In my recent welcome remarks at The Poetry Center in Tucson, I took a little extra time to mention the specific places Latino/a Poetry Now has landed, along with naming who our local hosts were. Our event at the University of Arizona was being video recorded and so I wanted to make sure that this information was documented. With this in mind, here is Letras Latinas Blog's look back, as we enter the homestretch.....
As most readers will be aware
Latino/a
Poetry Now, on the verge of its penultimate installment, will be resuming this
Thursday at the Poetry Center in Tucson, Arizona. This installment
(co-sponsored by The Poetry Center at the University of
Arizona/Letras Latinas/Poetry Society of America) will feature a reading (7pm) by poets Carmen Giménez Smith, J.
Michael Martínez and Roberto Tejada, poets whose work “challenge and
undermine what one might expect when one hears the term, ‘Latino poetry.” As
most readers will also be aware, each of these Latino/a Poetry Now installments have also been accompanied by a moderated roundtable conversation (hosted at the Poetry
Society of America’s website; see here (installment 1: Rosa Alcalá, Eduardo C. Corral, Aracelis Girmay); see here (installment 2: William Archila, Ruth Irupé Sanabria); and see here (installment 3: Xochiquetzal Candelaria, Lorena Duarte, Rigoberto González) which offer
invaluable insights on each poet’s work and which have served as pedagogical
tools at the various institutions where this series has been hosted, and where the various poets' work(s) have been taught.
As
we anticipate the reading and the forthcoming roundtable conversation (installment 4) featuring
poets Carmen Giménez Smith, J. Michael
Martínez and Roberto Tejada, I thought it befitting that we would share
these—older—but more than relevant links to the work of our featured readers.
*
Carmen Giménez Smith @ NPR
One of the maxims of poetry
appears to me to be that famous excerpt from William Carlos Williams’
“Asphodel, That Greeny Flower” that states: “It is difficult to get the news
from poems yet men die every day for lack of what is found there.” Like any other
maxim, this and other sayings tend to lose their power with time and repetition.
But for the folks at NPR’s All Things Considered, that maxim still holds resonance
as each month they invite a poet to compose a poem to be read on the air
reflecting on that day’s particular stories. For the month of May of last year
that poet was Latino/a Poetry Now featured poet Carmen Giménez Smith, who read
a poem titled “The Day Disco Died,” and which borrowed from Frank O’Hara’s poem
“The Day Lady Died,” as a model for Gímenez Smith to channel her own language
and ideas in order to arrive at an elegy that serves as a model for this
particular “occasional poem.”
Roberto Tejada is the author
of the most recent Full Foreground (University of Arizona Press, 2012), a CantoMundo faculty poet and a Latino/a Poetry Now
featured poet and he is currently featured at the site of BOMB Magazine in an
interview conducted by Esther Allen. I first met Roberto Tejada at last year’s
CantoMundo workshop in Austin, Texas. From the first conversation I had with
Roberto, I was immediately intrigued both by his comments regarding poetry and politics
but also by his persona (as is elucidated in the interview). I was intrigued by
the fact that Roberto was born in the U.S. of Colombian parents but was shaped
as a poet and artist—like Mandorla,
the literary magazine he helped found—“by the milieu and scene of Mexico City”
where he spent many years living. Esther Allen describes Roberto’s work and Mandorla as “a bridge” that serves as the
point of intersection where the history, politics and identity of the two American
hemispheres meet—Roberto and other poets like him intrigue me by their ability
to bend the idea of “identity” and to be able to bend this conception through a
more artistic lens. Like the literary magazine El Corno Emplumado that was also founded in Mexico City and that in
the 1960’s served as a site where artists from both hemispheres contested
conceptions of art and U.S. foreign policy, Mandorla
and Roberto Tejada’s work continues this tradition.
J. Michael Martínez @ The Poetry Society of America
One of the main features of
The Poetry Society of America, which is one of the co-sponsors of Latino/a
Poetry Now, is the “New American Poets Series” which “recognizes some of the
most interesting recent first book poets.” In 2009 Carmen Giménez Smith was
herself featured in this series, which back then did not have the critical
introduction that now accompanies the posts featuring these newer poets’ works.
In 2011, Carmen went on to select the work of J. Michael Martínez (now featured
in this Poetry Society of America series) for his collection Heredeties for which he was awarded the
Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. It is then fitting to
conclude this post with what Latino/a Poetry Now featured poet Carmen
Giménez Smith has to say about the work of another Latino/a Poetry Now featured
poet, J. Michael Martínez:
“J.
Michael Martinez's work is writerly and lush. Martinez has set heady terms for
the ambition of his work, much like Mallarme's "pure poetry." He
creates textual maps of the histories through which he comes to be and in doing so enacts the
polyphonic strains of influence, both intuitive and aesthetic. His poems are
maximally lyric, almost Romantic at times. The high lyricism in his work
constructs a profoundly singular voice, one that still engages with the
post-identity tradition of Gloria Anzaldúa. Like Anzaldua, his poems are
political because they tell the complex stories of a marginalized culture;
develop a system of ethnography out of public and private family history, but
his work is also deeply prescient; he is in the forefront of emerging poets of
color resistant to the narrow channels previously available for identity
construction.”
The weekend gathering alluded to
above is one aspect of a multi-faceted initiative which includes—as Francisco
mentions at the end of the the post I’ve quoted above—an online roundtable discussion
and a physical gathering of a small group of Latino/a poets who are currently
enrolled in graduate MFA programs, and who are the very participants in the aforementioned
roundtable conversation, which will appear at Letras Latinas Blog soon.
In trying to conceptualize the significance
of this gathering, I keep going back to the quote I plucked above, more
specifically to the phrase “physical space.” We all understand the concept of
space: houses, whole communities, are raised and erased on a daily basis
because of official definitions of space. People’s lives, likewise, can be
threatened due to a lack of “safe space.” As writers we all know the importance
of space, which means having access to “a room of one’s own.”
I also find myself reading and re-reading
Eduardo C. Corral’s comment regarding his MFA experience, an experience that seems to be—from
conversations I’ve had with poets that have taken the MFA route before
me—emblematic of a kind of “institutional racism.” This makes me sad, but also
makes me realize how indebted I am to those trailblazers before me who have
cracked open the door for emerging voices like myself.
My experience at Notre Dame has
been mostly positive. It has provided models of aesthetic freedom to explore my
art in any way I choose to. Creative writing professors Joyelle McSweeney and Johannes
Göransson have pushed me to be a better
reader of poetry and exposed me to challenging new ways of conceiving poetry,
while Orlando Menes'mentorship has been fundamental in the
development of my voice and in the nurturing of what I envision as a poet. My
peers have been thoughtful, challenging, caring, progressive in their outlook
of the world, and most importantly supportive of who I am as a writer and human
being, particularly during my second year.
That being said, I also think that
we stand at a crossroads where Latino/as and other minorities stand on the
verge of being much more visible in many of these spaces, but who can still
experience the reality of exclusion. In thinking of this phenomenon I am reminded
of an AWP panel I attended last February titled “Breaking the Glass Ceiling,”
in which poet Ken Chen, who is the Executive Director of the Asian American
Writers Workshop, made a compelling case that more needs to be done to address
the question of equity. Having great numbers does not necessarily translate
into equality. Just because one is let in the room does not mean one will be
allowed to sit or sleep or jump or eat on the bed.
Thankfully, for the poets whose
testimonios you will be reading shortly, there exists “spaces,” such as this
pilot Letras Latinas initiative, that will hopefully nourish a new generation
of poets, who will become trailblazers, as well. Many strides have been made.
More needs to be done to bring about not just an American literature that is more inclusive but
also one that recognizes all communities as vibrant and fundamental parts of U.S.
society: a more inclusive América.
“Stride” I say, because I am
reminded of the spirit of collaboration and of the life-long commitment to
literary activism (a long and hard “step-by-step” process) that was evoked via
Antonio Machado in a recent Latino/a Poetry Now roundtable:
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
--LV
*
Marcelo H. Castillo:
In this first gathering of
young poets in a house covered with Latin@ art, I felt such joy, excitement,
and honor that I was invited to commune with other like-minded poets for the
weekend. We had many interesting conversations about poetics, issues of race,
class, and gender and more importantly, we talked about how to further this
ongoing community and how to create a niche where other Latin@ poets can turn
to when either looking for applying to grad school, in grad school, or
post-grads. We shared each other’s work, we read to each other, we workshopped
each other’s poems and had a stimulating conversation on the American Baroque
with the MFA director of Notre Dame, Orlando Menes. There was an intimate sense
of community because the participants, for me at least, were people who I have
been in conversation with in the roundtable component of this “object/ gathering/
discussion” and to see them for the first time and share our ideas about the
state of Latin@ poetry and the concerns of our generation was fantastic! As
Lauro said at the conference, I don’t think anything like this exists, where
there is a conscious push for the advancement of Latin@ voices not only in MFA
programs (and Notre Dame in specific) but also in all programs and a wider
representation in major literary publications and publishers. This is an
important first step for something that will hopefully (with the guidance of
people like Francisco Aragon, Orlando Menes and now each one of us who
attended the gathering as well as those scheduled to come next year) launch a
nationally known cornerstone for Latin@ poetry and help those voices be heard.
It was my distinct pleasure to be in the company of such talented artists and I
hope to continue this conversation well into the future.
*
Lynda Letona:
The Latino Roundtable
gathering was an enriching experience allowing us to meet talented poets from
across the nation and to experience their creative approach to poetry
firsthand. The amazing conversations we shared, geek out moments, and good food
with new friends will always be remembered. I very much enjoyed listening to
their work and feeling part of the Latino community of writers.
*
Lauren
Espinoza:
Coming back to class after
the gathering, I couldn’t help but think about my first semester here at ASU.
I was, oftentimes, at odds with the poems I was writing and bringing to
workshop. I felt that I was writing what "wasn't mine to tell," and I
was wary of bringing those poems to an audience of my peers. At the
gathering itself, I didn’t have that feel of concern over the content or
context of my poems, I felt an immediate kinship with the folks that were there
as they shared experiences and values that echoed my own: an attention towards
navigating truth, a sincerity towards language, and a true investment in our
respective communities (however that be interpreted). While I was at the
gathering I didn’t necessarily recognized the importunateness of this, it
wasn’t until I was sitting in Sally Ball's workshop on Tuesday that we read the
following from James Longenbach’s The
Virtues of Poetry that I was able to reconcile what had happened over the
weekend with the legitimizing impact those short days had on my own
conceptualization of my work: "To exercise restraint in the face of
catastrophe, to refuse the glamour of its occasion, is not to insulate oneself
from self-congratulation (no work of art is completely immune to that) but to
pause before the arrogance of understanding, the contentedness of having met
the challenge of what should not be met” (99). I am forever indebted to those
who shared their thoughts and energy over the weekend, understanding that we
are meeting challenges that should not be met.
*
Thade Correa:
A few weekends ago,
thanks to the hard work and visionary efforts of Francisco Aragón, I
participated in a gathering-together of young Latinoa poets at the beautiful
home of Professor Gilberto Cardenas on the campus of The University of Notre
Dame, which is where I am currently completing the second year of my MFA
program. Besides myself, there were five of us: Lauren Espinoza, Marcelo
Hernandez, Lynda Letona, and Lauro Vasquez. I met Lauren, Marcelo, and later
Diego Báez (who is a recent MFA graduate currently living and teaching in
Chicago who joined us for one night) for the first time during this weekend;
Lauro and Lynda I had already known as classmates through my program at Notre
Dame. Though I am a poet (and perhaps because I am a poet) I know that words
can never bear fitting testament to the reality of experience; my sense,
however, is that subtly, quietly, something of immense significance happened
during this gathering. The sense of community that arose among the five of us
was immediate: we read each other our poetry, talked about race, identity,
community, and the importance of the art of poetry to the world. We dined
together while listening to each other tell (sometimes heartrending) stories,
shared our lives and our passions with amazing ease. Diego Báez generously
shared his post-MFA journey with us. Professor Orlando Menes visited us one
afternoon to read his work and converse intimately with us about his personal
poetics, and read his stunning work to us. He offered the kind of advice that
only poets can give to other poets: “Write the difficult poems, the poems you
need to write, the ones that make you uncomfortable,” he said, and told us of
the importance of believing in one’s own artistic vision.
Vision
is what all of us gathered together shared with one another; being able to
share my personal vision with other likeminded poets is what made the weekend
unforgettable for me. Not only that, but each one of the poets I had the gift
of sharing time and building community with during this weekend shone for me,
like a comet across the night sky of what is possible. I am grateful to have
been able to take a part in what I believe is a groundbreaking endeavor to
bring together Latino/a poets across the country so as to form a creative,
diverse community that furthers the range of the possible, for the one as well
as for the many.
*
Marcelo H.
Castillo is an MFA candidate at the University of Michigan and a CantoMundo
Fellow. He was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and earned a BA from Cal State
Sacramento. He has served as artist in resident at the Atlantic Center for the
Arts, and has held residencies at the Squaw Writer’s Workshop and the Vermont
Studio Center. In collaboration with CD Wright, his translations of the
Mexican poet Marcelo Uribe’s latest collection of poetry is forthcoming and
with Robert Hass, he co-edited the Squaw Review 2011. He was a finalist for the
2013 Theodore Roethke Prize and recent work can be found in Poetry Quarterly.
He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife Rubi.
*
Lynda Letona,
a current MFA student at Notre Dame and Creative Writing Instructor, received
her MA in Creative Writing from the University of South Dakota. Her poetry and
nonfiction has appeared in Liternational,
hotmetalpress.net, and TheVLP Magazine.
As a previously undocumented
student also referred to as a “DREAM Student,” Lynda underwent the risky
legalization process (during the summer of 2011) known as the “consular option”
that requires applicants to return to their home country. Not knowing whether
she would be allowed to return to the U.S. after living here 23 years, Lynda
spent much of her time writing poetry and a series of blog entries to her
friends. She turned this “adventure” into a third-world writing workshop. Lynda
was allowed back in the country after five months in Guatemala; she has enjoyed
being a U.S. legal resident for the past year and half.
*
Lauren Espinozais currently a graduate student in the M.F.A. Program in
Poetry at Arizona State University. Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley
of Texas, her work investigates the intersections of language, sexuality,
border-identities, humor, and culture. Her poetry has appeared in an
anthology selected by Naomi Shihab Nye entitled Time You Let Me In: 25 Poets
Under 25, in print at The Mas Tequila Review, online at The
Acentos Review and Whole Beast Rag, and she has a poem forthcoming
in NewBorder: Contemporary Voices from the Texas/Mexico Border published
by Texas A&M Press. She is a member of The Trinity, a poetry cliqua
from the Rio Grande Valley; and holds a graduate certificate in Mexican
American Studies from the University of Texas-Pan American.
*
Born and raised in Northwest Indiana, Thade Correa received his BA from
Indiana University, Bloomington, and his MA in the Humanities from the
University of Chicago. Though he considers writing his primary artistic
vocation, he is also a composer and pianist. His poetry and translations have
appeared in various journals, both in print and online, including Paragraphiti, Ibbetson Street, The Aurorean,
and Modern Haiku. A chapbook of his
poetry, Anthem, appeared in 2010, and
a collection of his recent work earned him the 2012 Billy Maich Academy of
American Poets Prize.
*
Lauro Vazquez, Diego
Báez, Lauren Epinoza & Marcelo H. Castillo @ Notre Dame
