Boston Book Festival selection first appeared in The Briar Cliff Review
BOSTON, Mass. — Jennifer De Leon’s short story “Home Movie,” first published in The Briar Cliff Review, was chosen as this year’s One City, One Story selection by the Boston Book Festival.
The festival, which runs Oct. 23-24, will release 30,000 print copies of the story in English and Spanish at Boston Public Library branches and select bookstores, organizations and businesses in Boston.
“Home Movie” originally appeared in the 2012 edition of The Briar Cliff Review — an internationally renowned literary and art magazine established by the Department of Modern Languages at Briar Cliff University.
De Leon’s short story touches upon themes of immigration, home and memory, as told through the eyes of two immigrants — a husband and a wife. One wants to stay in America, the other feels drawn to return to their native country.
“Little has been told from the perspective of the immigrant who wants to go home,” said De Leon, herself the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. “I’m so excited for people to get a glimpse into the characters; their lives, their struggle — these are real people for me.”
De Leon, a Boston public school teacher, was recently named Children’s Writer-in Residence for 2015-16 by the Associates of the Boston Public Library. She is the editor of the International Latino Book Award-winning “Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education” (Univeristy of Nebraska Press), and her stories and essays have appeared in several publications. De Leon earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
The goal of the One City, One Story competition is to make a short story available to all, free of charge, to spread the joy of reading in Boston and to create a community around a shared reading experience.