Category Archives: e-interviews

Of Cholas, Cupcakes and Cypher: Interview with Rachel McKibbens

Rachel McKibbens
Photo courtesy of Peter Dressel

Cypher Books only puts out a book or two a year and it was great to find out that the book for the second half of 2009 would be Rachel McKibbens’ debut collection since she is that rare poet who can win a slam (emphasis on win) with the same group of poems she just got published (emphasis on published) in a journal.

This e-interview was one of the most fun ones I’ve had putting together since Rachel keeps it honest, direct, visceral, artistic, gruesome and light-hearted all in the same breath.  No doubt you’ll find the same qualities in her first book, Pink Elephant, when it comes out in October.

INTERVIEW WITH RACHEL McKIBBENS (excerpt)

OB: Folks are quick to label your poetry under a couple of different banners: slam, performance, confessional, Def Poetry, raw, dark, literary. How would you define your poetics?

RM: I don’t think I can define my own poetics. My brain is all over the place. I’m writing sestinas about the female version of Pinnochio one day, then writing about the dead dog in my mother’s refrigerator the next. All of the words in your question can describe at least one of my poems, but none of these words can cover them all.

The complete interview is live at Letras Latinas.

E-interview with Sam Vargas at Letras Latinas blog


Free
Originally uploaded by Mr. Mystery

The Acentos Workshops are starting back up next week and I thought an e-interview with Acentos Workshops Director Sam “Fish” Vargas would help to spread the word and give more insight into the goals of the Workshops.

I also kept thinking about the question Craig Santos Perez has been asking on his blog lately: “so someone tell me why an organization like the ACENTOS FOUNDATION will offer FREE, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC writers’ workshops in the Bronx (with some of the most respected writers around as teachers)”?

Good question. So I went straight to the source for the answer:

YOU HAVE SOME OF THE MOST RESPECTED POET/TEACHERS IN UNITED STATES POETRY ALONGSIDE A DYNAMIC COLLECTION OF UPCOMING WRITERS FACILITATING WORKSHOPS IN POETICS, PERFORMANCE AND POLITICS, ACENTOS COULD CHARGE A MODEST FEE FOR THESE TOP-NOTCH WORKSHOPS BUT INSTEAD MAKES IT ENTIRELY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. STRAIGHT UP: WHY KEEP IT FREE? WHY NOT CHARGE?

You know that when NYC forgot about Puerto Ricans and minority Latinos in NYC, The Young Lords were born. They got together and MADE things happen. They never charged for the soup kitchens, Hep tests, and general help for their community. I model what Acentos does on much of what our forefathers paved the way for us. We have to make things happen for our community. If my community can’t afford college or a workshop at an absorbent fee, they are still entitled to gain that knowledge. We are getting something back that has no price from the community: hope. We will never ask much from the community but hard work and dedication to the craft. With that, we feel is enough payment to have wonderful work created within the halls of the workshop.

Word. Read the whole interview at Letras Latinas and feel free to comment.

Blogging at Letras Latinas: Voices from VONA

The first of a multi-part e-interview with Chicana writer Vickie Vértiz is live at the Letras Latinas blog:

Oscar Bermeo: It’s the post VONA week, what do you think you’re missing most about the VONA experience?

Vickie Vértiz: I am missing the room where I take writing risks into really dangerous places, imaginary or real, with trust, developed as a result of our faculty and colleagues creating a safe space. “Safe” meaning affirmative, encouraging, through honest, pointed critique. This is space that exists as a result of a shared experience, through a visceral understanding of what life is like for people of color in this country.

Read the complete interview here.

This all comes from a great recorded conversation that went down right after VONA wrapped up a few months back. It’s taken a long minute to go live since I had no idea the art of transcription is no muther-luvin joke and if this conversation hadn’t brought up such great points I may have given up on completely. Good thing I kept at it cuz if you like what you read in this part of the interview, you will love what’s to come.

This is the second interview I’ve conducted at Letras Latinas and one more is on the way. I’m thinking I may have a knack for these things and hope to find some different voices to chat with and see what’s on their horizons.

All thanks really go out to Francisco Aragón for giving me the opportunity to develop these e-interview skills, a great forum to promote them, and the trust to bring in different perspectives to enrich the scope of the Letras Latinas blog. Mil gracias for all this and everything else you do, Francisco.