A writer's notebook
Armando T. Dahan

Local pieces, profiles, scenes, and the occasional thing I couldn't stop thinking about.

About me

My name means
"building towers."

Armando Torres, translated from Spanish, means "building towers." For the longest time I thought that meant I'd be an architect. Then I discovered I had no interest in math or engineering — but a deep, stubborn pull toward drawing, writing, theater. The creative arts, all of them.

So I followed that instead. And I figured out that you can build towers without blueprints — you can build a creative legacy, a life you're proud of, a body of work that means something.

I've done my best so far. Made some mistakes, too. But I'm choosing to keep going — not for the legacy I leave behind, but for the fullness of the life I'm living right now.

Armando T. Dahan
The writing

I've had a knack for writing since my early years — but it was a creative writing course I took during the pandemic that opened me up to how many different forms a story could take. Essays, scenes, monologues, profiles. Suddenly I had a whole new set of tools.

Writing is how I make sense of my current state, the place I'm in, and the people I meet.

This site is where I put some of those stories.

The life

I was born in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico, and raised in Los Angeles — Huntington Park, more specifically. The experience of growing up between two countries, two languages, two versions of what home means, has shaped everything about how I see the world and how I write about it.

Torreón → Huntington Park, LA
Origin
Born in Mexico, raised in Los Angeles. Thankful for an idyllic childhood at the turn of the century.
San Jose
Chapter two
Offered distance from Los Angeles and, more importantly, the perspective that helped me grow and mature into the adult I am now.
Hawaii
Current
A promise fulfilled and a call to adventure. Read more →
The work

Professionally, I started as a grant writer for a nonprofit in East Los Angeles — which taught me that every word has to earn its place, especially when the stakes are real. From there: a musician who needed a website, a handful of small businesses I helped get off the ground, and eventually Target, where I wrote copy for campaigns that reached millions of people.

"To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher."
— James Joyce, Ulysses
Want to work together — or just say hello?
Read my writing → Get in touch →