Letras
Latinas and Red Hen Press: the bigger picture
“People make mistakes. In my experience as a Central
American
immigrant, it
is essential to forgive.”
—William Archila
from “Controversy Dogs Red Hen Press After HuffPo
Article" in Publisher's Weekly
In November of 2009, I was tapped
by the National Endowment for the Arts to serve as a bilingual consultant in the
Los Angeles pavilion at the Guadalajara Book Fair. For the first time in that
book fair’s history—the largest in the western hemisphere—a city would be showcased as its guest of honor. A number of Los Angeles area presses were invited down to Mexico to display their wares, including
a press I knew well and admired: Tía Chucha Press.
Another was Red Hen Press. It was during my week in
Mexico that I met Kate Gale.
As I began to look through Red
Hen Press’ books and catalogues, it became apparent to me that they were not
fulfilling their “diversity” mission where Latino/a writers were concerned. The
irony was that they were falling short while based in the city of Los Angeles—one
of the most Latino cities in the world. And so I kept on my Letras Latinas hat
and began to engage both Kate and Mark Cull about, what else, the dearth of Latino/a
titles in too many literary presses and journals. I tactfully made my case, often over carne asada and beer. That week was crucial because it allowed the three of us to forge a
relationship, one which appeared to be heading towards one of mutual respect. By
week’s end, when it was time to say goodbye, Kate suggested that we explore
avenues of collaboration that would begin to address what she admitted was a gap
on RHP’s list. I told her I’d take some time to think about it, and get back to
her.
In my mind, they had passed the
first test: they did not get defensive. They listened and were responsive. And
yet I’d had similar experiences of engaging with seemingly well-intentioned,
well- spoken non-Latino/a editors and literary curators who paid lip service to inclusivity only to, in the end, not lift a finger. I said to myself, “We’ll see...”
A month later, I met Kate for
dinner in New York and proposed that we join forces and create the Letras
Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize, an initiative that would support the publication
of a second or third book by a Latino/a poet. We reached an informal agreement
that night, but understood that there were still a lot of details to hammer out
in the many months ahead. We took our time. Our first two winning books have
been Dan Vera’s Speaking Wiri Wiri
and William Archila’s The Gravedigger’s
Archaelogy. Forthcoming is a volume by Ruth Irupé Sanabria.
But the story of Kate Gales’s
willingness to advocate on behalf of Latino/a writers doesn’t end there. At the
time that I met her, she was on the board (she may still be, I haven’t checked)
of the Poetry Society of America (PSA), and she shared with me (I had no reason to
doubt her) that at a subsequent PSA board meeting, she laid into her fellow
board members about the PSA’s need to step up, where Latino/a poetry and poets
was concerned. Shortly thereafter, she arranged for me to meet for drinks PSA’s Executive
Director, Alice Quinn, and their programs director at the time, Rob Casper.
Letras Latinas’ first
collaboration with the PSA—thanks, in good part, to Kate Gale lifting
more than a finger—was an event I wasn’t able to attend: a reading at USC as
part of a Flor y Canto, one that featured Emmy Pérez, Maria Melendez, and Diana García. To this day, Rob Casper names that session, which
he introduced, as one of the most meaningful he’d been a part of. That, in
turn, led to Maria curating and moderating a ground-breaking,
online roundtable discussion featuring nearly a dozen Latino/a poets at the PSA
website. And that, in turn, led to the multi-year collaboration with PSA: “Latino/a
Poetry Now,” which involved another 12 Latino/a poets and kicked off at Harvard
University in the Fall of 2011 with Eduardo C. Corral, Rosa Alcalá, and
Arecelis Girmay, and wrapped up at Notre Dame in the Fall of 2013 with John
Murillo, Maria Melendez, Blas Falconer, and Raina J. León. When I think about
this turn of events, this story, I am very aware that meeting Kate Gale in
Mexico, and the steps she took subsequent to our meeting, is a key piece of it.
None of this justifies, to use
her word, her “misguided” piece in the Huffington Post. But that piece is an
incomplete picture. It’s impossible for me to view it in isolation. Kate began
to redeem herself with her second apology. My hope is that she will make
good, moving forward, on a number of the things she said in that second more substantive gesture.
I have been a literary arts administrator
since 2003 and, as I’ve said in print before, my bread and butter have been
collaborations borne of personal relationships. I can count on one hand the
ones that have impacted, positively, my work of trying to create spaces and opportunities
for Latino/a poets and writers. In no particular order, they would include: Don
Share at Poetry Magazine (keep an eye out for March, 2016); Steve Young at the
Poetry Foundation; Rob Casper, first at the PSA and then at the Library of
Congress.; Sarah Browning at Split This Rock; and Kate Gale at Red Hen Press.
Thus, I simply didn't feel called to engage
in what has been taking place on social media these last several days, though I
have been in private conversation with a number of people.
Letras Latinas has no intention
of severing its ties with Red Hen Press. We will not unilaterally relinquish
this hard-won space that is the Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize. The next deadline is January
15, 2016, and we recently confirmed the participation of our next judge:
Rigoberto González.
FA
3 comments:
Francisco--as your long-time friend and periodic collaborator, I'm grateful for this account, and for all the work you've done over the years to connect Latino poets with audiences. When numbering your collaborations borne of personal relationships that have created space for Latino literature, in addition to the fabulous five that you have mentioned, I'm recalling that Sister Marianne Farina, C.S.C. and the Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership at Saint Mary's College were part of creating wonderful spaces, plural, in the funding, premiering, and supporting of the Poetas y Pintores: Artists Conversing with Verse collaborative venture. That you have been part of even more rich collaborations over the fifteen years since we left graduate school than can be brought immediately to mind is a testament to your high level of effective advocacy and the multivalence of your positive impact. Your friend, with best regards, Maria
Thanks, Maria. And the original impetus for P &P came from Dana Gioia, another long-time ally...
Thanks, Maria. And the original impetus for P &P came from Dana Gioia, another long-time ally...
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