I would like to start this brief reflection on CantoMundo, with first year CantoMundo fellow, Juan Luis Guzman?s words: I believe, I believe, I believe. And yet as I think back to my own first time CantoMundo experience I realize it took me a long while to come to believe. My first CantoMundo experience back in the summer of 2010 was one of anxiety. Being the youngest there and the least developed in my career as a writer made me ask myself: ?what right do I have being here? And yet that experience?that space rather?proved to be more than formative in my development. The experience and knowledge?the friendship and mentorship made there?encouraged me to continue with my pursuit of writing. In short, my collaborations with Letras Latinas and my candidacy in poetry at Notre Dame?s MFA in Creative Writing Program are possible only because of the seeds?unbeknown to me?planted there.
In introducing these brief testimonios by first year CantoMundo fellows, I keep going back to CantoMundo?s mission statement: ?Through workshops, symposia, and public readings, CantoMundo provides a space for the creation, documentation, and critical analysis of Latino/a poetry.? And I keep going back to the word ?collaboration,? this word more than any other word captures for me the spirit of CantoMundo 2012. Collaboration for me implies a creative friction, a flint of the imagination that can light the fireplace of what has truly become a home for Latino/a poetics. In short, I too believe.?
--LV
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Elizabeth Acevedo
CantoMundo changed entirely where I see myself in the landscape of Latino poetry. Being mostly familiar with my contemporaries in spoken word, and largely on the East Coast, CantoMundo offered me the opportunity to see the breadth of work that is being produced by poets of different styles, ages, and interests on a national level. Most impressive is the poetic works that CantoMundistas dedicate themselves to outside of writing. It moved me to begin considering how I use my times to push forward the art of writing.
Very rarely have I ever experienced such a supportive and understanding couple of days with complete strangers.?
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Anthony Cody
I arrive in a hurried flood. Overwhelmed in reading packets, handshakes and introductions with those whose books I have read or social media posts I have liked. I am flooded in emotion and cannot speak. I listen as we begin telling stories of one another and discover paths that intersect and intertwine. My story becomes your story becomes our story. Suddenly, a circle of strangers, becomes community, becomes family.?
And within that family, I find sanctuary. Discussions of poetics and writing exercises become experimentation moments in which I examine and reflect upon my impact within a movement and generate work from an internal speaker freed by the words of keynote lecturer, E. Ethelbert Miller. Miller, noting that a poet must transform from poet as witness to poet as literary activist to create meaningful change within a diverse and often unheard community. In his words and within this family, my creative and community energies replenish. The energy continues day after day and deep into every night as we sit together. Together, in a group that I am humbled to have included distinguished poets Aracelis Girmay and Roberto Tejada, we laugh, we write and we cry. Tears, not of sadness, but in the discovery that despite the solitary act of writing, we are not alone. And, as I leave CantoMundo 2012, I discern that there is now peace within my poetics, within my identity, within this movement, within myself.*
Michael Dauro
CantoMundo has been pivotal not only in my growth as a poet, but also as a member of the community. In the literary world there is much pressure for awards, recognition, and the interests for the individual. And while we can all agree that poetry is indeed transformative, what is transformation without community? CantoMundo has shown me that true transformation is not a solitary act.? CantoMundo has influenced my poetry, but most importantly it has inspired me to take part in, and to devote time to community programs, to change lives though poetry.
CantoMundo was a weekend full of wonderment and admiration for the founders, fellows, and faculty. I cannot recall another time where I was in the company of so many talented, brilliant poets and scholars. I have learned so much in such a short period of time and I have created many close bonds with fellow Latina/o poets.?
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Angel Garcia
I?ll start with a clich?, since unfortunately, that is what typically comes first: after a weekend in Austin, Texas, I find it difficult to find the words to describe my experience as a new CantoMundo fellow.?
What comes more easily is sound and sensation.? Over the weekend, during wonderful thought-provoking presentations and readings of poetry I clearly remember hearing the quintessential ?mmm? and ?ooh? typical of one being overwhelmed by meaningful and beautiful poems; the deep-gut rumble of laughter coming from the inner spaces of the soul; and finally, the rumbling sensation of being brought to tears by someone speaking their truth, their experience, their poetry, their connection to poetry.?
But of course, there are words that can explain all of this.? There are always words.? I think of these:? Community;? Poetry;? Family;? Inspiration;? Clica;? Creativity;? Magic; and Memory.
Yes, there are always words.? But meaning is always subjective.? I know what CantoMundo now means for me.? I encourage others to discover theirs.
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Carmen Gim?nez Smith
I am still trilling from the time I spent in Austin with the faculty, founders, and CantoMundo fellows. So much of the thinking I do about my life as a Latina poet happens in my head, so it was remarkable and important for me to be surrounded by poets who were eager to have this
ongoing and vital conversation.
One of the most important engagements for me was the panel on the past, present, and future of Latino poetics. I was reminded, not only of the wide range of aesthetic approaches to engaging with identity politics, but also with the important sense of urgency and activism that emerged from the conversation. As a result, I?ve been thinking about the different ways I could do more as a poet, editor, and publisher.
The connections, the informal conversations, the laughing, the camaraderie, and the collaborations?they changed me. I come back to my work revitalized and eager to deepen my connection to this amazing community. I am so grateful to have been accepted as a CantoMundo fellow, and I look forward to the future with this vital group.
*
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Juan Luis Guzm?n
Mi testimonio es as?: I believe, I believe, I believe.
There is awesome and transformative power in community. If you?re lucky, coming together with community can be a baptism of sorts, something like purification. For me, CantoMundo was more than this. CantoMundo was complete rebirth. I found myself challenged by the other fellows, discombobulated by workshop lectures and faculty notes, and torn to pieces by masterful readings and discussions. In the midst of this, I had time to reassemble myself, to discard what wasn?t working, and to weld the familiar fragments of myself to the newly discovered pieces. In the end, I boarded the plane wearing beautiful new skin and asking myself the same question keynote speaker and editor of Poet Lore E. Ethelbert Miller asked of us on the first full day of the retreat: what else are you doing for poetry, besides writing it? How can you begin to give service to the field of poetry?
It?s true, CantoMundo is home to the most talented Latina/o voices from across the country. But being there, one only feels extreme gratitude and the fortune of standing close enough to the embers to feel such heat.
*
I find it difficult to be in one place. ?Even my sleep is generally unsettled. ?I find myself perpetually dancing from here to there to somewhere else. ?I feared, coming to CantoMundo, that I would have nothing to say, nothing to offer, that I would not belong to its world. With this in mind, I found it surprising how easily I felt myself slip into community, found myself saying over and over that I wanted more. ?In just a few short days, CantoMundo came to feel like home.CantoMundo poets burn. ?There is a passionate investment in writing and in community. ?To be part of a community of poets dedicated to transformational change and social activism galvanized me. ?From E. Ethelbert Miller?s call for the building of institutions to Roberto Tejada?s critical investigation of the spaces of writing to Aracelis Girmay?s sharp visions, depth of love, and brilliant guidance in writing exercises, my mind was pushed and my heart was opened. ?In these spaces, in their poems, and in their presence, CantoMundo poets blossomed, exploded, cut, razed, rebuilt, laughed, cried, and I was among them, a part of this community. ?I am near tears writing this as I am joyful for what has been and aching for more. ?I am looking forward to the homecoming.
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Javier Zamora
?
After CantoMundo, I read an essay by Roberto Bola?o, ?Literature + Illness = Illness,? in which he discusses encapsulation or ?an image retained and metabolized by the body, fixed in historical memory, the solidification of chance and fate.? I first met all the CantoMundistas inside a small classroom for the opening circle; the air was filled with our ancestors, with poetry, with chance, and with fate. Listening to CantoMundistas introduce other fellows they?d just met, sharing what they wanted to plant or bury in those four days, the grateful smiles throughout the room, was a spiritual experience. I was not aware of it while it was happening, but at the end of the opening circle, when I thanked CantoMundo co-founder Norma Cantu for the opportunity and the positive energy in the room; she responded with a radiant smile, ?you felt that too??
Throughout my four days in Austin I had plenty of mesmerizing moments and I can be quoted as saying ?I?m in the verge of tears? almost every hour. Like we remember our first kiss, our first popsicle, our first plane ride, there is nothing that compares to that first time. I will encapsulate my first CantoMundo through that opening circle; that first moment I wanted to succumb to tears of thanks, that first moment I knew it was fate I was in that room filled with poets I admired.
*****
?Elizabeth Acevedo
ELIZABETH ACEVEDO is the daughter of Dominican immigrants, proudly born and raised in the heart of New York City. Through poetry that is infused with hip-hop and bolero she uses her words as a way to translate the world. Slamming since she was 14, Acevedo has featured at several prestigious venues such as the The Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, The Kodak Theatre, and Madison Square Garden. She has graced the stage besides such renowned artist as Lupe Fiasco, M1 from Dead Prez, Stacyann Chin and Lemon from Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. She was a featured poet for BET?s You(th) Speak Out national public service announcement, as well as a featured poet in their political slam during the 2008 elections. Other television appearances include the third season of Mun2?s The Chica?s Project as well as season 3 of BET J's Lyric Caf?. Elizabeth was also a featured poet in the publication Off the Subject: The Words of Lyrical Circle, featuring a foreword by the Grammy nominated Sekou Sundiata and an afterword by Nikki Giovanni.*
Anthony Cody
Anthony Cody?was born in Fresno, California to children of born from immigrants of the Dust Bowl and Bracero Program. A graduate of CSU-Fresno, Anthony has been writing poetry since reading a poem in Spanish, he is a member of the Hmong American Writers? Circle. Anthony writes to capture the complexities of each moment and hopes that through writing, he, as well as others, can further understand our journey. His work has been previously published in?187 Reasons Mexicanos Can?t Cross The Border: Undocuments 1971-2007 (City Lights) and How Do I Begin?: A Hmong American Literary Anthology (Heyday), in which he was also co-editor. He currently lives in New York, NY.*
Michael Dauro
Michael Dauro is a graduate of Indiana University?s Creative Writing MFA Program. Before graduate school he lived in Japan for six years where he taught English through drama and the stage. While in Japan he studied Haiku, Calligraphy and the Shakuhachi. Michael has been nominated for an AWP Intro Award, and most recently was named a finalist for the ?2012-2013 Madeline P. Plonsker Emerging Writers Residency.
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Angel Garcia
?Angel Garcia has lived in several cities throughout Southern California.? He has worked in the field of education for several years as a tutor, residential advisor, instructor, and most recently as a coordinator for an educational non-profit in El Monte, CA.? Angel is currently completing his first collection of poetry and working on several nonfiction essays about Chicano masculinity.
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Carmen Gim?nez Smith
Carmen Gim?nez Smith is the author of a memoir, Bring Down the Little Birds (University of Arizona, 2010) and four poetry collections?Gender Fables (University of Arizona, 2013), Goodbye, Flicker(University of Massachusetts, 2012), The City She Was (Center for Literary Publishing, 2011) and Odalisque in Pieces (University of Arizona, 2009). She teaches in the creative writing program at New Mexico State University, while serving as the editor-in-chief of theliterary journal Puerto del Sol and the publisher of Noemi Press.
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?Juan Luis Guzm?n
Juan Luis Guzm?n was born and raised in California?s Central Valley, where he earned an MFA in Creative Writing from CSU, Fresno. A member of the Macondo Writers Workshop, his work has appeared in such journals as the San Joaquin Review and BorderSenses, and is forthcoming in Huizache. He teaches composition and community poetry workshops around the Valley and is at work on his first collection of poetry. He is a 2012 CantoMundo Fellow.
*
Raina J. Le?n, PhD, CantoMundo fellow (2012), Cave Canem graduate fellow (2006) and member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, has been published in numerous publications such as Natural Bridge, African American Review, OCHO, Black Arts Quarterly, Poem.Memoir.Story, The Packinghouse Review, among others. ?Her first collection of poetry, Canticle of Idols, was a finalist for both the Cave Canem First Book Poetry Prize (2005) and the Andr?s Montoya Poetry Prize (2006). ?Boogeyman Dawn (2013) was a finalist for the Naomi Long Magdett Poetry Prize (May 2010). ?She co-founded The Acentos Review (June 2008), an international quarterly online review fostering the work of Latina and Latino artists and writers. She is currently an assistant professor in the Single Subject Credential Program-English at St. Mary?s College of California.*
Javier Zamora
?Javier Zamora was born in La Herradura, La Paz, El Salvador. At the age of nine he immigrated to the Yunaited Estais. His chapbook, Nine Immigrant Years, is the winner of the 2011 Organic Weapon Arts Chapbook Contest. Zamora is a CantoMundo fellow and a Breadloaf work-study scholarship recipient. He has received scholarships from Frost Place, Napa Valley, Squaw Valley, and VONA. His poems appear or are forthcoming in DirtyLaundryLit, Good Times Magazine, New Border, Phat?titude, The Homestead Review, Spillway Magazine, among other journals. He will attend NYU?s MFA program in Fall 2012.Source: http://latinopoetryreview.blogspot.com/2012/08/mi-testimonio-es-asi-first-year.html
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