FAILURE FUELED SUCCESS — Author Matt de la Peña reads excerpts from his acclaimed novel “Mexican Whiteboy” to students attending SWC’s Guest Writer Series.
Photo by David McVicker/Staff
National City native Matt de la Peña has had his novels made into major motion pictures and won prestigious national writing awards.
Not bad for a guy who flunked second grade because he could not read.
Peña spoke at the Southwestern College Guest Writers Series and explained how a reluctant reader became a respected writer.
“It’s not that I didn’t like books,” he said, “it’s more that I wasn’t exposed to books when I was young. I never saw my dad with a book, never saw my mom with books.”
Peña said he broke through his self-definition of being the “dumb kid” when he attended college.
“What contributed to me not being a reader was what happened to me in second grade,” he said. “At the end of the year, the teachers called my parents into the classroom and said we can’t let Matt go into third grade because he can’t read. So my parents came out and said ‘hey you’re going to have to repeat second grade.’ I thought, honestly, if I can’t get into third grade I must be kind of a dumb kid.”
Poetry was the entry point into writing career he said. In high school he wrote poems about girls he liked. They were not very good, he admitted, especially one where he compared a girl’s face to a cumulous cloud.
Students who attended said they enjoyed the talk.
“Matt de la Peña’s presentation was exceptional,” said Taylor Soto, 19, a paralegal major. “He was a very humerous guy, which made his presentation more entertaining for his audience. My favorite story he told us, was the one where he ‘stalked’ his junior high or high school crush and wrote her a love poem.”
When a professor gave him the book “The Color Purple,” Peña said he began exploring ethnic writers, including Mexican-American authors. From there Peña began writing short stories about a boy named Danny who grew up in National City. These stories helped shape his books.
“I liked talking about him because he was the only one in his family that wasn’t full Mexican and he felt that that was his fault,” said Peña. “He felt guilty for not being Mexican enough. I wrote maybe seven of those stories and maybe one or two of them were decent, but they became the basis for this book.”
In 2011 Peña’s book “Ball Don’t Lie” was made into a motion picture which featured Ludacris, Nick Cannon and Emelie de Ravin. Peña also co-wrote the screenplay.
Peña spoke about his writing experience and how his life shaped his writing. He finished off his presentation by reading from his book “Mexican WhiteBoy.”
“He was a Mexican among the white boys and a white boy among the Mexicans,” he read.
Peña has given his presentation at schools all across the country, he said, because he wants to serve as an inspiration to students.
“I really enjoyed the presentation because he was entertaining,” said Mariel Quinto, 19, major undeclared. “The stories he told from his experiences were extremely interesting and his way of telling his stories way enjoyable. In the presentation he explained how being held back helped him realize that he needed to excel. He also explained how reading impacted his life in a positive way.”
