Author Q&A with Rose Marie Torres
April 30, 2025
A native of South Texas, Rose Marie Torres is an MFA candidate at LSU with a focus on screenwriting and creative nonfiction. Since 2023, Rose has been the Creative Writing Program Assistant for the LSU English Department. She has been supported by the 2025 Tin House Winter Workshop and can be found in Latinitas Magazine, Hothouse, and her flash essay, “I like when my ass hangs out of my shorts,” is featured in our spring issue.
Tell us about yourself.
I was proudly raised in Alice, Texas, a small town in southern Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, I decided to get my MFA from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where I currently reside. Most days, I’m catching up with friends, on the phone with my family, or spending time with my roommates. I treasure connection (and karaoke bars and green tea and blue jeans).
What unique or surprising detail can you tell us about the origin, revision process, and/or final version of your piece appearing in this issue?
This piece found its way into my brain during a creative nonfiction workshop taught by Joshua Wheeler. During class, he would have us write for five minutes straight, without stopping. It was a way to produce without judgement, but also to see what ideas, experiences, moments in time were coming up for us. So, in five minutes, I wrote a rough version of what is now, “I like when my ass hangs out of my shorts.” It’s been revised since then, but the main idea remains.
What fuels your desire to write (or engage in other creative outlets)? Or what have been the biggest influences in your writing?
I write to express my gratitude. I write to create mementos. I write to weave community. I write to understand. I write to discover and uncover. I write to make moves and be moved. I write to champion the people that came before and that people that will come after. But most times, I write for my own sanity.
What do you think when you hear, “the good life”?
When I hear “the good life,” I think about a world where people have the ability to be and express themselves. I imagine a society that provides basic rights and basic human needs. I see a time where people are not persecuted for traversing land their ancestors sowed. And I hold hope.
Thank you, Rose Marie, for being a part of our growing community and for spending extra time with us on this Q&A. Best wishes with your writing and all current and future endeavors.
