Keeping Poetry Alive: Poets Laureate Across the Nation
Michael Sedano
La Bloga launches a series spotlighting Poets Laureate and their work to foster literacy and poetry in their community or state. Inspired by the Laureate program in Altadena, California, La Bloga encourages other communities to establish a Laureateship.
Who Are Laureates?
The United States Congress supports a Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, more readily known as the US Poet Laureate. The Consultancy, dating to 1947 (link https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/who-are-the-united-states-poet-laureate-consultants-in-poetry) features a roster of esteemed poets. The US Laureateship has bestowed its honor recently on leading voices such as Juan Felipe Herrera, Ada Limon, Joy Harjo.
Fifty US states and the Navajo nation appoint Poets Laureate. Numerous communities recognize local writers as their Poet Laureate. There’s a widespread poetry community in our culture, as this roster of state Laureates illustrates (link https://poets.org/text/current-us-and-state-poets-laureate )
Spotlight on:
Today, La Bloga-Tuesday is happy to feature José B. González, Poet Laureate of Connecticut. The state has a State Troubador and a Laureate. According to the state’s website,
Connecticut’s State Troubadour and Poets Laureate are ambassadors of the arts. These inspiring artists are nominated by Connecticut residents and evaluated by a peer panel and the Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) for their distinction within their fields, portfolios of work, and contributions to the arts community. The COA is committed to building a community that is respectful and responsive to the diverse talents, skills, and abilities of all people.
González’ recognition is well-earned. A Macondo alumnus, José founded the notable Latina Latino literary resource, Latino Stories (link https://latinostories.com ), which has been sharing literary news and insights for twenty years. La Bloga reached out to Laureate González and he shares the following:
When I first got the news about being a state poet laureate, I heard the ancestors rejoicing in their native tongues. I hope to remind those who need reminding that "immigrant" is not a dirty word, but that it is a word full of honor, sacrifice and dignity. I am proud of running LatinoStories.Com and celebrating La Raza authors for over 20 years. La Bloga is the only site that has done it for longer. And the way I see it, when I get an honor like this one, it's because someone took the time to say let's take a moment to read and listen to him. This is all a round-about way of saying, thank you to La Bloga for all you do.
Meet the Laureate
Connecticut’s Poet Laureate, José B. González is one of the most sought after speakers in the U.S today. He was born in San Salvador, El Salvador and immigrated to New London, Connecticut at the age of eight. He knew no English and now holds a Ph.D. in English. A nationally known speaker, Dr. González has presented at various colleges such as Harvard, Rutgers, and Cornell University; countries including Mexico, Spain, and El Salvador; and institutions including the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. He has been a featured Moth storyteller, a contributor to National Public Radio and has published poetry in such journals as Boston Review, Quercus Review, Callaloo, and Acentos Review, and anthologies including the Norton Introduction to Literature, Theatre Under My Skin: Contemporary Salvadoran Poetry, Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature, which he also co-edited. His poetry was a part of the first ever Latino exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum.
A Fulbright Scholar, he has received national and regional awards for his teaching, for his efforts to improve the conditions of Latinos pursuing a college degree or a career in higher education, and for his poetry. One of the major Salvadoran-American poets in the U.S., he is the author of the poetry collections, Toys Made of Rock (Bilingual Press), and When Love Was Reels (Arte Publico), and is the founder and editor of LatinoStories.Com.
Dr. González infuses his presentations with a mix of poetry, humor and social commentary. He holds a Master’s in Teaching English from Brown University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rhode Island and is an alumnus of Sandra Cisneros’ Macondo Writers Workshop.
Connecticut Poet Laureate Online Floricanto
English Words from https://www.splitthisrock.org/poetry-database/poem/english-words
my mouth agape for these english words made of stone
their sharpness could split my tongue, but one by one
i’ll use them to build a wall, one by one
i’ll stack them on top of each other smooth them
and scrape way the sounds that silence me.
Breaking away to the u.s. from https://poets.org/poem/breaking-away-us
finally,
a day so perfect that
this morning’s awakening bombs
are overtaken by a woman’s wind chimes
of “tamales, tamales.”
on the way to the airport
iguanas hang upside down,
even they smile.
along farms and fields
rotten bullet seeds
are overtaken by flowering weeds.
on the side of the highway
a tall Maquilishuat tree gives
birth to premature pink petals
&
inside a plane headed north,
yani & i fly so high
that we can’t tell
cornfields from fences;
it’s such a perfect
final day.
From Toys Made of Rock (Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 2015). Copyright © 2015 by José B. González. Used with the permission of Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe.
Read more of José B. González work at this page (link).
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