Storyteller
Giving a voice to the chaos within
"As I held the pen in contemplation my finger's back broke — it carried the weight of all my unspoken thoughts on its shoulders."
Julián Esteban Torres López is a storyteller who expresses his curiosities, explorations, and appreciations by way of poetry, journalism, memoir, essays, short fiction, and multimedia. For many years he was also a spoken word artist. He’s a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions nominee; a finalist for the Trilogy Award in Short Fiction; a winner of Fractured Lit‘s 250-Word Story Contest; a finalist for Marxist Literary Group's Michael Sprinker Essay Prize; a recipient of the McNair Fellowship; a winner of the Rudy Dusek Essay Prize in Philosophy of Art; a former columnist for Colombia Reports; and the author of three books.
"The skeleton of my memory has two broken ribs and a fractured spine, but if listened to closely, the barking of my heart can still be heard."
Julián is also working on a collection of short stories, a memoir, a collection of interviews, editing an anthology on womanhood and trauma, the audiobook companion to his poetry collection Ninety-Two Surgically Enhanced Mannequins, an experiential album of audio stories, and is helping bring to the world the first Spanish-to-English edition of the 1916 book Pensamientos de un Viejo (Reflections of an Old Man) by Colombian writer and existentialist philosopher Fernando González — “el filósofo de Otraparte” (The Philosopher from Somewhere-Else).
In 2022, he plans on releasing six experimental storytelling albums that archive and reimagine two decades of his creative storytelling work. Julián is presently looking for a publisher for his memoir Don’t Give Papaya.
pronounced
hoo-lyáhn
Julián Esteban Torres López (he/him/él) is a bilingual, Colombia-born storyteller, public scholar, and culture architect with Afro-Euro-Indigenous roots. Some of his other intersectional identities also inform his work, such as: atheist, multiply neurodivergent, formerly an undocumented immigrant, (non-visibly) disabled, chronic mental health conditions, Latine/o/x.
SERVICES
With over two decades’ experience in community development and advancing social justice on the ground and in academic, corporate, and nonprofit settings, Julián is available for consulting, public talks, keynotes, workshops, training, coaching, mentorship, and interviews.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Julián is also available to partner with others to advocate for and center, elevate, and amplify the voices, experiences, and concerns of survivors of oppressive systems and dominant cultures.
