Long-time language teacher Leticia Del Toro has had a whirlwind of a year: from being pictured on the September issue of local Greet Lafayette Magazine to being acknowledged by the annual Jack Hazard Writing Fellowship. Del Toro, who first began as an English teacher 22 years ago here at Campo before transitioning to the World Language department, began writing seriously in her college years. Only recently, the spotlight for her writing-side has shone much more brightly across the Lamorinda community. While creative writing has always come as second nature to her, her recent recognition as one of the 2023 teacher/writers by the Jack Hazard Writing Fellowship solidifies her prowess in the genre.

The award, which highlighted 14 writers across the country, aims at incentivizing talented writers who teach in secondary schools. Each of the 2023 winners were acknowledged for fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, and chiefly: serving as inspirations to their students. As for Del Toro, who just recently published her debut volume of poetry called All We Are Told Not to Touch, the award was a tribute to her other life aside from teaching classes. “I’m part of [the teacher] community, but I’m also part of this other community with people who create, so receiving the recognition was a big deal to me.”

Del Toro recently wrapped up All We Are Told Not to Touch, publishing it in January. The book deals with numerous journeys and struggles from Del Toro’s life through the background of creative poetry and storytelling. She explores the roots of her family’s Chicana heritage, deals with issues like immigration in her poem “Alive at Lampedusa”, and recounts the tragic loss of her brother.

“I feared mostly what my family would think, not so much the general public. I write about a lot of personal things, including the loss of my brother, and it’s still a sensitive subject for a lot of my siblings”, said Del Toro.

Alongside dealing with her own struggles, her writing serves a deeper purpose as a metaphor for the human struggle with facing danger. She stated that “understanding grief and talking about issues that are sometimes taboo in our culture, like the death of a loved one” illustrates the importance of surviving through difficult situations.

As for the award, in which the festivities are still ongoing, Del Toro hopes to serve as a beacon of optimism to other aspiring writers. Whether a teacher or student, “every opportunity to publish is a golden opportunity, no matter whether it’s a small or large audience,” said Del Toro.

Sophomore Nico Morando, a student in Del Toro’s Spanish class, said, “It’s incredibly inspiring to have a teacher to look up to when it comes to being a published author”.

Meanwhile senior Laurel Tringe, President of Campo’s Poetry and Creative Writing Club, who coincidentally was featured on the same radio station as Del Toro to promote her own writing, explained, “It’s pretty awesome, I had [Del Toro] my freshman year for French and now get to look up to her for inspiration as a creative writer.”

But aside from everything, Del Toro shared that her ultimate advice to aspiring writers is that “if you start comparing yourself to other people you sometimes get a little bit intimidated. So just try and share your work and also find a community of other people that are interested in writing that you can share with.” As she explained, “community is important, publishing is important, and above all, making space for art in your life.”