Laura from the Valley, a debut novel from Mark Lopez ’20, will be published by Running Wild Press on September 12, 2023.
“You’re going to live with your Uncle Hector.” These words change the trajectory of 11-year-old Laura’s world. She passes her days in the hot desert air, seeking money to pay her uncle rent. Her nights are spent wandering dark alleyways and deserted streets while Hector entertains women with drug-filled parties.
A tale of survival, Laura from the Valley is a novel about death, life, and a young girl's search for her womanhood and agency while surrounded by drugs and prostitution, blood, the desert, palm trees, and butterfly knives.
“The world of this gorgeous novel, and Laura herself, will stay with me for a very long time,” said Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas.
Pre-order your copy of the novel here.
Born Mexican-American and raised Catholic in the seaside city of Corpus Christi, Mark Lopez is a poet, writer, and editor. He holds a BA in English and Journalism from The University of Texas-Austin and an MFA in poetry from Columbia University. His journalistic writings have appeared in UT Law Magazine, CHAOS Magazine, The Weekly Alibi, Music OMH, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and The Bend Magazine. His poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in The Maynard, Borderlands, Juked, Feels So Good, Eunoia Review and Bacopa Literary Review. Laura from the Valley is his first novel.
