Gladys Barrio on Empowered by the Dream: Resilience, Exile, and Writing a Family Memoir Eps 66

What drives a retired chemist with a PhD to write her first book at this stage of life? For Miami author Gladys Barrio, the answer is simple: her grandchildren needed to know where they came from.

In this episode, host Jolene MacFadden sits down with Barrio to discuss her award-winning memoir, *Empowered by the Dream: A Journey of Resilience*, which traces three generations of her Cuban-Spanish family through the Spanish Civil War, communist exile, and resettlement across Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the United States.

Barrio shares what it was like navigating nine schools across four countries as a child, how she developed her writing craft through OLLI courses and critique groups, and why she insists the Spanish translation of her book must be more than a translation. She also talks about her writing ritual, her advice for new memoir writers, and the Hurricane Helene story she is writing now.

Find Gladys at ⁠https://amzn.to/4cPZW1K⁠If you have ever wanted to tell your family's story but didn't know where to start, this episode will give you both the permission and the practical path forward.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and Sponsor

00:36 Meet Gladys Barrio

01:11 Family Saga Across Exiles

03:48 Childhood Displacement

06:20 From Schools to Chemistry PhD

07:32 Learning Memoir Craft

09:14 Next Book: Hurricane Story

10:12 Life Moves and Hurricane Andrew

11:51 Writer vs Author Mindset

12:54 Reading Tastes and Publishing

14:29 Spanish Translation Choices

17:51 Advice and Beating Writer's Block

20:44 Writing Routine and Rituals

22:12 Closing and Show Notes

Southern Dragon Publishing Links

Website: https://SouthernDragonPublishing.com

LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southern-dragon-publishing/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SouthernDragonPublishing

Bookstodon Account: https://bookstodon.com/@sodragonpublishing

TikTok Page: https://www.tiktok.com/@sodragonpublishing

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sodragonpublishing.bsky.social

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SoDragonPublishing/

Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/sodragonpublishing/

Threads Page: https://www.threads.net/@sodragonpublishing

Substack Publication: https://jolenetheauthor.substack.com/

Medium: https://medium.com/@SoDragonPub.jolene.macfadden