My TEDx Talk is Live! 🎤✨

a short & sweet little announcement - welcome back to the Slush Pile!

This month’s bonus Issue 38 of The Slush Pile will be a little shorter than normal as it’s more of an announcement than anything else. If self-promo is not your thing, feel free to keep scrolling or click out!

For those of you who are still here, I’m excited to share that I’m officially a TEDx speaker! If you’ve been subscribed for a while, you may have seen me mention the fact that I was giving a TEDx talk in September. So for anyone who wasn’t able to be at the event in person, I’m excited to share that the video of my talk is finally live on YouTube! You can watch it here or click the link below!

One day when I’ve processed everything, I hope to talk more about the experience of writing, rehearsing, and actually delivering it, which was stressful and exhilarating and everything in between. But for now, I hope you enjoy the video and the message I’ve long believed and am now putting out into the world.

Feel free to like, comment, and share with your classrooms, group chats, and everyone you know - much love! <3

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notes from the writer’s desk ✍️

• my favorite recently pub’d pieces:

  • In Freelance Journalism, We Make Our Own Spaces, LatinaMedia.Co

  • 12 Books About Queer Latinx History You Should Read, HipLatina

• updates:

  • For my LA friends, be sure to join me TOMORROW at the Freelance Journalism 101 Retreat at Junior High LA in Glendale! get ready for five workshops, a panel of experienced journalists and freelancers, an ask-me-anything session with the co-founder and lead editor of LatinaMedia.Co, and more. food by @perhaps.japanese and coffee by @‌cafedepluto will be available for purchase throughout the day. Get tickets here!

  • I’m so excited to announce that my debut children’s book has officially moved into production!! The book will spotlight past and present queer heroes from Latin America and the U.S. and is forthcoming from Jessica Kingsley Publishers in September 2025. More info and details to come soon! In the meantime, please read this thread I wrote about the project.

• resources:

  • Looking for book recommendations? Check out my Bookstagram and TikTok to keep up with what I’m reading and loving right now! On TikTok, you’ll also get more snippets of my everyday writing life and lifestyle/fashion content. See you there!

other stories i’m loving 📖

• currently reading:

  • Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis and Traci Sorell

• currently watching:

  • Bob’s Burgers S15

• currently listening to:

  • “Naked” by Doja Cat

all my love,

sofía xx