Interview with Rudolfo Anaya. Sunday, September 16th, 2012.

44: Rudolfo Anaya, who is best known for his 1972 book “Bless Me, Ultima,” talks about the El Paso premiere of the movie based off this classic novel. Anaya speaks about his struggles to get one of the first Chicano literary text published, and how public education has supported and barred Chicano literature. Benjamin Alire Saenz reads the Poem of the Week – Lucille Clifton’s “At Last We Killed the Roaches.” This week’s Poetic License comes from Laurie Ann Guerrero, who reflects on a San Antonio poet who inspires her (“San Antonio is a Poem.”)

Interview with Eugene Gloria. Sunday, September 9th, 2012.

43: Eugene Gloria talks about his latest book “My Favorite Warlord.”  A visit to Kyoto re-incarnated a different book idea into his latest collection. The show also discusses the new millennium shifts in the publishing industry.

http://www.eugenegloria.com/

Benjamin Alire Sáenz shares his memories of Ciudad Ciudad Juárez in today’s Poetic License.

Interview with Patrick Rosal. Sunday, September 2nd, 2012.

41: Patrick Rosal, author of “Boneshepherds” and “My American Kundiman” talks about how his latest collection negotiates anger by love, and both Saenz and Rosal honor Baldwin’s work as a teacher for such navigation. Rosal’s Uncle Charlie was as influential to his work as Neruda and Philip Levine and the guest reads a poem from “Boneshepherds” – “Bienvenido: Santo Tomas,” for his Uncle Charlie.  www.patrickrosal.com. 

                             (Photo credit Peter Dressel)

This week’s Poetic License comes from Daniel Chacon.

Interview with Reyna Grande. Sunday, August 26 th, 2012.

41: Ben & Daniel are back for a brand new season! This show talks with Reyna Grande, author of the new memoir "The Distance Between Us." She talks about why she was hesitant to write a memoir, why "cucuys" have played important roles in her life and writing process, and why she has a penchant for killing her characters.

http://www.reynagrande.com

Interview with Craig Santos Perez. Sunday, July 1st, 2012.

39: Craig Santos Perez, author of "from unincorporated territory [saina],"  talks about Guam, writing [saina], and that poetry’s relationship to neo-colonialization and the history of colonialization, cannot be neutral. Words inspire his activism as a “tongue is the steering paddle of the mouth.” Even as Perez lectures at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, his international presence as a performer and activist allow him to weave his complexities as a migrant and immigrant into his work.

Daniel reads selections from a forthcoming posthumous collection of "Leukemia Poems" by Andrés Montoya, written when the late writer was in the hospital dying of leukemia.

Interview with Dan Chaon. Sunday, June 24th, 2012.

38: Dan Chaon talks about his recent book “Stay Awake,” his early interest in writing, and how writers such as Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Ray Bradbury led him to his current path. 

The Poem of the Week is by newly-appointed U.S. Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey.  Daniel reads “Theories of Time and Space.”

And this week’s Poetic License is by writer Anthony Bonds, whose latest work, “The Moonflower King” was published with Calypso Editions, a cooperative press.  Bonds discusses the difference between a cooperative press and a traditional publisher.

Interview with Farid Matuk. Sunday, October 9 th, 2011. 11:30 a.m.

2: An interview with Farid Matuk.

Our poem of the week is by Luis J. Rodriguez. (Read by Daniel Chacón)

And in this week’s “Poetic License,” Steven Church reflects writing and
raquet ball.

Farid Matuk was born in Peru but immigrated to the United States at the age of six. Caught between two different worlds, his experiences as an immigrant in America contributed to Matuk’s identity, worldview, and eventually writing. Later in life, his experiences with politics, family, and social issues eventually manifested themselves in Matuk’s first full collection of poetry, This Isa Nice Neighborhood. Today, Matuk resides in Texas with his partner, poet Susan Briante, and their daughter.

(Taken from https://sites.google.com/site/gallagheronpoetry2011/faridmatuk/biography)

Interview with Juan Felipe Herrera. Sunday, October 2d, 2011. 11:30 a.m.

1!: An Interview with Juan Felipe Herrera.

Our Poem of the week is poem by Carl Phillips. (Read by Benjamin Alire Sáenz )

"Poetic license", Lee Herrick, speaks about community.

Juan Felipe Herrera holds the Tomás Rivera endowed chair in creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of numerous poetry volumes, including Half of the World in Light; 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border: Undocuments 1971-2007; Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream; and numerous children's books, including The Upside Down Boy, which was adapted into a musical in New York City; Laughing Out Loud, I Fly, winner of a Pura Belpré Honor; and Cinnamon Girl, winner of the Américas Award. He was also awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives and tours with the poet Margarita Luna Robles.