WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.440 align:middle line:90% 00:00:03.440 --> 00:00:05.600 align:middle line:84% Thank you very-- thank you very much. 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:07.340 align:middle line:90% It's amazing reading. 00:00:07.340 --> 00:00:09.860 align:middle line:84% And now we have about 15 minutes for some questions. 00:00:09.860 --> 00:00:13.070 align:middle line:90% 00:00:13.070 --> 00:00:15.490 align:middle line:90% Anyone want to start us out? 00:00:15.490 --> 00:00:15.990 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:00:15.990 --> 00:00:18.780 align:middle line:90% 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:23.880 align:middle line:84% Well, I have a question about the sort of editorial process. 00:00:23.880 --> 00:00:26.100 align:middle line:90% I mean, you're both editors. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.090 align:middle line:84% And this-- the new Camino Del Sol anthology 00:00:30.090 --> 00:00:31.260 align:middle line:90% is a wonderful achievement. 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:33.735 align:middle line:84% I wonder if you might talk a bit about the process? 00:00:33.735 --> 00:00:38.468 align:middle line:90% 00:00:38.468 --> 00:00:39.760 align:middle line:90% You want to talk about process? 00:00:39.760 --> 00:00:40.330 align:middle line:90% Oh, sure. 00:00:40.330 --> 00:00:44.050 align:middle line:90% 00:00:44.050 --> 00:00:46.450 align:middle line:84% Yeah, I am working as an editor now 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:50.035 align:middle line:84% and have done little editing projects here and there. 00:00:50.035 --> 00:00:52.700 align:middle line:90% 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:55.180 align:middle line:84% I think what I've learned about editing my own poems 00:00:55.180 --> 00:00:58.090 align:middle line:84% and about editing the work of others 00:00:58.090 --> 00:01:00.670 align:middle line:84% is that there's always that one-- 00:01:00.670 --> 00:01:02.530 align:middle line:84% there's always that one level deeper. 00:01:02.530 --> 00:01:04.877 align:middle line:90% And this is something-- 00:01:04.877 --> 00:01:07.210 align:middle line:84% writers have to keep reminding themselves there's always 00:01:07.210 --> 00:01:09.310 align:middle line:84% that one level deeper beyond "that's 00:01:09.310 --> 00:01:12.130 align:middle line:84% a nice sentence" or "that's a great description" or "that 00:01:12.130 --> 00:01:14.050 align:middle line:84% sounds like an interesting event." 00:01:14.050 --> 00:01:17.350 align:middle line:84% Well, those are all things that make for good conversation-- 00:01:17.350 --> 00:01:19.270 align:middle line:84% a good description, an interesting event. 00:01:19.270 --> 00:01:21.340 align:middle line:84% But there always has to be that one level deeper 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:24.910 align:middle line:84% to make it good literature, that one-- 00:01:24.910 --> 00:01:26.500 align:middle line:84% sometimes you use the word urgency-- 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:28.063 align:middle line:90% that one extra sense of urgency. 00:01:28.063 --> 00:01:29.980 align:middle line:84% So I don't know if this answers your question, 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:31.660 align:middle line:84% but I think what I've learned by editing 00:01:31.660 --> 00:01:34.392 align:middle line:84% is how to listen for that undercurrent of urgency 00:01:34.392 --> 00:01:35.350 align:middle line:90% in other people's work. 00:01:35.350 --> 00:01:36.610 align:middle line:84% And in my own work, I've learned how 00:01:36.610 --> 00:01:38.235 align:middle line:84% to listen for that a little bit better. 00:01:38.235 --> 00:01:42.700 align:middle line:84% Does that answer your question to some degree? 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.200 align:middle line:84% Really, my process is a little bit different. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.240 align:middle line:90% Maria edits for a journal. 00:01:47.240 --> 00:01:48.970 align:middle line:90% And so this journal-- 00:01:48.970 --> 00:01:51.250 align:middle line:84% we also had an anthology a while back too, huh? 00:01:51.250 --> 00:01:53.400 align:middle line:84% But for my project, and I never really thought-- 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:55.900 align:middle line:84% the many roles that I have, I never thought that editor will 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:59.860 align:middle line:84% be one of them until I was challenged by Patty Hartman, 00:01:59.860 --> 00:02:03.940 align:middle line:84% who is in the room, to edit this anthology-- 00:02:03.940 --> 00:02:08.250 align:middle line:84% this idea of putting together the best of-- it's 00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:10.430 align:middle line:84% sort of morphed to something a little bit different. 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:13.870 align:middle line:84% It's still the best, but it's a little different project 00:02:13.870 --> 00:02:17.200 align:middle line:84% in which I was going to look at 15 years of the Camino Del Sol 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:19.360 align:middle line:84% series which is an amazing series. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.240 align:middle line:90% And I praise it everywhere I go. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:26.620 align:middle line:84% And it's a series that I keep coming back to as a critic, 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:28.210 align:middle line:90% as a book reviewer. 00:02:28.210 --> 00:02:30.050 align:middle line:90% I'm so proud of this series. 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:34.840 align:middle line:84% And so when I took on this challenge, now 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:37.990 align:middle line:84% it became my opportunity to shape something 00:02:37.990 --> 00:02:41.440 align:middle line:84% different from what I had read because all of these projects, 00:02:41.440 --> 00:02:44.410 align:middle line:84% all these novels and story collections, 00:02:44.410 --> 00:02:46.540 align:middle line:84% there are so many ways to enter the book. 00:02:46.540 --> 00:02:49.060 align:middle line:84% And, as a critic, I find one way. 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:51.820 align:middle line:84% I identify that one way, and I introduce that to readers. 00:02:51.820 --> 00:02:55.300 align:middle line:84% And, you know, readers will disagree, they'll agree. 00:02:55.300 --> 00:03:00.070 align:middle line:84% Or, if they want, they can compare different reviews 00:03:00.070 --> 00:03:06.190 align:middle line:84% to see different ways that reviewers enter a book. 00:03:06.190 --> 00:03:08.440 align:middle line:84% So I thought, here, I'm going to have an opportunity 00:03:08.440 --> 00:03:11.470 align:middle line:84% to enter the anthology, enter the whole 15 years, 00:03:11.470 --> 00:03:14.320 align:middle line:84% that whole history of this project. 00:03:14.320 --> 00:03:19.870 align:middle line:84% And so I was very attuned to politics. 00:03:19.870 --> 00:03:21.160 align:middle line:90% Politics is very dear to me. 00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:26.573 align:middle line:84% I feel like ever since I became a proud Chicano, that I said, 00:03:26.573 --> 00:03:27.740 align:middle line:90% well, there's no going back. 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:29.860 align:middle line:84% I'm going to be political no matter what I do. 00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:32.763 align:middle line:84% Even when I'm not political, I end up being political. 00:03:32.763 --> 00:03:34.180 align:middle line:84% So, at this point, I said, well, I 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:36.800 align:middle line:84% guess that's something you can control after a while 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.200 align:middle line:84% so why not just own it, own up to it. 00:03:39.200 --> 00:03:41.740 align:middle line:84% And so that's what I did with this selection was 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:46.360 align:middle line:84% to really have my political lens but without compromising. 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.840 align:middle line:84% With political poetry, political writing doesn't always have to. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:52.090 align:middle line:84% Without compromising craft, without compromising 00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:52.930 align:middle line:90% the beauty. 00:03:52.930 --> 00:03:55.570 align:middle line:84% Because, at the end of the day, all these writers-- nobody 00:03:55.570 --> 00:03:57.490 align:middle line:84% sets out, or at least I don't think 00:03:57.490 --> 00:03:59.050 align:middle line:84% these writers did, set out and say, 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:00.997 align:middle line:84% I'm going to write a political poem. 00:04:00.997 --> 00:04:02.830 align:middle line:84% They said, now I'm going to go write poetry. 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:05.980 align:middle line:84% And, so, when we write, whenever we sit down and create, 00:04:05.980 --> 00:04:08.680 align:middle line:84% these different influences, whether or not we 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:11.740 align:middle line:84% have control over them, inform and guide us. 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:16.230 align:middle line:84% And I think that, for the Chicano Latino writer, 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:17.700 align:middle line:84% especially writing in these times, 00:04:17.700 --> 00:04:21.300 align:middle line:84% we just cannot escape politics and the political arena. 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.760 align:middle line:90% 00:04:24.760 --> 00:04:27.430 align:middle line:90% Your question? 00:04:27.430 --> 00:04:28.270 align:middle line:90% Thank you both. 00:04:28.270 --> 00:04:30.940 align:middle line:84% I've been really inspired by your readings. 00:04:30.940 --> 00:04:34.700 align:middle line:84% My question is related to family history. 00:04:34.700 --> 00:04:36.400 align:middle line:90% My father is a poet. 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:37.660 align:middle line:90% He lives with me. 00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:41.770 align:middle line:84% He's 77, and he drives me crazy reading his poetry to me. 00:04:41.770 --> 00:04:45.350 align:middle line:84% And I feel like I need to honor him before he dies. 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:46.630 align:middle line:90% He's very healthy. 00:04:46.630 --> 00:04:49.478 align:middle line:84% And he's hard of hearing, so he said 00:04:49.478 --> 00:04:50.770 align:middle line:90% it was too frustrating to come. 00:04:50.770 --> 00:04:52.070 align:middle line:90% But he came last year. 00:04:52.070 --> 00:04:55.480 align:middle line:84% So my question to you is, how can we honor and respect 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:59.740 align:middle line:84% our elders' writing and encourage it and get 00:04:59.740 --> 00:05:03.830 align:middle line:84% it published and keep it true to their view of the world? 00:05:03.830 --> 00:05:05.770 align:middle line:84% And my father writes a lot about immigration 00:05:05.770 --> 00:05:07.960 align:middle line:90% also and homelessness. 00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:10.990 align:middle line:84% He takes the bus all over Tucson, so he sees the world 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:11.860 align:middle line:90% and interprets it. 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:13.720 align:middle line:90% And, of course, I'm biased. 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:16.660 align:middle line:84% I think his poetry is very clever and bright. 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:18.040 align:middle line:90% And he writes it in Spanish. 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:23.380 align:middle line:84% So what tips can you give me on living with a poet? 00:05:23.380 --> 00:05:24.980 align:middle line:90% That's a great question. 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:27.070 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:05:27.070 --> 00:05:28.840 align:middle line:90% Yeah, all right. 00:05:28.840 --> 00:05:31.180 align:middle line:84% I don't know about tips for living with a poet, 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:36.050 align:middle line:84% but I'll give you my husband's Facebook info. 00:05:36.050 --> 00:05:38.290 align:middle line:84% You can friend him and commiserate. 00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:43.390 align:middle line:84% But your other question about lifting up our ancestors 00:05:43.390 --> 00:05:46.990 align:middle line:84% as our writers and our ancestors as voices 00:05:46.990 --> 00:05:50.230 align:middle line:84% in our literary traditions, I think 00:05:50.230 --> 00:05:56.620 align:middle line:84% that in some cases with writers in their 70s, writers 00:05:56.620 --> 00:06:02.710 align:middle line:84% in their 80s who have these sort of cultural gems in a way 00:06:02.710 --> 00:06:04.755 align:middle line:84% at their disposal and when they're distilling 00:06:04.755 --> 00:06:06.130 align:middle line:84% their memories of their own lives 00:06:06.130 --> 00:06:07.547 align:middle line:84% and how their own lives interfaced 00:06:07.547 --> 00:06:10.660 align:middle line:84% with political activity of their own time, 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:15.730 align:middle line:84% I think that sometimes self-publishing is the way 00:06:15.730 --> 00:06:19.540 align:middle line:84% to go to kind of preserve what he's done. 00:06:19.540 --> 00:06:22.330 align:middle line:84% I mean, when you're a younger writer starting out, 00:06:22.330 --> 00:06:24.280 align:middle line:84% there's a huge stigma against self-publishing. 00:06:24.280 --> 00:06:28.000 align:middle line:84% But when-- pardon the frankness, but when the clock is ticking, 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.480 align:middle line:90% I think, more overtly-- 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.430 align:middle line:84% I mean, nobody can predict their future or their lifespan-- 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:39.820 align:middle line:84% but I think that that's the way to go with the proviso that-- 00:06:39.820 --> 00:06:43.990 align:middle line:84% this is a trend that I've seen-- that some of these writers 00:06:43.990 --> 00:06:47.800 align:middle line:84% can work with professional editors, can work with people 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:51.970 align:middle line:84% who can advise them in terms of how to shape a work like that. 00:06:51.970 --> 00:06:55.070 align:middle line:84% Then you'll have it as a document and as a record. 00:06:55.070 --> 00:06:57.040 align:middle line:84% And then if something comes of it after that, 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.580 align:middle line:84% after it has appeared in a self-published form, great. 00:07:00.580 --> 00:07:03.550 align:middle line:84% If it ends up getting picked up by a commercial press, great. 00:07:03.550 --> 00:07:08.110 align:middle line:84% But I think there is a commendable trend these days 00:07:08.110 --> 00:07:11.740 align:middle line:84% of these seniors who never would have thought 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:13.390 align:middle line:84% of themselves as professional writers 00:07:13.390 --> 00:07:15.223 align:middle line:84% but he probably thought of himself as a poet 00:07:15.223 --> 00:07:18.198 align:middle line:84% his whole life just sort of taking things 00:07:18.198 --> 00:07:20.740 align:middle line:84% into their own hands and saying, I'm going to hire an editor, 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:22.460 align:middle line:84% I'm going to get this book out, I'm going to get it done. 00:07:22.460 --> 00:07:23.560 align:middle line:90% And so that's one approach. 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:24.550 align:middle line:90% There's a number of approaches. 00:07:24.550 --> 00:07:26.480 align:middle line:84% But to very directly answer your question, 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:28.522 align:middle line:84% how do I preserve and honor his work as a writer, 00:07:28.522 --> 00:07:30.790 align:middle line:90% that's one way to think of it. 00:07:30.790 --> 00:07:33.100 align:middle line:84% Does that address what you raised? 00:07:33.100 --> 00:07:34.480 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.060 align:middle line:84% Just to add to that, there's technology. 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:38.980 align:middle line:84% The wonderful thing about technology 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:43.240 align:middle line:84% is that there are possibilities and resources available to us 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:44.770 align:middle line:90% now then ever before. 00:07:44.770 --> 00:07:46.270 align:middle line:84% I mean, I really regret that I never 00:07:46.270 --> 00:07:49.090 align:middle line:84% had a chance to record my great grandparents when 00:07:49.090 --> 00:07:50.470 align:middle line:90% they were alive. 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:52.600 align:middle line:84% You know, I didn't have the kind of technology 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:54.350 align:middle line:90% that would preserve itself. 00:07:54.350 --> 00:07:55.550 align:middle line:90% And, now, with the-- 00:07:55.550 --> 00:07:59.230 align:middle line:84% you can upload things on the computer on the internet. 00:07:59.230 --> 00:08:02.080 align:middle line:84% And it sounds like it's an amazing oral history what 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:03.110 align:middle line:90% I'm hearing here. 00:08:03.110 --> 00:08:06.400 align:middle line:84% So the best way to really preserve and to document that 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:08.030 align:middle line:90% would be to record. 00:08:08.030 --> 00:08:10.120 align:middle line:84% And because there are so many things 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:11.710 align:middle line:90% that are going to be lost-- 00:08:11.710 --> 00:08:16.390 align:middle line:84% whenever one of our elders dies, we lose so much. 00:08:16.390 --> 00:08:19.360 align:middle line:84% And, my family, we've gone through it so often now where 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.840 align:middle line:84% we lose family recipes, we lose [SPANISH],, 00:08:22.840 --> 00:08:26.590 align:middle line:84% we do, we lose part of our migration history 00:08:26.590 --> 00:08:28.893 align:middle line:84% because they seem like they're going to live forever. 00:08:28.893 --> 00:08:30.310 align:middle line:84% They're always going to be around, 00:08:30.310 --> 00:08:32.531 align:middle line:84% so we just call them up and ask if we need to know. 00:08:32.531 --> 00:08:34.239 align:middle line:84% But, you know, it's not the way it works. 00:08:34.239 --> 00:08:43.910 align:middle line:90% 00:08:43.910 --> 00:08:44.410 align:middle line:90% Thanks. 00:08:44.410 --> 00:08:46.930 align:middle line:90% 00:08:46.930 --> 00:08:48.850 align:middle line:84% Once again, I'd just like to thank. 00:08:48.850 --> 00:08:51.910 align:middle line:84% You we both did a great job of reading. 00:08:51.910 --> 00:08:54.490 align:middle line:84% As a result, probably, a lot of people in the audience 00:08:54.490 --> 00:08:57.820 align:middle line:84% have the power of poetry flowing through them. 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:01.810 align:middle line:84% The question I have is of the last poem that was read. 00:09:01.810 --> 00:09:06.940 align:middle line:84% Did that come to you as one long unfolding, 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.205 align:middle line:84% or did it come to you more in segments? 00:09:09.205 --> 00:09:14.170 align:middle line:90% 00:09:14.170 --> 00:09:19.810 align:middle line:84% Well, going back, it's inspired by the pillow book, by this-- 00:09:19.810 --> 00:09:23.080 align:middle line:84% I think it was an 11th century courtesan, Sei Shonagon who 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:26.245 align:middle line:90% kept a personal diary. 00:09:26.245 --> 00:09:28.120 align:middle line:84% And if you ever have a chance to look at it-- 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:31.420 align:middle line:84% I use it so much in my writing classes 00:09:31.420 --> 00:09:34.660 align:middle line:84% whenever I have students that say they've got writer's block. 00:09:34.660 --> 00:09:36.430 align:middle line:84% It's always an excuse-- writer's block. 00:09:36.430 --> 00:09:42.400 align:middle line:84% And I use it as a way to generate writing. 00:09:42.400 --> 00:09:43.990 align:middle line:84% And this pillow book is interesting. 00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:47.590 align:middle line:84% It begins with this woman writing things-- 00:09:47.590 --> 00:09:49.450 align:middle line:84% very simple things like things that are red, 00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:52.210 align:middle line:84% things that are cold, things that are hot. 00:09:52.210 --> 00:09:53.770 align:middle line:84% And then, eventually, you can see 00:09:53.770 --> 00:09:55.780 align:middle line:84% how she is educating herself, and they 00:09:55.780 --> 00:09:58.600 align:middle line:84% become more and more complex that by the end of the book 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:00.910 align:middle line:84% you feel as if she has really moved 00:10:00.910 --> 00:10:04.030 align:middle line:84% into the other areas of this world of hers-- 00:10:04.030 --> 00:10:07.480 align:middle line:84% not just colors and temperatures, but emotions 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:08.775 align:middle line:90% and complicated emotions. 00:10:08.775 --> 00:10:10.150 align:middle line:84% It's a wonderful, wonderful book. 00:10:10.150 --> 00:10:12.608 align:middle line:84% And it's something I've always wanted to do something with. 00:10:12.608 --> 00:10:18.250 align:middle line:84% And I thought about in what other area, in what other area 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:20.320 align:middle line:84% would this apply-- this idea of bringing out 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:24.460 align:middle line:84% a very sacred voice, a voice that is perceived 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.700 align:middle line:84% as not worth listening to, a voice that 00:10:27.700 --> 00:10:30.800 align:middle line:90% is a silence that is ignored. 00:10:30.800 --> 00:10:33.130 align:middle line:84% And, at the wall, the border crossers-- 00:10:33.130 --> 00:10:37.070 align:middle line:84% we know their tragedies and we know that part of the story. 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:39.070 align:middle line:90% But we don't the other parts. 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.140 align:middle line:84% And I thought, well, it's almost like a mirror, 00:10:41.140 --> 00:10:44.350 align:middle line:84% you know, that of Sei Shonagon So I 00:10:44.350 --> 00:10:46.810 align:middle line:84% thought I'm going to write this long piece. 00:10:46.810 --> 00:10:49.960 align:middle line:84% And it's really short compared to what Sei Shonagon 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:51.130 align:middle line:90% she wrote a whole book. 00:10:51.130 --> 00:10:53.800 align:middle line:84% Mine has only like a three or four pages. 00:10:53.800 --> 00:10:55.510 align:middle line:84% So I conceived it as something long, 00:10:55.510 --> 00:10:59.970 align:middle line:84% but I also knew that I had to end it somehow. 00:10:59.970 --> 00:11:01.420 align:middle line:84% And so it's a very short journey. 00:11:01.420 --> 00:11:02.962 align:middle line:84% I thought, well, that's another one-- 00:11:02.962 --> 00:11:06.820 align:middle line:84% that it's a very long journey that's cut short so tragically, 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:09.395 align:middle line:90% so quickly. 00:11:09.395 --> 00:11:10.520 align:middle line:90% Time for one more question. 00:11:10.520 --> 00:11:15.650 align:middle line:90% 00:11:15.650 --> 00:11:16.220 align:middle line:90% Oh, gosh. 00:11:16.220 --> 00:11:19.530 align:middle line:90% 00:11:19.530 --> 00:11:21.580 align:middle line:84% Nicole, you didn't tell me about this part. 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.010 align:middle line:84% You have to run all the way across the auditorium. 00:11:24.010 --> 00:11:27.660 align:middle line:90% 00:11:27.660 --> 00:11:30.690 align:middle line:84% How do you bridge the gap between ego and opinion? 00:11:30.690 --> 00:11:33.000 align:middle line:84% When you have something that you feel is really tight 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.490 align:middle line:84% and poetry is so subjective, and then 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:39.030 align:middle line:84% you have an editor that maybe wants to rearrange things 00:11:39.030 --> 00:11:41.518 align:middle line:84% in a different form, are there problems with that? 00:11:41.518 --> 00:11:42.810 align:middle line:90% Have you had to deal with that? 00:11:42.810 --> 00:11:46.940 align:middle line:90% 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.700 align:middle line:84% The question was bridging the gap between ego and opinion 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:51.170 align:middle line:84% and then, more specifically, how do 00:11:51.170 --> 00:11:53.900 align:middle line:84% you deal with editorial differences of opinion. 00:11:53.900 --> 00:12:00.660 align:middle line:84% And, in my case, I haven't necessarily, I don't think, 00:12:00.660 --> 00:12:02.230 align:middle line:84% had to deal with too many editorial 00:12:02.230 --> 00:12:04.730 align:middle line:84% differences of opinion with the University of Arizona Press. 00:12:04.730 --> 00:12:07.760 align:middle line:84% There have been some cases where we looked at some of the poems 00:12:07.760 --> 00:12:11.570 align:middle line:84% in here that are more risky that I didn't read out loud today, 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:13.670 align:middle line:84% and we had to sort of consider them together. 00:12:13.670 --> 00:12:15.950 align:middle line:84% But I always felt like that was a joint process. 00:12:15.950 --> 00:12:19.670 align:middle line:84% We were considering the poem and its consequences together. 00:12:19.670 --> 00:12:23.900 align:middle line:84% Where I come up with differences of opinion is with my friends 00:12:23.900 --> 00:12:25.910 align:middle line:84% and my writing groups-- various writing groups 00:12:25.910 --> 00:12:26.420 align:middle line:90% I've been a part of. 00:12:26.420 --> 00:12:27.920 align:middle line:84% And I'm not speaking of Rigoberto here 00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:28.670 align:middle line:90% I should just say. 00:12:28.670 --> 00:12:31.550 align:middle line:84% But others of my writing friends have at various points 00:12:31.550 --> 00:12:35.450 align:middle line:84% said of some of the poems in here, take this poem out. 00:12:35.450 --> 00:12:36.500 align:middle line:90% It's too political. 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:39.050 align:middle line:84% This poem doesn't represent you well, 00:12:39.050 --> 00:12:42.470 align:middle line:84% or this poem has too strong of a voice 00:12:42.470 --> 00:12:44.900 align:middle line:84% or is too strident, too opinionated. 00:12:44.900 --> 00:12:48.200 align:middle line:84% And so how did I deal with that input? 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.440 align:middle line:90% 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:56.180 align:middle line:84% I think I have never rejected someone's opinion out of hand. 00:12:56.180 --> 00:13:00.080 align:middle line:84% I like to try and consider it and consider 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.923 align:middle line:84% what the implications of the suggestion are. 00:13:02.923 --> 00:13:04.340 align:middle line:84% And then I look at the poem again, 00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:07.580 align:middle line:84% and I say, well, what do I really want this poem to do? 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:10.310 align:middle line:90% What do I really have to say? 00:13:10.310 --> 00:13:12.940 align:middle line:90% 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.713 align:middle line:90% What can I not not say? 00:13:15.713 --> 00:13:16.630 align:middle line:90% What do I have to say? 00:13:16.630 --> 00:13:19.030 align:middle line:84% What does this poem have to have to say? 00:13:19.030 --> 00:13:21.910 align:middle line:84% And then, whatever that is, I let 00:13:21.910 --> 00:13:27.130 align:middle line:84% it live as it is, regardless of the peck, peck, peck, peck, 00:13:27.130 --> 00:13:30.158 align:middle line:84% peck, peck, that happens because you can't please everyone. 00:13:30.158 --> 00:13:31.450 align:middle line:90% Does that answer your question? 00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:36.200 align:middle line:90% 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:39.680 align:middle line:84% All right, let's thank our readers Maria Menendez 00:13:39.680 --> 00:13:41.420 align:middle line:90% and Rigoberto Gonzalez. 00:13:41.420 --> 00:13:43.570 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much.