. And when I was there, I was thinking about the last time that the Mets had made inroads in the playoffs, which was 2006, which they, you know, heartbreakingly lost - or they did not make it to the World Series then. And so I knew then, feeling nostalgic for that time, that I really wanted to write a short story, I thought, set during that time to honor, to pay homage to what an amazing thing it was for, you know, for me as someone that was a working class Puerto Rican kid, to see so many prominent Puerto Ricans playing on the team, but also other Latinx players.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1484.0,1567.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So that was how I first knew that the Mets - I, so from the very first idea, I knew the Mets were going to be involved in the story, and then after that I was, you know, influenced by current events in the news, and interested in a high profile trial in California at Stanford, at Stanford, with Brock Turner attacking Chanel Miller. And so I was following that trial, and that influenced me in terms of how women, not just people in the accusers or no, in the accused, in the accused's life, but particularly women, how they come forward to defend, you know, a man, accused of such a thing. And I realized I could marry those two ideas together, for the book. But you're really asking me about me [laughs]. So, I mean, the Mets were an indelible part of the inspiration for the book for me. And I was literally attending a World Series game [laughs] for the Mets at the time, yeah. That I was inspired. And like I mentioned before, they're always, they're oftentimes [laughs], the underdog. And, I think that that's very quintessentially Queens as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1567.0,1648.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: So what was it like when the book was so successful, and how, what types of events did you have in Queens to promote the book, and how was it received?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1648.0,1660.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I - the launch event was at LIC Bar. I figured that was the - I didn't want a scene - so there's a lot of pub scenes, like Woodside pub scenes in the book, and I felt like I could only ask people to come as far east as Long Island City [laughs] to the launch event. But LIC Bar has a wonderful, like, courtyard and carriage house. So I thought it was like the best for COVID purposes too. I mean, it was a lovely, lovely event, and I thought it was appropriate to hold it in a bar regardless of the, of the neighborhood. But certainly I wanted it to be in Queens. And Astoria Bookshop helped with that launch event. And it was wonderful to see that they - that the book was, like the number one bestseller for two months last year over the summer.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1660.0,1712.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: That was amazing. And then I also did an event with Kew and Willow in Kew Gardens. I think as part as of Latinx History Month. And I did that with Alejandro Villela, who also grew up in Queens a little bit, so you might want to reach out to him [laughs]. And that they have been so, so supportive, Kew and Willow. And it's been wonderful to hear from people who have read it. I mean, that's really, that's really the only thing I can let in. Like, I can't buy into any of the institutions, criticisms or praise because it's just not healthy for me. But when people, when readers reach out to me and tell me that they felt seen by it, that it helped them reevaluate events in their own lives. You know, I did an event at LaGuardia Community College too, actually, and where the students had read the book in advance, and then I came and did a reading and answered questions. And one of the students there, I believe said she grew up, she's from Woodside too, and she was emotional saying that this was the first time she'd ever really seen herself in literature, in a book. And that's really, that's really it, right? That's why I'm, that's why I'm writing, period, to connect with people. To go back to Newtown for a second -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1712.0,1808.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yes, that was going to be my next question about that. And your other current involvement in Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1808.0,1813.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Actually. Oh, actually, okay. I will go into that, but I meant Newtown High School, actually. In high school, my -- I remember writing, and I only remember this when, like a week before the book was coming out. I was sending my book out to former teachers I had. And I remember that in 10th grade, I wrote, I had to write a paper - the assignment was to imagine like, what you're doing in five years or something like that. And so I wrote that I want to be writing books for other 15 year old Latinas so that they didn't feel so alone, or 15 year old Latinas in Queens, I'm pretty sure I wrote [laughs]. So that was wild for me to realize that like, I had been through a lot, as I've mentioned here, I've been, I'd been through personal and mental health challenges in my high school time, and yet I still was able to, to come full circle and, and actually be doing what I, you know, what my deepest desire was back then.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1813.0,1878.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And to hear from college students that - in Queens - that that was resonating with them on that level was truly amazing. So yes. You wanted to talk about Newtown Literary [laughs]. So I, around the same time that I was taking the writing of the novel seriously, I started working with them as a free, as a coordinator of their free writing classes program, specifically for students ages eight to 18. So we would bring in, well, we also had a program for adults, and we would bring in Queens writers, Queens novelists or poets, of some who have published, and have them, lead a workshop, a free workshop, writing workshop. And that was a really wonderful and amazing experience for me to be present in the room with all of these young children, especially in branches that I had gone to as a kid.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1878.0,1945.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I did live in Jackson Heights as an adult for like seven years. And, but I also went to Jackson Heights library when I was a kid. I would go to Jackson Heights, I would go to Elmhurst, yes, Elmhurst, not Woodside so much, but I have a lot of, I have familiarity with a lot because with Newtown, I would go to like Briarwood and Ridgewood, I - we'd bring classes to all of those locations. But when we were in Jackson Heights one specific time I recall this very young seeming, or at least short, like a small child [laughs], who had to have been like eight or nine, come up to me and like, at the end of the class and like, tug at my hem of my shirt and was like, when I grow up, I want to be an author.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1945.0,1998.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And handed me the little stories she had written and just walked out. And I was like, oh my God, my heart. Like this is, it's, so, it was, it was truly beautiful work for me to be able to be any small part of the, of the work that Newtown Literary was doing, bringing these, accessible free writing classes to kids. You know, there was never a cap really on like, the attendance that we allowed. Like, anybody who's in the library could come in and join. I love that. I love that about Newtown Literary, and I love that about Queens Public Library, because I was a mom bringing kids, my kids, to classes and story times too. And now I don't live in New York City anymore [laughs]. So I can see what it's like at other public library systems, and wow. I didn't know how truly inclusive, you know, the Queens Public Library system was, you know, truly anyone was welcome. Please come in and do participate. And it's not like that everywhere else [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=1998.0,2061.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yeah that's right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2061.0,2063.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So yes, so I was able to do that with them, but of course, COVID changed the game with that. And so we did a few online courses for, or online workshops for adults, but again, I also was a mother and a lot of teachers were involved with the program. And we all agreed that it would be torture to try and offer these classes for kids.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2063.0,2085.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yeah. Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2085.0,2086.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And so that has, you know, quietly gone by the wayside and it's a shame. But, I am very grateful for the time that I was able to, to bring the - to help bring those classes to kids.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2086.0,2100.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And are there other activities or collaborations with Queens writers or artists that you participate in or educational activities?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2100.0,2108.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So, I was involved with the Queens Council for the Arts, Artist Circle, I think is what they called it [laughs]. So every year they would, bring, five or six artists together and we could talk about challenges that are presented in our careers and ask questions of each other to help, you know, come towards a solution. But it really, the best part of it is just the fellowship every month. And so that, I believe we were chosen for in 2020 right at the beginning of the year. And we were maintained and because of the pandemic we switched to meeting online and we just kept it going. We've kept it going this whole time. I'll be talking to them tonight, I think [laughs]. So I, I remain connected with the group thanks to the Queens Council for the Arts, which I'm, which I'm grateful for. And, anytime, you know, any, any, anytime I can come back down to Queens and participate in an event, I'm going to be doing an event with Bushra who recently came out with Roses in the Mouth of a Lion. And that'll be at, at a bar in Jackson Heights, which is very exciting [laughs]. You know, anytime I can come back down and do an event, I'm happy to do that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2108.0,2191.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Great. And how did the COVID, how did the whole COVID pandemic affect your work? Or what was that like writing during that time for you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2191.0,2203.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: The main thing that I, that I always fall back on is anger [laughs]. It was a tough time. So Elmhurst Hospital was three blocks away from where I lived in Jackson Heights. And I'm sure other people have written and spoken about it more eloquently, but just the terror of not knowing and the terror and the fear of not knowing how to protect your family. Like just by being out on the street, we didn't know the information, right? About how to protect ourselves at the very beginning was terrifying. And to see then on the news, Donald Trump, Queens native, talk about Elmhurst Hospital as the epicenter of the pandemic at the beginning, and how he was very familiar with that hospital and he talked about the windows. He's like, oh, I could tell you all about the windows.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2203.0,2271.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I was infuriated. As somebody who, I mean not, I not only lived three blocks from it at the, during that time, I would - that was where my grandmother went to receive her primary care, let alone like all the times like we just went to the ER [laughs] to get seen by a doctor. Look, I was very intimately familiar with the hospital having, I would have to take time. I would miss school to take my grandmother to the doctor at Elmhurst Hospital. And so I have very - it's very deeply part of my history. And so to have it be written off, after the event of throwing Bounties at Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria, it was infuriating. I just remember the anger. And so how that, so I took that anger, that anger helped, like refuel me when I returned to revising my book that I need to, you know, put my voice on the record [laughs] about, like, about what Queens is about, the beauty of Queens, about the persistence and, survival of the kids that grow up here. Like, like, fuck you, Donald Trump [laughs], like, you're not Queens. This is Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2271.0,2353.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Oh, very interesting. Yes, that makes sense. And, so you don't live in Queens anymore, so talk a little bit about leaving Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2353.0,2363.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I am the only child of my mother, and I knew that, you know, eventually she, we would - I'd be looking out for her and she'd have to move in with us. And so that wasn't possible for us to do, to live altogether in Queens at an affordable price point. So we moved to the suburbs, we're now in Connecticut. And it was absolutely a change and a transition for me. You know, and during the trips up and down, I remember looking around, like driving on Northern Boulevard and thinking like - there was a lot of ambivalence. You know, I wanted a new adventure. I've never lived in the suburbs before. This is a complete change. I've always been in the City and yet when we would drive on Northern Boulevard past, like lots of auto shops and stuff, which I'm very also intimately familiar with, like I grew up near Queens Boulevard in Woodside, so that in the area with Entenmann's Bakery outlet.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2363.0,2439.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: And just car shops [laughs]. As I would drive by them, I'd be like, no, I think I've done my time [laughs]. I think I've done my time here, and it's time now for a different adventure. And so that's the space that I'm at where, you know. I'm experiencing this, this is the time that I find myself in. And it's nice that my son can like - have a yard to play in, you know. So I'm grateful for the experiences that we're having now. But Queens is never far from my thoughts or my heart [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2439.0,2476.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: And what's your next writing project? What are you working on now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2476.0,2480.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So I'm writing a novel that is set in a New England beach town, actually. And it revolves around a murder and two mothers whose lives get caught up in the investigation. And that's all I can say about it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2480.0,2498.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Ok [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2498.0,2499.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: But it, I'll say that it does - I'm interested in exploring. The way that I ended up on this story is that I was interested in learning about the places or the migration patterns of Puerto Ricans that chose to go to Bridgeport and Hartford in Connecticut because there are sizable communities, Latinx communities there. What made them choose to go there versus New York or Chicago, for example, which, so, or more visible community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2499.0,2532.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: So tell me a little bit about what are your hopes for Queens - specifically women in Queens, and where would you like Queens to be in five years from now? What do you see as the future? What, what would you like to see?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2532.0,2550.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I mean, that's such a big question. I want to say that I think that a lot of wonderful work is being done by organizations in Queens, like Make the Road New York. I know that what was, was doing good work during the pandemic and before the pandemic. And in Jackson Heights there's also Southeast Asian community organizations that are helping like Nepali, the Nepali community. So I hope that, you know, organizations continue to build upon their strengths and remember - keep in mind that I hope we all keep in mind that solidarity is our biggest asset. Like, we need to be there for each other and be there to - I don't know what the right verb is here - but to protest the protestors of things like drag queen story hours. Like Queens has always been - I know that we're pivoting - but like Queens has and Jackson Heights has had such a strong queer community for so long.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2550.0,2624.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: So it's wild to me to hear stories about people protesting their drag queen story hours there that I used to take my son to with no problem with nobody saying a word. So, you know, I hope that we remain strong in our defense of our values of inclusion, and keep Queens, a progressive, to keep Queens a progressive and welcoming space. And I say that knowing that I wrote in my novel about places where Queens is not [laughs] welcoming and inclusive space, but I just want to say that like Jackson Heights was a wonderfully inclusive community that I am personally familiar with. And so I hope that those, I hope that those values are, you know, enshrined going forward and embraced. And that includes, you know, women [laughs]. I hope that women in Queens continue, are able to write their own stories, are able to voice their own stories. You know, yes, my novel is called The Girls in Queens, but it's really about girls period, and the young girls we carry in our adult selves, which I lobbied would be our Queens selves. So I hope that we're able to, speak our own stories into the record more and more and protect that, protect our ability to do so.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2624.0,2731.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Well, that's my last question. Is there anything else that you want to talk about or that you want to say for your oral history?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2731.0,2745.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: I don't think so.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2745.0,2747.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2747.0,2748.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: [laughs] I think we covered everything that I'd like to say.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2748.0,2752.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Fran Kipnis: Yeah. Well this was, this was fabulous and thank you very much. So I'm gonna turn off the recording and then we'll reconnect. So -","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2752.0,2759.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807/transcript/49526/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Christine Kandic Torres: Okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/99750/file/197807#t=2759.0,2761.728"}]}]}]}