WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.620 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.620 --> 00:00:03.060 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:06.940 align:middle line:84% David Dominguez was born and raised in Fresno, California. 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:10.140 align:middle line:84% He was educated at California State University, Fresno, 00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:12.120 align:middle line:84% and the University of California, Irvine, 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:15.480 align:middle line:84% and received his MFA from the University of Arizona. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:18.030 align:middle line:84% His chapbook "Marcoli Sausage" was published 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:20.220 align:middle line:90% by the Chicano Chapbook Series. 00:00:20.220 --> 00:00:23.250 align:middle line:84% He has also been published in various magazines and journals, 00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:26.760 align:middle line:84% such as Faultline, Crab Orchard Review, Luna, 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.490 align:middle line:90% Bloomsbury Review, and Solo. 00:00:29.490 --> 00:00:32.250 align:middle line:84% In addition, his poetry appears in the anthology, How 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:34.470 align:middle line:90% Much Earth: The Fresno Poets. 00:00:34.470 --> 00:00:36.420 align:middle line:84% He has taught at Long Beach City College 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:38.370 align:middle line:84% and now teaches writing and literature 00:00:38.370 --> 00:00:40.650 align:middle line:84% at Ridley College in California's San Joaquin 00:00:40.650 --> 00:00:42.150 align:middle line:90% Valley. 00:00:42.150 --> 00:00:44.280 align:middle line:84% Dominguez's book Work Done Right is 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:46.950 align:middle line:84% the story of a young man named Abraham Tovar. 00:00:46.950 --> 00:00:49.470 align:middle line:84% He works in a sausage factory and seeks 00:00:49.470 --> 00:00:52.650 align:middle line:84% to find his personal place, his own history. 00:00:52.650 --> 00:00:54.930 align:middle line:84% Through vivid imagery and rich language, 00:00:54.930 --> 00:00:57.180 align:middle line:84% Dominguez explores the human condition 00:00:57.180 --> 00:01:00.270 align:middle line:84% through juxtapositions between nature and human, 00:01:00.270 --> 00:01:02.970 align:middle line:84% inducing a longing for what is familiar. 00:01:02.970 --> 00:01:07.140 align:middle line:84% It asks of the reader, who has wanted 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:09.120 align:middle line:90% to accomplish more in life. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:11.130 align:middle line:84% Work Done Right is where vivid life 00:01:11.130 --> 00:01:12.870 align:middle line:90% is discovered in the mundane. 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:15.060 align:middle line:84% In the unraveling narrative, true meaning 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:17.970 align:middle line:84% appears when desire meets the unexpected. 00:01:17.970 --> 00:01:21.030 align:middle line:84% Abraham discovers himself in slender hands, 00:01:21.030 --> 00:01:25.980 align:middle line:84% grinding pork, missing fingers, a red pickup truck, a Magnolia 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:29.030 align:middle line:90% tree, and repaired railroads. 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:31.010 align:middle line:84% In Dominguez's poetry, the human spirit 00:01:31.010 --> 00:01:33.620 align:middle line:84% is defined in both tender and rustic moments. 00:01:33.620 --> 00:01:36.800 align:middle line:84% He artfully crafts a union between simple and boundless 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:37.850 align:middle line:90% ideas. 00:01:37.850 --> 00:01:41.480 align:middle line:84% The reader celebrates along with Abraham's revelations 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:44.840 align:middle line:84% because, indeed, the reader experiences a personal victory 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:45.830 align:middle line:90% as well. 00:01:45.830 --> 00:01:48.380 align:middle line:84% Through the Spanish language and cultural elements, 00:01:48.380 --> 00:01:51.620 align:middle line:84% Dominguez requires multilayered meaning in each word. 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:53.990 align:middle line:84% His images offer hope in oneself, 00:01:53.990 --> 00:01:57.800 align:middle line:84% that the body can replenish all that the world has taken away. 00:01:57.800 --> 00:02:01.040 align:middle line:84% Honoring place and peeling away judgment on employment, 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:03.860 align:middle line:84% relationships, and heritage, Dominguez 00:02:03.860 --> 00:02:06.720 align:middle line:84% accomplishes a poetic journey that must be taken. 00:02:06.720 --> 00:02:10.359 align:middle line:84% It is my pleasure to introduce David Dominguez. 00:02:10.359 --> 00:02:12.000 align:middle line:90%