Writing as a Return by Priscilla Velázquez Rivera

Moving often brings with it goodbyes and new beginnings. For Priscilla Velázquez Rivera, moving to another country meant much more: it was a life change, a break from the familiar, and, above all, the opportunity to embrace —once and for all—the writer she'd always carried within her.

She studied economics and developed a solid career in the corporate world until circumstances led her to emigrate to Bogotá, Colombia. What was initially a process of loss and adaptation soon became an opportunity to look at the blank page without fear.

What began as a breakup turned out to be a gift . In that newfound silence and space, Priscilla found the opportunity to give shape to a story she'd been mulling over for some time. It was time to start over and embrace her true passions.

From that impulse came her first novel , which she submitted to a competition to pave her own way. Five years later, back in Santo Domingo, she continued exploring new stories and consolidating her narrative voice.

Her novels include La valiente piconera (The Brave Piconera, 2019), for which she won the Honorable New Woman Award at the 17th Princesa Galiana Women's Fiction Competition in Spain and was a finalist for the Camilo José Cela Fiction Prize; La cuna del escorpión (The Cradle of the Scorpion, 2022), which won the 2021 Manuel de Jesús Galván Novel Prize from the Ministry of Culture of the Dominican Republic; and Luz rabiosa (Rabid Light, 2024), which received an Honorable Mention at the 3rd Elena Poniatowska Amor Ibero-American Short Story and Novel Competition in Mexico. Two of these works have been adapted for the stage.

Velázquez Rivera recognizes himself as an aesthete , someone who finds in the visual, in art, and in literature a way to look at the world with intensity and meaning. His approach combines intuition and structure; he is attracted to order, but allows his imagination to disrupt it.

In each of her books, she embarks on a new exploration. She is convinced that literature should move , liberate, and challenge, and that even in pain or ugliness, beauty can be revealed .

Since then, Priscilla has continued writing, certain that she's found her path . In each story, she finds an opportunity for self-recognition, a transition between memory and imagination, where she affirms not only her voice, but also her home.

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