Richard Blanco in 2013. Photo by Sam Farzaneh. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Richard Blanco (born 1968) is an American poet.[1]
Life[]
Blanco was born in Spain to a Cuban family. He immigrated with his family to Miami where he was raised and educated.
He graduated from Florida International University in civil engineering (1991) and earned an M.F.A. in creative writing (1997), where he studied with Campbell McGrath.
Since 1999, he has traveled and lived in Guatemala, and Brazil. He taught at Georgetown University, American University, and Central Connecticut State University.[2][3] He lives in Miami.[4]
His work has appeared in The Nation, Ploughshares,[5] Indiana Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, TriQuarterly Review, New England Review, and Americas Review. Blanco is part of the online Letras Latinas Oral History Project archives.
Writing[]
In the poem "Queer Theory, According to My Grandmother," he described how his grandmother warned him as a young boy: "For God’s sake, never pee sitting down.../I’ve seen you" and "Don't stare at The Six-Million-Dollar Man./I’ve seen you." and "Never dance alone in your room."[6]
When asked in a May 7, 2012 interview with La Bloga whether he considered himself a Cuban writer or simply a writer, Blanco responded: "I am a writer who happens to be Cuban, but I reserve the right to write about anything I want, not just my cultural identity. Aesthetically and politically, I don't exclusively align myself with any one particular group—Latino, Cuban, gay, or 'white'—but I embrace them all. Good writing is good writing. I like what I like."[7]
Recognition[]
Watch Poet Richard Blanco Read the Inaugural Poem
On January 8, 2013, Blanco was named the inaugural poet for Barack Obama's 2nd inauguration, the fifth poet to read at a presidential inauguraation. He is the 1st immigrant, 1st Latino, and 1st gay person to be inaugural poet.[8] He is also the youngest.[9]
Awards[]
- 1988 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
- John Ciardi Fellowship from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference
- Florida Artist Fellowship[10]
- Residency Fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
- 2006 PEN Open Book Award (formerly known as Beyond Margins Award) for Directions to the Beach of the Dead
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- City of a Hundred Fire. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-8229-5683-9
- Nowhere but Here. Farmington, CT: Hill-Stead Museum, 2004. ISBN 978-0-9744245-1-4
- Directions to the Beach of the Dead. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8165-2479-2
- Looking for the Gulf Motel. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012.
- Boston Strong: The poem. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013.
Non-fiction[]
- For All of Us, One Today: An inaugural poet's journey. Boston: Beacon Press, 2013.
- Cuba Then: Rare and classic images from the Ramiro A. Fernandez collection. New York: Monacelli Press, 2013.
- The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami childhood. New York: Ecco Press, 2014.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[11]
Audio / video[]
Richard Blanco Reads Poem "Betting on America"
- The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami childhood (MP3). Philadelphia: Free Library of Philadelphia, 2014.
Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat.[11]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Richard Blanco b. 1968, Poetry Foundation, Web, Aug. 10, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.richard-blanco.com/
- ↑ http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/1332
- ↑ http://www.writerscenter.org/blancosvoboda.html
- ↑ http://www.pshares.org/authors/author-detail.cfm?authorID=6874
- ↑ Tobar, Hector (January 9, 2013). "Richard Blanco named Obama's 2013 inaugural poet". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-richard-blanco-obama-inaugural-poet-20130109,0,5335354.story. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ↑ "Interview with Richard Blanco". La Bloga. http://labloga.blogspot.com/2012/05/interview-with-richard-blanco.html. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Richard Blanco Will Be First Latino Inaugural Poet". NPR. January 9, 2013. http://www.npr.org/2013/01/09/168899347/richard-blanco-will-be-first-latino-inaugural-poet. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ↑ Sink, Justin (January 9, 2013). "Inaugural committee announces lunch menu, poet". The Hill. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/276291-inaugural-committee-announces-poet-lunch-menu. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.florida-arts.org/grants/fellowship/displayfellow.cfm?id=128
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Search results = au:Richard Blanco, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 30, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- Richard Blanco profile & 3 poems at the Academy of American Poets
- Richard Blanco b. 1968 at the Poetry Foundation
- "Last Lines; Mother Picking Produce; What Las Palmas Mean:; Last Night in Havana; Tia Olivia Serves Wallace Stevens a Cuban Egg". Beltway Poetry Quarterly 5 (1). Winter 2004. http://washingtonart.com/beltway/blanco.html.
- Audio / video
- Books
- Richard Blanco at Amazon.com
- About
- Richard Blanco at Biography.com
- "Richard Blanco", TRES Review, Jack Anders Summer 2004
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