WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.280 align:middle line:90% 00:00:03.280 --> 00:00:08.080 align:middle line:84% Hi, I'm Aaron, as Tyler mentioned earlier. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:09.580 align:middle line:90% I'm sorry I didn't bring Monty. 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:13.960 align:middle line:90% He doesn't appreciate the arts. 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:15.295 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:00:15.295 --> 00:00:16.920 align:middle line:84% So I-- for those of you who don't know, 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.320 align:middle line:84% this is my third year in the MFA. 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:22.320 align:middle line:84% And for three years, I have been asking 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:26.838 align:middle line:84% to bring Fernando Flores to the University to read. 00:00:26.838 --> 00:00:28.380 align:middle line:84% Actually, I just want to talk to him. 00:00:28.380 --> 00:00:29.588 align:middle line:90% You didn't even have to read. 00:00:29.588 --> 00:00:31.840 align:middle line:90% I just wanted you here. 00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:36.320 align:middle line:84% And for three years, I've been told maybe. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:40.360 align:middle line:84% And finally, in my last semester, we got you here, 00:00:40.360 --> 00:00:42.760 align:middle line:90% and I'm so excited. 00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:46.060 align:middle line:84% In fact, when Manuel told me that you were going to be here, 00:00:46.060 --> 00:00:49.340 align:middle line:84% my response was, oh my goodness, is this the apocalypse? 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:52.400 align:middle line:84% I think I hear the sounds of heaven. 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:58.160 align:middle line:90% And that's probably still true. 00:00:58.160 --> 00:01:02.840 align:middle line:84% I'm not entirely sure, I haven't looked up at the sky yet. 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.099 align:middle line:84% Please tell me, somebody, at the end of this 00:01:05.099 --> 00:01:07.000 align:middle line:90% if the world is ending. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.280 align:middle line:90% This might be a dream of mine. 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:12.600 align:middle line:84% But as I've been saying, Fernando 00:01:12.600 --> 00:01:16.510 align:middle line:84% has been an influence on me for a while. 00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:19.630 align:middle line:84% We're both from South Texas, which 00:01:19.630 --> 00:01:22.430 align:middle line:84% when I discovered I was incredibly surprised 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:27.110 align:middle line:84% by because my entire life I've been told that nobody 00:01:27.110 --> 00:01:29.230 align:middle line:90% comes from South Texas. 00:01:29.230 --> 00:01:29.910 align:middle line:90% Nobody. 00:01:29.910 --> 00:01:33.230 align:middle line:84% The only person that did was Gloria Anzaldúa 00:01:33.230 --> 00:01:38.350 align:middle line:84% and the lady who directed Twilight, who hated the Valley. 00:01:38.350 --> 00:01:41.510 align:middle line:84% She was like, it's a cultural cesspool, 00:01:41.510 --> 00:01:44.430 align:middle line:90% and who knows if she's right? 00:01:44.430 --> 00:01:48.570 align:middle line:84% But I'm also glad that Fernando was there to prove her wrong, 00:01:48.570 --> 00:01:50.330 align:middle line:84% that it's not a cultural cesspool. 00:01:50.330 --> 00:01:52.850 align:middle line:84% That being said, he did abandon it and go to Austin. 00:01:52.850 --> 00:01:57.270 align:middle line:90% 00:01:57.270 --> 00:01:57.810 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:00.110 align:middle line:84% I should probably talk about his work. 00:02:00.110 --> 00:02:04.210 align:middle line:84% Valleyesque is my personal favorite of Fernando's work, 00:02:04.210 --> 00:02:05.950 align:middle line:84% because it does take place in the Valley 00:02:05.950 --> 00:02:09.270 align:middle line:84% and focuses on the Valley, and I've assigned it to my students 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:12.390 align:middle line:90% for three semesters in a row. 00:02:12.390 --> 00:02:13.530 align:middle line:90% Do they like it? 00:02:13.530 --> 00:02:15.190 align:middle line:90% I believe so. 00:02:15.190 --> 00:02:18.630 align:middle line:84% They wouldn't tell me otherwise, but I think the thing 00:02:18.630 --> 00:02:21.050 align:middle line:84% that they do value is the craft of it. 00:02:21.050 --> 00:02:24.250 align:middle line:84% We spend so much time talking about the creativity, 00:02:24.250 --> 00:02:27.490 align:middle line:90% the absurdity, the word choices. 00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:29.790 align:middle line:84% We spent an entire 30 minutes one semester 00:02:29.790 --> 00:02:35.140 align:middle line:84% talking about the word stamped-- in one of his stories instead 00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:37.000 align:middle line:90% of stamp, it said stamped. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:39.120 align:middle line:84% And we spent 30 minutes just talking about that, 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.220 align:middle line:90% and I was so excited. 00:02:42.220 --> 00:02:45.260 align:middle line:84% And I think I annoyed the class, but that's fine. 00:02:45.260 --> 00:02:46.520 align:middle line:90% They paid to be there. 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:49.980 align:middle line:90% 00:02:49.980 --> 00:02:53.500 align:middle line:84% Brother Brontë, which has been recently longlisted 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.060 align:middle line:84% for the PEN/Faulkner, which round of applause for that, 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:56.560 align:middle line:90% please. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:00.539 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:00.539 --> 00:03:01.540 align:middle line:90% 00:03:01.540 --> 00:03:05.740 align:middle line:84% I've only had the fortune of reading once. 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:08.980 align:middle line:84% That's the lowest of any of Fernando's work 00:03:08.980 --> 00:03:12.940 align:middle line:84% that I've read, in part, because my copy is being held hostage 00:03:12.940 --> 00:03:15.960 align:middle line:84% by a friend of mine, and I would not return it, 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.780 align:middle line:84% or they will not get it back until I return her Anne Carson, 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:22.960 align:middle line:90% which I have lost in my moves. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:26.780 align:middle line:84% So maybe I'll buy another Brother Brontë today, 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:28.200 align:middle line:90% which I encourage you to do. 00:03:28.200 --> 00:03:29.360 align:middle line:90% Fantastic book. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.140 align:middle line:90% 00:03:32.140 --> 00:03:33.420 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:03:33.420 --> 00:03:38.060 align:middle line:84% I don't know what else to say other than he is my idol, 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:41.490 align:middle line:90% and welcome, Fernando Flores. 00:03:41.490 --> 00:03:50.000 align:middle line:90%