When I attended the Associated Writing Programs conference in Tampa, Florida in March, I sought out Latinos, because the last time I went to the conference, about ten years ago, AWP truly deserved the nickname that people of color gave it: “All White People.”
It’s still a majority white, but I found the Latina/o/x writers and sat down with every one of them I could, to talk about their writing and the Latinx writing world in general.
Alexandra Lytton Regalado is a real find. She’s a Salvadoran-American poet, born in El Salvador, raised in Miami; she then moved back to El Salvador, where she and others launched Kalina Press, which publishes Salvadoran writers from all over the world, in both English and Spanish.
She’s also the author of the poetry collection, Matria, published by Black Lawrence Press. It is a powerful book that brings the reader, in an intimate way, to the world of El Salvador. I’m considering teaching it next year.
On this podcast, I have a few words to say about what I’ll call the la jodida de Junot Díaz,or, in English, “The Junot Díaz cluster-fuck.” Junot Díaz is a novelist who has been in the news lately, due to accusations of sexual harassment. I have a few things to say about that as well.
Enjoy!
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