Walter Estever Gonzalez writes under the name W. E. Ticas.
Born in San Jorge, El Salvador, beneath the Chaparrastique volcano, he is a Salvadoran-American writer, poet, and essayist based in Long Island, New York. His work draws upon personal experience, historical memory, and cultural heritage to explore memory, war, displacement, identity, faith, survival, and the ways individuals and communities carry the past.
Much of his recent work is rooted in memories of growing up during the Salvadoran Civil War. Rather than approaching war primarily through battles or politics, his writing often examines its presence in ordinary life: childhood, family, migration, landscape, loss, and the small acts of humanity that endure amid violence.
He is a member of the Voices Israel Group of Poets in English. His poetry, essays, and fiction have appeared in The Times of Israel, New English Review, The Jewish Literary Journal, the Voices Israel Anthology 2026, and the Voices in Verse 2026 anthology.
Beyond the written page, Ticas has begun exploring instrumental music as another form of storytelling, creating compositions inspired by narrative, memory, and character. His releases as W. E. Ticas include Ella Volvió por Él and El Vestido Que Nunca Llegó, extending stories into music without lyrics and allowing melody and atmosphere to carry the narrative.
His original music and music videos can be found on his W. E. Ticas YouTube channel.
In addition to his literary and musical work, he is the creator of Espectros de Medianoche, a Spanish-language storytelling project exploring folklore, mystery, history, and the supernatural through digital media. The project includes a YouTube channel dedicated to original narratives, legends, and historical storytelling.
He is also the founder of Leyendas y Espectros, a website focused on legends, folklore, mystery, and supernatural fiction, and maintains Un Blog para el Alma, a Spanish-language blog featuring essays and reflections on culture, memory, and everyday life.
He currently lives in New York, where he continues to develop poetry, essays, fiction, book-length projects, instrumental music, and digital storytelling centered on memory, belonging, and the human consequences of history.
W. E. Ticas 