WEBVTT

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Hello.

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When I first started
reading Margarita's work,

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I was struck by how the
personal narratives empowered

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the history behind her stories.

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As a student of
history, I'm always

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excited to see fiction
and poetry take

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on historical narratives,
especially challenging

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or understated histories.

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When I was growing
up, historical fiction

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wasn't the most
popular of genres.

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It was hard to find
strong work that

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let me live through the history,
experience it, not just read it

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in a book.

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I think that this is something
Engle's prose poems excel at.

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She lets us live the history
she is presenting to us.

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Her work fosters
interest and curiosity.

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While teaching her
work, I had a student

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who sought out further history
on Cuba and its revolutions

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after reading "The
Surrender Tree."

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That is what history, fiction,
and poetry are all about.

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That's what writing is about.

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It's about creating a
dialogue between the reader

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and the text.

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Engle weaves the history
within the poetry

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to create a personal
connection for the reader

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in a seamless manner.

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During the lessons when students
read their favorite parts

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aloud, I could see them
connect to the characters,

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to the experiences,
and it helped

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them weave their own experiences
into narratives of their own.

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They brought their
passion into writing

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by mimicking what Engle does and
bringing the details of botany

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by describing vividly
the environment

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around the characters.

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In "The Surrender Tree,"
Engle includes the meanings

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for different flowers.

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Yellow acacia flowers
whispers secrets of love.

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The fragrant blue
Rosemary speaks of memory.

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White yarrow foretells war.

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It is the language of the
protagonist knows best,

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and the descriptions
of the flowers

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tell us as much
about the character

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as it does about the
plants themselves.

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In one of the
residencies, a student

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mentioned how the
language helped

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him imagine the
people and the places

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more clearly, how the
setting inspired him

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in the writing activity.

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What I enjoyed the
most about Engle's work

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was the descriptions,
the little lines that got

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stuck in my head.

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One of my favorite
examples of this

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is from "The Poet
Slave of Cuba."

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"You think we're the
clay of the Earth.

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Stay light while their distant
nights filled with stars."

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These words get under your skin
they make you think and wonder.

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Margarita Engle is the
author of 12 books,

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which have been
awarded many honors,

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more than I could list here, but
they include the Newbery Medal,

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which she is the first Latino
American writer to receive,

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the Sidney Taylor Award, and
several Pura Belpré Medals.

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Please help me to
welcome Margarita Engle.

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