Letras Latinas Oral History Project (Revisited)

If there's an area I've come to appreciate, in particular, since joining the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS), it's preservation. I feel good about our Oral History Project. And yet, it's been on hold in the last year with a backlog of interviews that have yet to post on the ILS website. I need to look into what's going on.

There are, nevertheless, a number of interviews that are available for viewing. They've been mentioned before, but I'm taking a moment to mention them again, and link to the page that has them. The subjects currently available for viewing are:

Brenda Cárdnas

Sandy Florian

Sheryl Luna

Urayoán Noel

Michelle Otero

Paul Martínez Pompa

Barbara Jane Reyes

Lidia Torres

Robert Vasquez

The interviews last anywhere from 45 minutes to 60 minutes.

Have a look see, at your leisure---HERE.

Dispatch Desde Lake Forest, Ilinois

It didn't fully register when Rich Villar wrote his comment a few days ago:

"Serendipity is a wonderful thing."

But tonight I sat in my room (I'm at Ragdale for a fortnight), put on some headphones so as not to disturb the other residents, and listened to the whole thing:

ACENTOS'

inaugural podcast
!

But I want to ask Rich Villar a favor: please post the full names and brief bios of all the people who took part in that fluid discussion. I was sad I didn't hear the whole thing, but what I heard was great. I won't attempt to highlight it. Except to say yes: it is uncanny that while being completely unaware that this podcast project was in the works, Latino Poetry Review made its first tentative steps over at Blogtalkradio. Listening to ACENTOS' debut in this arena will serve as inspiration and incentive to slate another LPR audio segment: we create these creatures, we have to feed them. And thank you, Rich, for mentioning PALABRA PURA's effort in Chicago. We're already thinking about 2009.

Although I can only speak for myself, this podcast tonight, coupled with thoughts about the soon-to-be Acentos Literary Review; and reflecting upon the lively launch LPR has had, provoking a healthy dose of "inquiry and dialogue" thanks, in large part, to Huerta/Santos Perez/Selinger; and thinking about Gabe Gomez's and John Michael Martínez's soon-to-be Breach Press, which will showcase experimental verse; and thinking about poet/doctoral candidate John Chavez at the University of Nebraska, whose area of inquiry is Latino experimental verse; and thinking about the fact that The Wind Shifts tour is gearing up for its next installment at The Loft in Minneapolis on May 31st, where Urayoán Noel (a podcast participant tonight), will be reading, along with Emmy Pérez, Adela Najarro, and Carl Marcum; and thinking about how Letras Latinas will be underwriting Ura's appearance in DC in mid-June at a Spanish language series called "Para Eso La Palabra"---all of this, and other things I'm surely forgetting (what am I missing?) has me posing the question:

Is Latino poetry living a particular moment right now?

DYI: Blogtalkradio / Letters to the Editor @ LPR

The Washington Post published a piece that caught my eye a few weeks ago about something called "Blogtalkradio." It seemed there was a technology on the web that would allow anyone with a phone, a computer, and an internet connection to have a "radio show." What I found appealing about the concept was that after the so-called "show" was "broadcast" (on the internet), it would remain in an archive as a podcast that anyone could subsequently listen to.

A few days after that, Craig Perez made mention of being interviewed and sharing some of his poems on what appeared to be a setup of this nature. (I say this because he mentioned "a mic and a laptop." But come to think of it: Blogtalkradio doesn't require host and guest to be in the same room; in essence, it's a recorded phone conversation that can include as many as six speakers. So perhaps it wasn't the same setup.)

Last week, I got an e-mail announcing, specifically, a forthcoming blogtalkradio show featuring Yusef Komunyakka and Sasha Feinstein (it took place on April 16). It included a link to blogtalkradio's website. I couldn't resist. I clicked. I looked around, browsed, heard a few snippets of this and that. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was creating an account and a profile and committing to a half hour slot for Sunday, April 20 at 11 PM eastern time! I had no idea if I'd be able to navigate the instructions. The site advised against using a cell phone and said that land-lines provided better sound quality, etc. etc. What was I getting myself into?

I had created what I'm calling the "audio segment" or "companion" to Latino Poetry Review (LPR). I threw up a description. Afterwards, I couldn't decide if I'd just do the first show on my own as a test run, maybe reading a few poems (by others: something I always like to do) with commentary, or if I might persuade someone to "be my guest." All the deliberate, long term planning that went into launching Latino Poetry Review (LPR)---well over a year's worth---was thrown out the window where this new LPR-related venture was concerned! I heard the Nike commercial throbbing in my ear: Just Do It.

And so I did. It easily ranks as the most impulsive, least thought out initiative, where Letras Latinas is concerned. But in the days leading up to the "show" I have to admit that the prospect of having an audio forum that would allow for further discussion and sharing of poems and ideas related to LPR's mission seemed both appealing and fun. I'm very grateful to the guest who accepted my invitation to, in essence, be a guinea pig.

After listening to the result last night at around 11:40 PM, which my guest generously claimed in a later e-mail was "pretty good for a first go around!", I think I can safely say the shows can only get better. I feel like a student in Radio 101 who has just turned in his first assignment and is thankful he's taking the course pass/fail.

My inaugural guest has graciously agreed to offer further feedback over e-mail about how the experience felt and how it could be improved. Readers of this blog who take the time to listen through the show are welcome, of course, to offer feedback and ideas for future shows---keeping in mind LPR's mission.

Latino Poetry Review's inaugural audio segment featured LPR contributing editor, María Meléndez, who read some work from her collection, How Long She'll Last In This World, as well as work from her second, full-length manucript. She also shared some thoughts on what I guess I'm coming to view as the continuing "Selinger-Huerta asunto"

And speaking of which: the ILS webmaster informs me, as I type this, in an e-mail: "OK it's up." He is referring to a "letter to the editor" Eric Selinger has written in response to Javier Huerta's thought-provoking "letter" in response to Selinger's piece in LPR, which originally appeared in Parnassus. To read them both, click here.

And finally, on this Monday morning, a hearty congratulations to Daniel A. Olivas who announces today the publication of Latinos in Lotusland (Bilingual Press, 2008)

Guest Blogger: LEE HERRICK

PHOTO GALLERY:

April 10, 2008
Arte Américas Gallery
Fresno, California

half the audience

Connie Hales

Sasha Pimentel Chacón

Oscar Bermeo

Javier Huerta, Manuel Paul Lopez

Philip Levine

Javier Huerta, Craig Santos Perez, Daniel Chacón, Oscar Bermeo, Lee Herrick

(photo credit: Barbara Jane Reyes)

THE POST:

On the Publication Release Party for In the Grove: “Pákatelas” –
An Homage to Andrés Montoya, Guest Edited by Daniel Chacón

On April 10, 2008 in Fresno, California, the poetry and larger than life spirit of the late Andrés Montoya was alive—pulsing through the room at a reading I will never forget. I am honored to guest-blog for Letras Latinas in an attempt to capture some of it here.

Four PUENTE students from Fresno City College read a poem by Andrés to open the evening. There were fantastic readings by Teresa Tarazi, Mike Maniquiz, David Good, and Manuel Paul Lopez, who spoke of the transcendent effect Andrés’ poetry had on him and his students. I read a poem as well. Marisol Baca spoke of seeing Andrés read when she was just sixteen years old and how he bellowed out the word, “God!!!!!!” at the reading and she knew she was in the presence of something memorable. Among the approximately one hundred and fifty people in the bustling crowd, I couldn’t help but hope that many of the younger ones might remember this reading.

Optimism One, In the Grove’s first poetry editor from the late 1990’s, read a memory of the first time he read Andrés’ poem, “the ice worker sings.” It was one of the motivating factors that led Optimism from his job as a factory worker to becoming a professor of English. He told the audience that he still has a copy of that poem on his refrigerator at his home. Connie Hales read “Hectograph,” from the issue, and spoke about how she is still struggling to write a poem about Andrés. Connie’s presence at the event was vital, as was her influence on Andrés. She said that if you were ever to see Andrés on the Fresno State campus, you would almost always see Danny (Chacón) and vice-versa, before they took their friendship to the University of Oregon.

A common theme in the stories everyone shared about him was that he was large, both physically and in vision—and his convictions for poetry and God were even larger. The husband and wife team of Sasha Pimentel Chacón and Daniel Chacón, who co-hosted the reading, often said “Praise God!” after one of the poets finished reading, knowing that is what Andrés would say if he were here in the flesh. Dan and Sasha kept the reading moving along nicely with humor and good will in their introductions. They fueled the communal spirit of the reading by having the crowd chant “Oakland and The Bronx” when introducing Bermeo, for example, and having the crowd yell, “Love!” when introducing Hales. As Dan predicted it would be, it was a party with poetry mixed in.

One of the many highlights for me was the Bay Area presence: Javier Huerta, author of the brilliant Some Clarifications y Otros Poemas, read “Hideous Sonnet #2” from the issue; Craig Santos Perez, the creative genius behind Achiote Press and author of several chapbooks (I bought two and got them signed!); and Oscar Bermeo, whom I had met and admired but never heard read. I was glad that he brought Sheryl Luna’s presence into the room by reading “An Atheist Learns to Pray,” from Luna’s first book Pity the Drowned Horses, which was the first winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize, given by the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. I was very moved by Bermeo’s reading. The last lines of his own poem, a contemplation on “the city,” was delivered with the timing of a veteran musician, and it was a perfect illustration of how Andrés’ city poems resonate with his own experiences in Oakland and The Bronx.

American Book Award winner Tim Z. Hernandez asked the crowd for silence and invited us to close our eyes while he played the shruti box, its quiet wandering buzz weaving throughout the room. He then launched into a powerhouse reading of a variation on his stunning poem “Confessions of a Brown Lotus.”

Malaquias Montoya, the celebrated painter and Andrés’ father, recalled Andrés as a strong-willed seven year old and talked about his contribution to the raffle, a print of one of his paintings. To have him there, along with his wife Lezlie, was the highest honor.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Philip Levine showed up—he left another important reading across town to be there to honor Andrés—and when he came in, the palpable electricity shifted to an even higher level. He read his poem from the issue, “Blood,” which is about brothers, and shared a story about Andrés as a student and how they both learned from each other.

But the highlight for me was when Andrés younger brother, whom I had never met, walked up to the podium. I knew the name Maceo Montoya (http://www.maceomontoya.com), having heard Dan talk about him from time to time. But I understand now. Yale and Columbia graduate, accomplished artist, novel forthcoming. And as he told the story of Andrés telling him that he was a “self-righteous little shit,” Maceo was so impassioned and clear in his desire to speak to Andrés again, that I am certain many people cried. He didn’t read—he talked to us about love, convictions, and desire. He stunned us, quite frankly. When he was done, he took his chair. At that moment, Philip Levine walked over to where Maceo sat and put his hands on Maceo’s shoulders. They embraced, and Levine said something into his ear. Maceo’s head bowed, and he wept. It was this kind of night.

There was a third and very important element of the reading—the amazing raffle items from around the country and the related presence in the room. Barbara Jane Reyes was there, and it was wonderful to catch up with her. She graciously donated two copies of poeta en san francisco and two copies of OCHO #16, which she guest edited. Connie Hales donated several copies of the Poetry in Motion bus posters of Andrés poem “letter to sarah.” Other raffle items that had the room buzzing were artwork by Malaquias Montoya, Maceo Montoya, issues of Tea Party magazine (I saw one man trying to purchase them all, circumventing the raffle as I wanted to do with Huerta’s uncorrected galley proofs of his book), chapbooks by Bermeo and Santos Perez, and artwork by the poet, painter, and beautiful soul Augustine Porras.

A few were there in spirit and gave generously to the raffle—Juan Felipe Herrera, who donated two autographed limited edition chapbooks; Francisco Aragón, who donated an autographed limited edition copy of TERTULIA; and Rigoberto González, who e-mailed Dan and me the night before the reading, devastated that his flight had been cancelled and would not be able to attend. However, he had wisely mailed me a copy of his broadside poem, “The Soldier of Mictlán,” a week prior to the event. I had it framed nicely, and when it was being raffled I was sitting next to Barbara—both of us hoping to get it, but alas, it went to another lucky woman. 

Raffle host James Espinoza was hilarious and kept it all moving well. If it has not been said already, I would like to thank Sasha Pimentel Chacón for often seeing what we could not and for her creative good will throughout the last few months. She is one of the most vibrant new voices in poetry—on the verge of making real waves. I am grateful to everyone who helped make the event go so well, and a special thanks to Arte Américas for the gorgeous space and Abby Bautista for his hard work at the event. And, to put it succinctly, this never would have happened without the love, hard work, and creative vision of Daniel Chacón.

Lastly, what I also loved about the event is how many young writers were there---those in high school or college and those with first book manuscripts on the verge of publication. This is when I met Andrés, right before his book was published. You may know that the ice worker sings and other poems was published posthumously. But clearly, the ice worker lives on. I am undoubtedly biased, but this was the best reading I have ever been to. It reminds me of what poetry can do. It reminds me how powerful Andrés was. The poetry I heard inspires me.

So, the night plays back in my mind like a film. Tim Z. Hernandez’s daughter smiles and plays with the poets. Old friends embrace and laugh. A poet enjoys meeting another poet or writer. Another poet’s one month old daughter is in her stroller, the sounds moving through and out beyond the room and into the world.

The Montoya family near the front.

Daniel Chacón joking with the audience.

Young aspiring writers here and there.

Andrés Montoya, everywhere.

*

For more pictures and recollections, please visit

here
http://sashapimentelchacon.blogspot.com/2008/04/homage-to-andrs-montoya.html

here
http://geminipoet.blogspot.com/2008/04/he-sees-angels-in-architecture.html

here
http://geminipoet.blogspot.com/2008/04/napowrimo-8.html

here
http://blindelephant.blogspot.com/

here
http://manuelpaullopez.blogspot.com

and here
http://bjanepr.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/manuscript-progress-report/

To order a copy of the issue, please visit In the Grove http://inthegrove.net

To order the ice worker sings and other poems, please visit here
http://www.asu.edu/brp/backlist/poetry/AMon.html

*

On behalf of Letras Latinas I would like to express my gratitude to Lee Herrick for this special contribution---both the photos and the post. He inaugurates what I hope will be more to come: guest bloggers in this space. If you are involved with an event or project that contributes to Letras Latinas' mission, please let me know...and consider writing something to share with readers, here.

---FA, Chicago

Letras Latinas to JD: Enhorabuena!

Today in The Washington Post:

The real importance of his prize, he said, lies in its potential effect on others: "For any young person who's attempting to make art against all the odds, I hope this can be inspiration and motivation."

*

On October 6, 2007, in the midst of a fairly lengthy, multi-faceted post, Rich Villar, over at Compa'i, Compa'i, wrote:

GO READ JUNOT DIAZ' THE BRIEF WONDEROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO
NOW! DO IT!

*

Confession: I don't read many novels. If anything, I'm more drawn to short fiction (I'm currently working, relishing through William Trevor at clip of a story a week). Or I read nonfiction of all types. And of course poems.

*
And yet: my most personal, and moving experiences with literature have probably been with novels:

In 1991, while living in Madrid, I remember buying The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love shortly after it won the Pulitzer, particularly after learning, according to reports, that Oscar Hijuelos was the first Latino writer to win this distinction. And I remember feeling, as I was reading Mambo Kings, that Hijuelos, to my ear anyway, had indeed captured the rhythms of speech I remember hearing as a child, growing up mostly around other Latinos in the Mission District in San Francisco. In that sense, then, Hijuelos' novel was a seminal read, if you will, for someone aspiring to create literary art.

In 1998, another novel, Sergio Ramírez's Un baile de máscaras, struck me deeply---I read it in Madrid months after my mother's death---and is the subject of a nonfiction piece I've been working on for some time now ("The Nicaraguan Novel"). Again: a novel, in this case novela.

*

And so---though perhaps not as swift as Rich Villar prompted readers of his blog to do so---I purchased TBWLOOW in Freeport, Maine on my way to Canada for the Christmas break, and read it. And loved it. I kept quiet about it, though. What I did notice was this: the few times I discussed it with other Latino writers who had read it, their regard for the book did not approach my enthusiasm, which I kept mostly muted. Mind you, I'm thinking that the writers who were more reserved in their judgement were other fiction writers. One conclusion I did come to for myself was that I couldn't imagine someone with access to English only possibly enjoying the book as much as a reader with equal access to both Spanish and English.

That a book of these characteristics, one where, in my view, the Spanish language is an important part of its aesthetic experience, could be garlanded with a Pulitzer is indeed something to celebrate.

*

Rich Villar has linked up Compa'i, Compa'i to a YouTube video. I've never heard JD read, so I look forward to having a look and listen.

"I'LL MEET YOU IN THE GROVE" / Utah notes

I've just received word that The Wind Shifts will be going into its second printing, which I think is pretty good considering it's only been out a little over a year. I bring up The Wind Shifts because a few months ago, out of the blue, I got a very nice e-mail from Fresno-based poet, Lee Herrick, just to let me know how much he was enjoying the anthology. Herrick is the founding editor of In the Grove, a literary journal based in California's Central Valley. In the Grove is coming out with a special issue on the late Andrés Montoya. Herrick was recently interviewed about his journal, Andrés Montoya, and the very special event taking place this Thursday in Fresno, to honor Andrés' memory. I love how Herrick relates the origin of his magazine's name. Here's the interview. Herrick is the author of the poetry collection, This Many Miles from Desire, which was profiled in one of Rigoberto González's "shout outs" during his blogging stint at the Poetry Foundation.

And speaking of Andrés Montoya: now is as good a time as any to re-vive, here---"here" being Electronic Poetry Review---one of the very few reviews I've penned: on Andrés' touchstone of a book. And as Martín Espada deliberates with the finalist manuscripts of the third edition of the prize that honors his memory, here is the online piece that tells the story of how the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize came to be, along with profiles of its first two winners. And to close out this section, here is the first Montoya Prize winner reviewing the second Montoya Prize winner, or: one El Paso-native reviewing another El Paso native in, where else, the El Paso Times!

*

Poetas y Pintores in Utah and other Logan notes

This was the seventh stop of the tour. As usual, the most gratifying thing about attending the opening reception and events surrounding it, was meeting new friends and seeing old ones. María Meléndez and I couldn't quite pinpoint when we last spent time with Demetria Martínez, but it was around, we thought, four or so years ago when she came to Notre Dame for a Catholic writers conference. On this occasion, I felt honored to share the stage with a her and poet Aleida Rodríguez at a poetry reading that was a part of the O.C. Tanner Symposium, which I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Another highlight was visiting the gravesite of the poet May Swenson, and listening to Aleida Rodríguez read one of her own poems there, to honor this under-appreciated (Swenson) poet. I have to admit that I was not overly familiar with Swenson's life and work. But after my time in Logan, that is going to change: among the new friends I met was poetry scholar, Paul Crumbley. It seems that Crumbley, in part on the occasion of this symposium, decided this semester to dive right in and teach a senior seminar on Latino literature, even though it was not a field he was familiar with. Judging from my extended conversations with him (and one of his students, William), it seems to have been such an enriching experience that his interest in Latino poetry, in particular, has taken wing.
Crumbley is a leading Emily Dickinson scholar and perhaps the person most responsible for bringing renewed attention to the life and work of Swenson. He is author of, Inflections of the Pen: Dash and Voice (on Dickinson), and the co-editor of, Body My House: May Swenson's Work and Life. In short, it did not take much persuasion, on my part, to ask him to consider future collaborations with Latino Poetry Review. As he shared with me: doing close readings of poems is what he most enjoys. Amen to that.

NEWS FLASH: UC Merced Reading TODAY

WRITE LOOK LISTEN is the name of a literary reading series at the University of California, Merced in the Central Valley. I just learned today that

DAVID DOMINGUEZ
SCOTT INGUITO
ADELA NAJARRO

will be giving a reading to promote The Wind Shifts. I'm not exactly sure how far UC Merced is from, say, Fresno, or Visalia. But I'm just putting this out there in case anyone reading this is in the area, or knows someone in the area who might be interested in attending. I know that the anthology will be for sale at the event.

A special thanks to poet Jared Stanley, UC Berkeley and Iowa grad, who teaches at UC Merced for getting this reading organized and funded. Jared is also the editor of the online literary journal Mrs. Maybe.

I'm hoping to get photographs of the reading, which I'll post here.

---Logan, Utah