WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.440 align:middle line:90% 00:00:03.440 --> 00:00:05.590 align:middle line:84% Thank you very much-- thank you very much. 00:00:05.590 --> 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 --> 00:00:15.470 align:middle line:90% Anyone want to start us out? 00:00:15.470 --> 00:00:15.970 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:00:15.970 --> 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 --> 00:00:38.460 align:middle line:90% 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:39.760 align:middle line:90% You want to talk about process? 00:00:39.760 --> 00:00:40.300 align:middle line:90% Oh, sure. 00:00:40.300 --> 00:00:44.050 align:middle line:90% 00:00:44.050 --> 00:00:46.450 align:middle line:84% Yeah, I am-- 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 --> 00:00:52.710 align:middle line:90% 00:00:52.710 --> 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 --> 00:01:05.582 align:middle line:84% And this is something we writers have 00:01:05.582 --> 00:01:06.790 align:middle line:90% to keep reminding themselves. 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:08.890 align:middle line:84% There's always that one level deeper beyond, 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:11.650 align:middle line:84% that's a nice sentence, or that's a great description, 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:14.050 align:middle line:84% or that 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 --> 00:01:23.050 align:middle line:90% to make it good literature. 00:01:23.050 --> 00:01:26.500 align:middle line:84% That one-- sometimes I 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 --> 00:01:34.440 align:middle line:84% is how to listen for that undercurrent of urgency 00:01:34.440 --> 00:01:36.190 align:middle line:84% in other people's work and in my own work. 00:01:36.190 --> 00:01:38.523 align:middle line:84% I've learned how to listen for that a little bit better. 00:01:38.523 --> 00:01:42.700 align:middle line:84% Does that answer your question to some degree? 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:44.890 align:middle line:84% Really, my process is a little bit different. 00:01:44.890 --> 00:01:47.240 align:middle line:84% I know 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 --> 00:01:51.280 align:middle line:84% we also did an anthology a while back, too. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.280 align:middle line:84% But for my project-- and I never really thought, 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:54.822 align:middle line:84% you know, the many roles that I have, 00:01:54.822 --> 00:01:57.100 align:middle line:84% I never thought the editor would be one of them 00:01:57.100 --> 00:02:00.910 align:middle line:84% until I was challenged by Patty Hartman, who was in the room, 00:02:00.910 --> 00:02:03.730 align:middle line:90% to edit this anthology. 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:07.060 align:middle line:84% This idea of putting together the best 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:09.880 align:middle line:84% of-- which it's sort of morphed to something a little bit 00:02:09.880 --> 00:02:10.430 align:middle line:90% 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 --> 00:02:19.330 align:middle line:84% series, which is an amazing series. 00:02:19.330 --> 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 --> 00:02:37.808 align:middle line:84% it became my opportunity to shape something 00:02:37.808 --> 00:02:39.100 align:middle line:90% different from what I had read. 00:02:39.100 --> 00:02:42.910 align:middle line:84% Because all of these projects, all these novels 00:02:42.910 --> 00:02:44.830 align:middle line:84% and story collections-- there are so 00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:46.900 align:middle line:90% many ways to enter the book. 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:49.060 align:middle line:90% 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 --> 00:02:55.960 align:middle line:84% And readers will disagree, they'll agree, or if they want, 00:02:55.960 --> 00:03:00.070 align:middle line:84% they can compare different reviews 00:03:00.070 --> 00:03:05.300 align:middle line:84% to see different ways that the reviewers enter a book. 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:07.300 align:middle line:84% So I thought, well, I'm going to here-- is here, 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:09.820 align:middle line:84% I'm going to have an opportunity to enter the anthology, 00:03:09.820 --> 00:03:14.320 align:middle line:84% into the whole 15 years, a 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 --> 00:03:21.190 align:middle line:90% Politics very dear to me. 00:03:21.190 --> 00:03:26.032 align:middle line:84% I feel like ever since I became a Chicano, proud Chicano, 00:03:26.032 --> 00:03:27.740 align:middle line:84% that I said, 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 --> 00:03:32.805 align:middle line:84% Even when I'm not political, I end up being political. 00:03:32.805 --> 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 not something you can control after a while. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:38.080 align:middle line:90% So why not just own it? 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:39.170 align:middle line:90% Own up to it. 00:03:39.170 --> 00:03:41.410 align:middle line:84% And so that's what I did with this selection, 00:03:41.410 --> 00:03:44.530 align:middle line:84% was to really have my political lens, 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:47.848 align:middle line:84% but without compromising-- with political poetry, 00:03:47.848 --> 00:03:49.390 align:middle line:84% political writing doesn't always have 00:03:49.390 --> 00:03:52.090 align:middle line:84% to-- 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 to say, 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:01.130 align:middle line:84% I'm going to write a political poem. 00:04:01.130 --> 00:04:02.860 align:middle line:84% They say I'm going to go write poetry. 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:05.980 align:middle line:84% And so when we write, whenever we sit down and create, 00:04:05.980 --> 00:04:08.020 align:middle line:90% these different influences-- 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:11.740 align:middle line:84% whether or not we 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 --> 00:04:20.190 align:middle line:84% especially right in these times, we just cannot escape politics 00:04:20.190 --> 00:04:21.300 align:middle line:90% and that 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% Any questions? 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 --> 00:04:36.370 align:middle line:90% My father is a poet. 00:04:36.370 --> 00:04:38.650 align:middle line:90% He lives with me, he's 77. 00:04:38.650 --> 00:04:41.770 align:middle line:84% And he drives me crazy reading his poetry to me. 00:04:41.770 --> 00:04:44.950 align:middle line:84% And I feel like I need to honor him before he 00:04:44.950 --> 00:04:46.630 align:middle line:90% dies-- he's very healthy. 00:04:46.630 --> 00:04:49.900 align:middle line:84% And he's hard of hearing, so he wouldn't-- he said it was too 00:04:49.900 --> 00:04:52.070 align:middle line:84% frustrating to come, 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 --> 00:05:03.850 align:middle line:84% it published, and keep it true to their view of the world? 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:06.550 align:middle line:84% And my father writes a lot about immigration, also. 00:05:06.550 --> 00:05:07.960 align:middle line:90% And homelessness. 00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:09.490 align:middle line:84% He takes the bus all over Tucson. 00:05:09.490 --> 00:05:11.860 align:middle line:84% So he sees the world 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 --> 00:05:24.970 align:middle line:90% That's a great question. 00:05:24.970 --> 00:05:27.070 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:05:27.070 --> 00:05:28.870 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:05:28.870 --> 00:05:31.180 align:middle line:84% I don't know about tips for living with a poet, 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:35.170 align:middle line:84% but I'll give you my husband's Facebook info. 00:05:35.170 --> 00:05:38.290 align:middle line:84% You can friend him and commiserate. 00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:42.550 align:middle line:84% But your other question about lifting up 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:45.610 align:middle line:84% our ancestors as our writers and our ancestors as voice-- 00:05:45.610 --> 00:05:49.600 align:middle line:84% as, you know, voices in our literary traditions, 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:56.620 align:middle line:84% I think that in some cases, with writers in their 70s, writers 00:05:56.620 --> 00:06:02.170 align:middle line:84% in their 80s, who have these sort of cultural gems, 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:04.755 align:middle line:84% in a way, at their disposal 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 --> 00:06:14.740 align:middle line:84% I think that sometimes self-publishing 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:19.540 align:middle line:84% is the way 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 --> 00:06:26.560 align:middle line:84% But when it-- pardon the frankness, 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:31.480 align:middle line:84% but when the clock is ticking, 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 --> 00:06:36.580 align:middle line:84% but I think that that's the way to go. 00:06:36.580 --> 00:06:39.790 align:middle line:90% With the proviso that-- 00:06:39.790 --> 00:06:41.110 align:middle line:90% this is a trend that I've seen. 00:06:41.110 --> 00:06:45.970 align:middle line:84% That some of these writers can work with professional editors, 00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:48.820 align:middle line:84% can work with people who can advise them 00:06:48.820 --> 00:06:51.970 align:middle line:84% in terms of how to shape a work like that. 00:06:51.970 --> 00:06:54.933 align:middle line:84% Then you'll have it as a document and as a record. 00:06:54.933 --> 00:06:56.350 align:middle line:84% And then if something comes of it, 00:06:56.350 --> 00:07:00.580 align:middle line:84% after that after 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 --> 00:07:14.807 align:middle line:84% but he probably thought of himself 00:07:14.807 --> 00:07:17.768 align:middle line:84% as a poet his whole life, just sort 00:07:17.768 --> 00:07:19.810 align:middle line:84% of taking things into their own hands and saying, 00:07:19.810 --> 00:07:20.740 align:middle line:84% you know, 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 --> 00:07:32.860 align:middle line:84% Does that address what you raised? 00:07:32.860 --> 00:07:34.480 align:middle line:90% 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:35.440 align:middle line:90% Just to add to that. 00:07:35.440 --> 00:07:37.600 align:middle line:84% There's technology-- the wonderful thing 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.120 align:middle line:84% about technology is that there are 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.240 align:middle line:84% possibilities and resources available to us 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:44.770 align:middle line:90% now than 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 --> 00:07:55.270 align:middle line:90% And now with the-- 00:07:55.270 --> 00:07:56.470 align:middle line:90% you know, you can put it-- 00:07:56.470 --> 00:07:59.230 align:middle line:84% upload things on the computer, on the internet. 00:07:59.230 --> 00:08:01.450 align:middle line:84% And it sounds like it's an amazing oral history. 00:08:01.450 --> 00:08:03.110 align:middle line:90% I mean, what 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 --> 00:08:08.110 align:middle line:90% would be to record. 00:08:08.110 --> 00:08:10.570 align:middle line:84% And because there are so many things that 00:08:10.570 --> 00:08:14.740 align:middle line:84% are going to be lost whenever one of our elders dies, 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:16.360 align:middle line:90% we lose so much. 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:18.820 align:middle line:84% In my family, we've gone through it so often now, 00:08:18.820 --> 00:08:21.190 align:middle line:90% where we lose family recipes. 00:08:21.190 --> 00:08:22.840 align:middle line:90% We lose the rituals. 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 --> 00:08:32.572 align:middle line:84% so we just call them up and ask if we need to know. 00:08:32.572 --> 00:08:34.239 align:middle line:84% But you know, it's not the way it works. 00:08:34.239 --> 00:08:46.930 align:middle line:90% 00:08:46.930 --> 00:08:49.100 align:middle line:84% Once again, just like to thank you. 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:51.880 align:middle line:84% You both did a great job of reading. 00:08:51.880 --> 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 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 --> 00:09:11.032 align:middle line:84% or did it come to you more in segments? 00:09:11.032 --> 00:09:12.850 align:middle line:90% Yeah, that's you. 00:09:12.850 --> 00:09:14.170 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:09:14.170 --> 00:09:15.700 align:middle line:90% Well, you know, it's-- 00:09:15.700 --> 00:09:19.270 align:middle line:84% going back, it's inspired by the Pillow Book. 00:09:19.270 --> 00:09:21.740 align:middle line:84% By this, I think, it was 11th century courtesan, 00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:25.703 align:middle line:84% Sei Shonagon, who kept a kind of personal diary. 00:09:25.703 --> 00:09:28.120 align:middle line:84% And in this-- 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 --> 00:09:34.570 align:middle line:84% Whenever I have students that say they've got writer's block, 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:36.430 align:middle line:84% or 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 --> 00:09:47.780 align:middle line:84% It begins with this woman writing things, very simple 00:09:47.780 --> 00:09:48.280 align:middle line:90% things. 00:09:48.280 --> 00:09:51.580 align:middle line:84% Like things that are red, things that are cold, things that 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:52.210 align:middle line:90% are hot. 00:09:52.210 --> 00:09:55.420 align:middle line:84% And then eventually, you can see how she is educating herself, 00:09:55.420 --> 00:09:57.490 align:middle line:84% and they become more and more complex. 00:09:57.490 --> 00:10:00.400 align:middle line:84% That by the end of the book, you feel as if she has really 00:10:00.400 --> 00:10:04.750 align:middle line:84% moved into the other areas of this world of hers, not just 00:10:04.750 --> 00:10:08.080 align:middle line:84% colors and temperatures, but emotions and complicated 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:08.742 align:middle line:90% emotions. 00:10:08.742 --> 00:10:10.450 align:middle line:84% It's a wonderful, wonderful book and it's 00:10:10.450 --> 00:10:12.550 align:middle line:84% something I've always wanted to do something with. 00:10:12.550 --> 00:10:16.000 align:middle line:84% And I thought about in what other area-- 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.250 align:middle line:90% in what other area am I-- 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:20.320 align:middle line:84% would this apply, this idea of bringing out 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:21.770 align:middle line:90% a very sacred voice. 00:10:21.770 --> 00:10:26.950 align:middle line:84% A voice that is perceived as not worth listening to. 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:30.800 align:middle line:84% A voice that is silenced, that is ignored. 00:10:30.800 --> 00:10:33.130 align:middle line:84% And I thought, well, you know, 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 --> 00:10:38.880 align:middle line:90% But we don't the other parts. 00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:40.630 align:middle line:84% And I thought, well, this is-- it's almost 00:10:40.630 --> 00:10:44.140 align:middle line:84% like a mirroring of that, of Sei Shonagon. 00:10:44.140 --> 00:10:46.810 align:middle line:84% So I thought, you know, 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 has done. 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:51.130 align:middle line:90% She wrote a whole book. 00:10:51.130 --> 00:10:53.140 align:middle line:84% Mine is only like three or four pages. 00:10:53.140 --> 00:10:55.510 align:middle line:84% But-- so I conceived it as something long, 00:10:55.510 --> 00:10:59.920 align:middle line:84% but I also knew that I had to end it somehow. 00:10:59.920 --> 00:11:01.420 align:middle line:84% And so it's a very short journey. 00:11:01.420 --> 00:11:02.920 align:middle line:84% I thought, well, that's another one. 00:11:02.920 --> 00:11:06.370 align:middle line:84% That it's a very long journey that's cut short so, so 00:11:06.370 --> 00:11:09.395 align:middle line:90% tragically, 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 --> 00:11:19.455 align:middle line:90% 00:11:19.455 --> 00:11:21.580 align:middle line:84% Cybele, you didn't have to tell me about this part. 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.010 align:middle line:84% We 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 --> 00:11:35.380 align:middle line:90% and poetry is so subjective. 00:11:35.380 --> 00:11:39.000 align:middle line:84% And then you have an editor that maybe wants to rearrange things 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:40.650 align:middle line:84% in a different form, do you have-- is 00:11:40.650 --> 00:11:41.670 align:middle line:84% there-- are there problems with that? 00:11:41.670 --> 00:11:43.545 align:middle line:84% Do you have-- have you had to deal with that? 00:11:43.545 --> 00:11:46.940 align:middle line:90% 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.687 align:middle line:84% The question was bridging the gap between ego and opinion 00:11:49.687 --> 00:11:51.270 align:middle line:84% and then more specifically, how do you 00:11:51.270 --> 00:11:53.900 align:middle line:84% deal with editorial differences of opinion? 00:11:53.900 --> 00:11:59.900 align:middle line:84% And in my case, I haven't necessarily, 00:11:59.900 --> 00:12:02.230 align:middle line:84% I don't think, 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 --> 00:12:11.030 align:middle line:84% in here that are more risky, that I didn't read out 00:12:11.030 --> 00:12:11.570 align:middle line:90% 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 --> 00:12:22.040 align:middle line:84% Where I come up with differences of opinion 00:12:22.040 --> 00:12:25.295 align:middle line:84% is with my friends and my writing groups, various writing 00:12:25.295 --> 00:12:26.420 align:middle line:90% groups I've been a part of. 00:12:26.420 --> 00:12:28.795 align:middle line:84% And I'm not speaking of Gilberto here, I should just say. 00:12:28.795 --> 00:12:31.550 align:middle line:84% But others of my writing friends have, at various points, 00:12:31.550 --> 00:12:34.340 align:middle line:84% said of some of the poems in here, 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:36.500 align:middle line:84% take this poem out-- 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 --> 00:13:02.965 align:middle line:84% what the implications of the suggestion are. 00:13:02.965 --> 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% What can I not-- 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 --> 00:13:24.370 align:middle line:84% And then whatever that is, I let it live as it is, regardless 00:13:24.370 --> 00:13:27.790 align:middle line:84% of the peck, peck, peck, peck, peck that 00:13:27.790 --> 00:13:30.158 align:middle line:84% 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 --> 00:13:36.770 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:13:36.770 --> 00:13:41.420 align:middle line:84% Let's thank our readers Maria Melendez Gilberto Gonzalez. 00:13:41.420 --> 00:13:43.570 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much.