ABOUT FRANCISCO
Francisco Aragón is the son of Nicaraguan immigrants. A native of San Francisco, California, he holds degrees in Spanish from UC Berkeley and NYU. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1998 after a decade in Spain, Aragón completed graduate degrees in creative writing from UC Davis and the University of Notre Dame. In 2003 he joined the faculty of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies where he established Letras Latinas.
A CantoMundo fellow and a member of the Macondo Writers’ Workshop, Aragón is the author of three books: Puerta del Sol and Glow of Our Sweat were published in 2005 and 2010, respectively. His third book, After Rubén, was published in 2020. He was also the editor of the anthology, The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry, which was published in 2007. His Tongue a Swath of Sky, his fourth chapbook, was released in 2019. Previous chapbooks include Tertulia, In Praise of Cities, and Light, Yogurt, Strawberry Milk.
His poems and translations have appeared in various print and online journals, as well as over twenty anthologies. His work as a translator includes four books by Francisco X. Alarcón, as well as work by Spanish poets Federico García Lorca and Gerardo Diego. More recently, he’s been rendering versions of the Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío. He has read from his work widely, including at universities, galleries, and bookstores. He’s been a featured poet at the Split This Rock Poetry Festival as well as the Dodge Poetry Festival.
Aragón spends the fall and spring semester on the Notre Dame campus where he teaches courses in Latinx poetry and creative writing. Otherwise, he currently resides in Hawaii.
A CantoMundo fellow and a member of the Macondo Writers’ Workshop, Aragón is the author of three books: Puerta del Sol and Glow of Our Sweat were published in 2005 and 2010, respectively. His third book, After Rubén, was published in 2020. He was also the editor of the anthology, The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry, which was published in 2007. His Tongue a Swath of Sky, his fourth chapbook, was released in 2019. Previous chapbooks include Tertulia, In Praise of Cities, and Light, Yogurt, Strawberry Milk.
His poems and translations have appeared in various print and online journals, as well as over twenty anthologies. His work as a translator includes four books by Francisco X. Alarcón, as well as work by Spanish poets Federico García Lorca and Gerardo Diego. More recently, he’s been rendering versions of the Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío. He has read from his work widely, including at universities, galleries, and bookstores. He’s been a featured poet at the Split This Rock Poetry Festival as well as the Dodge Poetry Festival.
Aragón spends the fall and spring semester on the Notre Dame campus where he teaches courses in Latinx poetry and creative writing. Otherwise, he currently resides in Hawaii.
Photo credit: Mike Cook