Although the man and his work will
be familiar to many of you, we can
be very proud to welcome Juan Felipe Herrera back to Tucson
today, especially because it was just
announced on Thursday night in New York
that he is the winner this year of the National Book Critics
Circle Award for poetry.
[APPLAUSE]
This is his book, Half of the World in Light,
which is the prize winner.
I want to point out to you that this
is a product of our own University of Arizona Press.
[APPLAUSE]
Part of it is a bargain because it includes
not only the written word selected for many of his books,
but also as part of the package, you
get a CD of Mr. Herrera reading his work from many other books
as well.
So I want to plug this book but also
to tell you he has another new book
out from City Lights Publishing, 187 Reasons
Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border.
Juan Felipe Herrera is no stranger to awards,
nor can many poets claim so much success and recognition
in a career not only established but also outlaw diverse.
In addition to nearly 30 books, some for children
and adolescents, as well as many more for adult readers,
Mr. Herrera has written plays and libretto
for musical theater.
And he has founded theatrical and musical performance
ensembles in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego, the Bay
Area.
And I'm not even sure that's a complete list.
In addition to a lifetime of involvement in community arts
outreach, he has enjoyed a diverse teaching career.
Today, he occupies the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair
at the University of California, Riverside.
And he serves as Director of the Art in Barbara Culver
Center for the Arts in downtown Riverside, California.
His awards include two National Foundation for the Arts writers
fellowships, four California Arts Council
grants, the Berkeley Regents fellowship, numerous poetry
awards, and best book selections in both Bread Loaf and Stanford
fellowships.
He received his BA in Social Anthropology from UCLA,
his Master's from Stanford, and an MFA in creative writing
from the University of Iowa.
An early and active participant in the Chicano Movimiento,
Juan Felipe Herrera's poems are grounded
in the personal experiences of his family
and the political and social life of Chicano culture,
yet the influences on his writing are cosmopolitan.
One reviewer compares his use of slang
and the long discursive line to Allen Ginsberg.
Herrera himself has recently described both nature
and culture as the sources of inspiration
and claims an interest in post-war poets
of Central Eastern Europe.
Anyway, I thought I would try to give you
a stylistic description of his work,
but it's really impossible to pigeonhole.
There's a strong element of spoken-word poetry.
But also, he's written sensitively
in academic forms in both English and Spanish.
He's had experiments in language poetry
and conceptual and concrete modes, which are also apparent
in his work.
And so like you, I'm curious and excited to see what he will
honor us with this afternoon.
[APPLAUSE]