PROSE
“PINTURA:PALABRA, a project in ekphrasis”
Francisco Aragón introduces a portfolio in the March 2016 issue of POETRY Magazine. At the 2010 Latino Art Now! conference in Los Angeles it hit me — the nagging feeling that Latino artists and poets aren’t meaningfully aware of one another, or of the canvases and poems that flourish in their respective fields. It left me wondering: How might we aspire to bridge this gap?
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“A Lesson in Mentorship and Generosity: Francisco X. Alarcón (1954 – 2016)”
Francisco Aragón writes about the life, work, and friendship of Francisco X. Alarcón
At Letras Latinas, Francisco Aragón writes about the life, work, and friendship of Francisco X. Alarcón, who we've been told died this morning after a battle with cancer. Aragón, as he was coming into his own as a poet, describes how Alarcón acted as a mentor to him, for his work as a poet, editor, and translator. Their friendship solidified during the writing and translating of De Amor Oscuro/Of Dark Love, which Aragón describes as "a bilingual collection of homoerotic sonnets and line drawings that saw the light of publication after I moved to Spain."
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Francisco Aragón writes about the life, work, and friendship of Francisco X. Alarcón
At Letras Latinas, Francisco Aragón writes about the life, work, and friendship of Francisco X. Alarcón, who we've been told died this morning after a battle with cancer. Aragón, as he was coming into his own as a poet, describes how Alarcón acted as a mentor to him, for his work as a poet, editor, and translator. Their friendship solidified during the writing and translating of De Amor Oscuro/Of Dark Love, which Aragón describes as "a bilingual collection of homoerotic sonnets and line drawings that saw the light of publication after I moved to Spain."
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“As In Migration As Journey: JFH’s homage to FXA”
Francisco Aragón discusses Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem, “Walking (Tenochtitlan, DF) with Francisco X. Alarcón, 1978” as part of “Because We Come from Everything: Poetry & Migration,” the inaugural program of the Poetry Coalition, in 2017.
“Because We Come from Everything: Poetry & Migration” is the first public offering of the newly formed Poetry Coalition—twenty-two organizations dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and communities, as well as the important contributions poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.
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Francisco Aragón discusses Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem, “Walking (Tenochtitlan, DF) with Francisco X. Alarcón, 1978” as part of “Because We Come from Everything: Poetry & Migration,” the inaugural program of the Poetry Coalition, in 2017.
“Because We Come from Everything: Poetry & Migration” is the first public offering of the newly formed Poetry Coalition—twenty-two organizations dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and communities, as well as the important contributions poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.
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“JFH: testimonio on the occasion of a laureateship”
A personal reflection and personal chronology on Juan Felipe Herrera on the occasion of his being named the first Latinx Poetry Laureate of the United States.
In 1984 the San Francisco Bay Guardian—a progressive weekly—published a poem titled “Autobiography of a Chicano Teen Poet.” It'd won First Prize in its annual poetry contest. It began...
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A personal reflection and personal chronology on Juan Felipe Herrera on the occasion of his being named the first Latinx Poetry Laureate of the United States.
In 1984 the San Francisco Bay Guardian—a progressive weekly—published a poem titled “Autobiography of a Chicano Teen Poet.” It'd won First Prize in its annual poetry contest. It began...
Read Full Text
“Contextualizing Gerardo Diego's Handbook of Foams"
Francisco Aragón writes about the life and work of Spanish poet Gerardo Diego as an introduction to ten of his translations from Diego’s classic avant-garde collection, Manual de espumas/Handbook of Foams.
Gerardo Diego (1896–1987) was born in the north of Spain in Santander, the capital of Cantabria — a region which, along with Galicia, the Basque Country and Asturias make up what’s often called la España verde for its lush landscapes.
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Francisco Aragón writes about the life and work of Spanish poet Gerardo Diego as an introduction to ten of his translations from Diego’s classic avant-garde collection, Manual de espumas/Handbook of Foams.
Gerardo Diego (1896–1987) was born in the north of Spain in Santander, the capital of Cantabria — a region which, along with Galicia, the Basque Country and Asturias make up what’s often called la España verde for its lush landscapes.
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“Etched in Glass: Remembering Jack Walsh”
Francisco Aragón writes about his UC Berkeley mentor and friend for Origins literary journal to inaugurate the Letras Latinas John K. Walsh Mentorship Essays.
...As an undergrad at UC Berkeley I married my love for the language with my love for the story, the play, my love for the essay, the poem. Which is to say, I majored in Spanish literature. My advisor was one John K. Walsh. If pressed, I would venture, he is one of the reasons I write....
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Francisco Aragón writes about his UC Berkeley mentor and friend for Origins literary journal to inaugurate the Letras Latinas John K. Walsh Mentorship Essays.
...As an undergrad at UC Berkeley I married my love for the language with my love for the story, the play, my love for the essay, the poem. Which is to say, I majored in Spanish literature. My advisor was one John K. Walsh. If pressed, I would venture, he is one of the reasons I write....
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“Francisco Aragón's Poetry Month Pick, April 8, 2018”
Francisco Aragón comments extensively on Federico García Lorca’s sonnet, “The Poet Speaks to His Beloved on the Telephone.”
Your voice watered the dune of my chest
in that sweet wooden booth.
South at my feet it was spring,
north near my face flowered a fern....
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Francisco Aragón comments extensively on Federico García Lorca’s sonnet, “The Poet Speaks to His Beloved on the Telephone.”
Your voice watered the dune of my chest
in that sweet wooden booth.
South at my feet it was spring,
north near my face flowered a fern....
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“Sludge, and the Alternatives”
Francisco Aragón discusses his aesthetic sensibilities in response to Perloff in a 2014 issue of Evening Will Come: A Monthly Journal of Poetics.
“The point is to come out openly against the self-regarding sludge that passes for poetry…and to look closely at the alternatives. —Marjorie Perloff, The Los Angeles Review of Books, July 16, 2012
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Francisco Aragón discusses his aesthetic sensibilities in response to Perloff in a 2014 issue of Evening Will Come: A Monthly Journal of Poetics.
“The point is to come out openly against the self-regarding sludge that passes for poetry…and to look closely at the alternatives. —Marjorie Perloff, The Los Angeles Review of Books, July 16, 2012
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“The Turns in 'The Fire'”
Francisco Aragón discusses the “turns” in Deborah Parédez’s poem, in Voltage Poetry.
Even before we encounter the first line in Deborah Parédez’s poem, the title announces an array of possibilities. Fire as heat. Fire depicting brightness. Fire as something lethal, as in: the Great Chicago Fire. Or on a more modest scale, perhaps Issa’s moth will be “burnt to a crisp” by an alluring sliver of fire…
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Francisco Aragón discusses the “turns” in Deborah Parédez’s poem, in Voltage Poetry.
Even before we encounter the first line in Deborah Parédez’s poem, the title announces an array of possibilities. Fire as heat. Fire depicting brightness. Fire as something lethal, as in: the Great Chicago Fire. Or on a more modest scale, perhaps Issa’s moth will be “burnt to a crisp” by an alluring sliver of fire…
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“Voz Presents: Francisco Aragón”
The online supplement to the literary journal Puerto del Sol presents two poems, an essay, and a brief interview with, Francisco Aragón. Conceived and carried out by Mirna Palacio Ornelas.
Recently, I had the pleasure of breaking bread with a talented young poet from Massachusetts who’d settled in Inverness. She’s one of the co-editors of an eclectic, soulful journal, Inverness Almanac—a magazine vested in the stories from and about this coastal region north of San Francisco. But she’d taken a job in Berkeley and so found herself commuting to, spending significant time in, the East Bay. As dinner progressed, she expressed the belief that her writing would likely change as a result, even though she preferred the rural landscapes of Northern California she’d grown to love.
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The online supplement to the literary journal Puerto del Sol presents two poems, an essay, and a brief interview with, Francisco Aragón. Conceived and carried out by Mirna Palacio Ornelas.
Recently, I had the pleasure of breaking bread with a talented young poet from Massachusetts who’d settled in Inverness. She’s one of the co-editors of an eclectic, soulful journal, Inverness Almanac—a magazine vested in the stories from and about this coastal region north of San Francisco. But she’d taken a job in Berkeley and so found herself commuting to, spending significant time in, the East Bay. As dinner progressed, she expressed the belief that her writing would likely change as a result, even though she preferred the rural landscapes of Northern California she’d grown to love.
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Three Book Reviews by Francisco Aragón
So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water until it Breaks by Rigoberto González
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The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems by Andrés Montoya
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Poema by Maurice Kilwein Guevara
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So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water until it Breaks by Rigoberto González
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The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems by Andrés Montoya
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Poema by Maurice Kilwein Guevara
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“2000-2009: The Decade in Poetry”
Ten poets, including Francisco Aragón, discuss a memorable poetry event of the first decade of the 21st Century.
The xylophone fills the darkened room, its cascade of notes trilling high, then low, and a human voice breaks in:
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Ten poets, including Francisco Aragón, discuss a memorable poetry event of the first decade of the 21st Century.
The xylophone fills the darkened room, its cascade of notes trilling high, then low, and a human voice breaks in:
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Photo credit: Cheryl Kelly