Doni Holloway, a Scotland high school studnet and special correspondent recently spoke with poet Richard Blanco about how thw writer came to create the work he read at President Barack Obama’s second Inauguration. During the sit-down interview, Blanco discussed in-depth his inspirations during his formative years, and his life since speaking in Washington, D.C. The interview was conducted at St. Andrews University.
Holloway
I want to begin talking about your formative years. In your official biography, you say that you were “made in Cuba, assembled in Spain, and imported to the United States.” Do you mind expanding on this statement?
Blanco
“Sure. My mother left seven months pregnant with me from Cuba. Back in 1968 you couldn’t come directly from Cuba to the United States because of the poor diplomatic relations. My green card is my first newborn picture. As I look back, it was ironic because by the time I was 45 days old, I had technically lived in three countries. So that really became a focus of my writing…”
Holloway
How do your identities influence your work?
RICHARD
“In general, I write about the negotiation of culture, and how I mapped my way growing up in a Cuban household in America. It is really often a quintessential immigrant/exile story. As I learned throughout the whole process, it’s also a very American story, a quintessential American story. That’s what I have always focused on. I’ve also concentrated on what it means to be American, Cuban, represent different national identities, cultural identities, and lastly sexual identities, especially in my third book. People tend to think that being Latino is this sort of monolithic experience, and it’s certainly not, and neither is being gay. So I’m interested in exploring those aspects”
Holloway
You’ve said that writing is a discovery process. What have you discovered about yourself through writing?
Blanco
“Yes. I think a lot of what I’ve discovered comes from my cultural place. Even writing the Inaugural poem was a very important discovery process for me. I realized that the story that I felt was so autobiographical, it really had a larger element to it that I hadn’t recognized. And there were also connections to America, that I hadn’t really made before. Writing certainly answers emotional questions for me.”
Holloway
So, it sounds like it is cathartic for you?
Blanco
“Yes, definitely. It’s proved to be a way of investigating myself and coming to terms with epiphanies that I otherwise would not really focus on.”
Holloway
How were you selected to speak at the Inauguration?
Blanco
“It’s still a mystery, I don’t know actually. I asked, but there are so many layers, (committees, etc.) that no one knows. At this point it seems a bit anti-climatic. I guess someone discovered my work somehow, and I imagine at the end of the day it had to pass through the President’s hands. I’m sure I’ll know soon enough.”
Holloway
What did it feel like when you were informed of your selection?
Blanco
“Well first, you get the news that you were selected, and then you have to two- three weeks to write three poems. At first I wasn’t that intimidated, but as the clock started ticking I got a little more apprehensive. The first poem was really easy, the second one was harder, and the third one was really hard because your creative juices start to run out. They chose the second one that I wrote.”
Holloway
What was the moment like when you shook hands with President Obama and Vice President Biden?
Blanco
“It was very surprising, because I didn’t expect the President or the Vice President to greet me and usher me up to [figuratively] the podium. It was a wonderful moment for me because it felt like they were introducing me to the world, to our country. It gave me a really big boost of confidence right at that nano-second before I got up to read, because I felt that they were really behind me, and had my back.”
Holloway
It was voiced by the American people that many of the themes prevalent in your poem were synonymous with the ideas mentioned in President Obama’s address. Do you feel the same way?
Blanco
“Yes, I think there was certainly an echo, in the sense that we talked about being inclusive, and expanding that sense of embrace- as he mentioned specifically, Stonewall. So my poem expressed similar themes, but of course, different genres. So hearing his address also gave me added confidence, and it really clicked why they were so attracted to One Today. Some of my friends were joking around and saying that President Obama probably wrote his address after reading mine [laughter]. I would love to think so.”
Holloway
It is apparent that your voice is evident in your poetic work. What advice would you give to young people about finding their voice?
Blanco
“I think it’s really important that you study the craft. At some point, you have to realize what’s important to you, and begin writing from that space. Find that thing that you care deeply about, but is also not selfish. It helps to discover something that has a personal feeling and also a universal sense.”
When asked what’s next, Blanco says that publication of the other two poems that he wrote for the President may come in the future. He added “ this journey has opened a lot of doors, so I’m looking forward to exploring what’s next. If this allows me the opportunity to look at how poetry is taught, and how I can help to create a new generation of poetry readers, I would like to. I’d also like to help encourage youth to take an interest in contemporary poetry, while stressing the importance of the classics.”
Post a Comment
