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| Gina Ferrara |
One of the fun things about living
in New Orleans is being mistaken for fellow poet, Gina Ferrara. Gina and I are
the same height and have dark hair and dark eyes. In a pinch, you could say we
are both Latina, since she is Latin by way of her Italian heritage and I am
Latina by way of my Mexican ancestry. Slippery semantics
aside, our poetry has much in common and we were both influenced by our
maternal grandmothers, the storytellers in our families.
Gina Ferrara has always written. In
high school, she was a closet poet. Even earlier, when she was nine years old,
her grandmother urged her to write letters to her uncle Andrew during Vietnam
war and told a young Gina 'to paint a picture of home.' A poet was born from a
grandmother telling a nine year old to include the specific aspects of everyday
life in the letters to her uncle.
In her new book, Amber Porch Light (Wordtech Press, 2013), Gina writes a poem about her uncle Andrew, "My Private Uncle."
Through the simple act of her uncle devouring a large stack of pancakes,
Ferrara expresses the disconnect of a child failing to understand what her
uncle had gone through:
"With a poised fork, my
private uncle said
his maple syrup reminded him of
water,
gathering, soaking rows in a rice
paddy. Of all things.
My sister and I laughed, thinking
we had heard a silly joke."
The New Orleans native quietly
admits the letters to her uncle were saved and then lost after hurricane
Katrina.
The Vietnam war figures prominently
in the backdrop to Amber Porch Light, Ferrara's third poetry collection. During
this time, Ferrara's parents were also divorcing. Division, bombs (the B-53 )
color, taste, death, and beauty make up the potpourri of a book grounded in
Ferrara's native New Orleans. Ferrara traces her love for words back to her
grandmother.
"Her everyday language was
full of these wonderful metaphors. She compared my aunt who wore a lot of make
up to a tropical bird. Her expressive language rubbed off on me."
Gina's grandmother often asked if
she was paid for her poetry. When she won a poetry contest and 500 dollars, her
grandmother had one word for her, 'finally'. Although Gina had always written
poems and letters, she didn't see herself as a poet, but thought she would be a
nurse or psychiatrist.
Ferrara's poetry draws on her
life's experiences. She is a firm believer in the maxim, write what you know
and suggests that new poets should read widely and listen to other people read
their work. "Write about what's authentic and indigenous," Ferrara
said, "there has to be integrity to what you do."
One of the things she loves most
about being a poet is meeting other poets. When she first started, she didn't
like reading her work aloud. "I couldn't stand the sound of my
voice," she said. "I had to get comfortable with it. Now, I love
it."
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| Gina Ferrara and Melinda Palacio |
2 comments:
Loved reading this, Melinda. Nice getting to know you, Gina. I look forward to your visiting Santa Barbara and reading at the Poetry Zone next spring.
I am touched by the similarities in our lives, as well. I was raised by my grandmother. She was a great lover of poetry and use to include poems in all of her speaking endeavors. I, too, wrote letters to and for my family and others in the community. (advice to young poets)
Hail to the Abuelas!
Hola Melinda! Good article about Gina. I enjoyed reading it.
Are you staying in New Orleans thru the holidays?
Saludos desde Santa Barbara
Irma
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