He said-- did everybody hear that question?
For me, it was absolutely vital.
I mean, my education at Arizona State University
changed my life.
I have no idea what I would be doing
right now if I hadn't taken that Chicano literature course
and became a writer, a reader, a teacher.
I have no idea.
So it was very vital.
So the first person I thank in my book in the acknowledgments
is Dr. Aldama because he changed everything for me.
And then I had great mentors.
Norman Dubie-- Alberto Ríos at Arizona State who,
as an undergrad, took me under their wing.
And they saw something in those first drafts, so.
Even now as a teacher, I always try
to remember that kindness that was
shown to me, that generosity that was shown to me,
and I like to pay it forward to my students.
I mean, I think that your education after high school
is very important.
One, because it's a means of sustaining yourself.
But the best education to become a writer
is to be a good reader.
So for those of you who are out there--
this question was asked to me in graduate school.
So I was there to be a writer, and I had no answer for it.
But a visiting writer came and he said, to all of us,
he said, right now I want to know who are
your favorite three writers.
Who are you reading?
What are the last three books you read, poetry books?
And I didn't even have an answer.
I didn't even know who my favorite writers were.
I had no idea what was going on.
But that's how you learn.
So you're going to learn--
I think that the best education to become a writer of-- whether
it's fiction or poetry or memoir, nonfiction--
is to read.
You should know, who are the people who I like to read?
Who are doing things I want to do?
Who are telling things I want to tell?
Mhm.
Your best teacher, as a poet, it's always a poem.
I say that as a teacher.