Jean-Paul Arnaud Marquez is a Puerto Rican writer, a decorated combat veteran and an award-winning broadcast journalist.

In 2026 he was accepted into Bread Loaf Writers' Conference as a Participant in Fiction and won the Xochitl Gonzalez Scholarship for Diasporican Voices.

Jean-Paul holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Antioch University—Los Angeles, where he is currently studying toward his Post-MFA Teaching Certificate.

He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Arizona, and his fiction work has most recently been published in Black Fox Literary Magazine.

Originally from Loíza, Puerto Rico, Jean-Paul presently resides in Spokane, Washington where he is writing a magical realism fiction novel that illustrates the secretive saga of a Puerto Rican family.

Furthermore, he enjoys the challenge of other art forms, and has been taking pottery classes at ClayFox Clay School for two years.

Magical Puerto Rican Stories

Published in Black Fox Literary Magazine

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Recognized by Bread Loaf Writer's Conference

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2026 Winner of Xochitl Gonzalez Scholarship

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Finalist in 2026 Hemingway Shorts Contest

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Published in Black Fox Literary Magazine — Recognized by Bread Loaf Writer's Conference — 2026 Winner of Xochitl Gonzalez Scholarship — Finalist in 2026 Hemingway Shorts Contest —

Dear Reader,

Over the last two years, I’ve worked on my first novel titled You’re Prettier When You’re Quiet.

A story which chronicles the secretive and scandalous lives of a multi-generational Puerto Rican family and features unique perspectives, décimas (a form of Puerto Rican poetry) and elements of magical realism to richly illustrate the coming-of-age story of an eleven-year-old girl named Carolina, a child of accidental incest.

You’re Prettier When You’re Quiet portrays the generational damage inflicted by those complicit in the keeping of family secrets and the traumatic burdens inherited by those who are none the wiser. Ultimately, the novel also conveys the possibility of healing through the acts of self-acceptance, truth-telling and choosing what is right over what is self-serving.

It is my sincere hope that You're Prettier When You're Quiet will improve the world's understanding of Puerto Rican families as a novel that is so compelling it demands to be read in one sitting.