The Power of Cultural Storytelling: Latest Guest, Consuelo Montoya

Since humans first started creating (approximately 100,000 YA due to the domestication of plants and animals), we have been telling stories. With opposable thumbs and endless free time, we choose to share, and in doing so we leave traces of ourselves, our histories, our homes, and our communities. These stories are distributed and sometimes recorded, and they can ultimately reflect the spirit of an entire culture.

The oldest ever discovered cave painting, the finding published just today, Jan 21, 2026. Image retrieved from theconversation.com.

Cultural storytelling is no new phenomenon, and it's a ritual we've been practicing for eons. Greek and Roman mythological narratives, the local murmurs of the Chupacabra and La Llorona, and even that funny story you hear every Thanksgiving about that one time someone you're related to did something all those years ago. Our culture runs through our veins, so it only makes sense that it spills from our pens, too.

The Rio Grande in South Texas, and the alleged home of La Llorona.

In our latest episode, we spoke to cultural storyteller Consuelo Montoya, who compiled the poetry collection called My Daddy: Poems from the Heart. Despite the fact that Montoya's father had only a third-grade education, he spent the entirety of her childhood and adolescence giving her the gift of his poetry. Montoya was raised through her father's art, but when he passed on, there was no one to share his legacy.

My Daddy: Poems from the Heart, which can be purchased at cedricdfisher.com.

Thus, in the fall of 2024, Consuelo decided her father's work, along with his spirit, needed to be shared. Today, a year and some change later, My Daddy is a testament to the power within cultural storytelling. Through his poetry, Montoya's father--and her relationship with him--is forever preserved. In our conversation with her, she shared that she still finds people inspired by his voice to this day. His poems are recited at weddings, amongst families and loved ones, and the hope and inspiration he instilled within Consuelo has proven indiscriminate.

Tune in to our latest episode where we discuss Consuelo's background, her writing process, the meaning behind the works she selected, and the personal impact her father's art had on her.