SELFIE INTERVIEW | Jennifer Moglia Lucil

Jennifer Moglia Lucil is a writer, outdoor teacher, and intrepid parent of twin teenage boys. Her southwest home has taught her about reciprocity with the natural world, while her New York and Massachusetts families have taught her to recover her roots in order to take imaginative flights.

Jennifer’s work has won local recognition, from the Albuquerque Museum of Art, Anne Hillerman Celebration of Writing Award, 2019, for “Night of Thieves,” and from Alibi.com’s Pretty in Pink Writing Contest for “Chance Conversations: Teachers Seize the Ride-Sharing Moment.”

Jennifer studied Literature at Smith College and holds a Master’s degree in Literature and Film Studies from Brown University. She lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Eckleburg: What captures your interest most in your work, now, as a reader of your work?

Jennifer Moglia Lucil: In these upended times, I love encounters with the absurd. I’ve actually stopped myself in somber moments and asked, “O.k., that’s how you feel, but what was absurd about the moment?” Capturing the insanity of the time gets me moving forward, hopefully brings laughter. I am not as daring as the magical realists, but I discovered that being playful with words can bring something unexpected to the narrative.

Eckleburg: What are you working on now?

Jennifer Moglia Lucil: I am working on a personal essay about driving to Colorado in an RV with my husband and twin boys during the pandemic crisis. The subject is truly ripe for considering the sad humor of luxury vs. entrapment, escape and imprisonment in a motor home set out to see the country.

Eckleburg: Who and what are your artistic influences?

Jennifer Moglia Lucil: I remember watching, The Grapes of Wrath, with my grandfather, who loved the film as much for Henry Fonda’s I’ll Be There speech as for his own belief that “a man’s gotta’ work” to have a sense of dignity. The artists who take the time to tell the lives of the under-represented have always moved me. Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times speaks to the Dollar Tree store employee of today for me, just as it did the factory worker of the time.

Eckleburg thanks Jennifer Moglia Lucil. Do you have new work published here at Eckleburg or elsewhere? Add your Selfie Interview and share the news with our 10,000+ reading and writing community. If you have a new book out or upcoming, join our Eckleburg Book Club and let our readers know about it.

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Jennifer Moglia Lucil
Jennifer Moglia Lucil grew up in New York, where her parents brought her to Broadway plays at every opportunity. Sometime later, though, she had a dream about picking up roots and traveling West. She now resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her twin sons. Jennifer teaches an outdoor kindergarten and is a fierce advocate for children being in nature.

Jennifer's work has won local recognition, from the Albuquerque Museum of Art, Anne Hillerman Celebration of Writing Award, 2019, for "Night of Thieves," and from Alibi.com's Pretty in Pink Writing Contest for "Chance Conversations: Teachers Seize the Ride-Sharing Moment."

Jennifer studied Literature at Smith College and holds a Master's degree in Literature and Film Studies from Brown University. She lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico.