My mother was a great storyteller and a great historian in her own way. She only made it to third grade. She came from Mexico City at the tail end of the Mexican Revolution and that kind of turmoil and chaos and frenzy and also excitement. Juan Felipe Herrera chaoscityend share on social
Let's detox our cluttered academic brain. That's what the poet does. People call it daydreaming, detoxing our minds and taking care of that clutter. It's being able to let in call letters from the poetry universe. Juan Felipe Herrera academicbraincall share on social
Sometimes it's like that. I go, 'You know what? I'm going to just change scales. I'm going to even change instruments. And I'm going to go into the chromatics of the Spanish language,' and I do. You know, the poem is totally different. It's like a lunar voice versus a day voice, a solar voice. Juan Felipe Herrera changechromaticday share on social
I'm usually writing in English, and then I'll get the hankering to change channels. And usually I'll do that when I want to try a whole new set of keys, like musical keys. Juan Felipe Herrera changechannelenglish Change image and share on social
I'm very grateful to all the people of Fresno, to Philip Levine and all the poets before me, and all the farmworkers. I didn't get here by myself. Juan Felipe Herrera farmworkerfresnograteful Change image and share on social
My parents moved from ranch to ranch, valley to valley, town to town, but our roots in Fowler never really faded. For me, it's a place of history, stories and songs, not just facts and figures. Juan Felipe Herrera factfadefigure Change image and share on social
I used to stand on the corner in San Diego with poems sticking out of my hip pocket, asking people if there was a place where I could read poems. The audience is half of the poem. Juan Felipe Herrera audiencecornerdiego Change image and share on social
We speak about understanding each other, having those conversations nationwide - culturally, historically - and yet there's a lot of gaps. So I want to assist with closing the gap of knowing about and hearing about our Latino communities in terms of literature, in terms of writing. Juan Felipe Herrera assistclosecommunity share on social
Poetry can tell us about what's going on in our lives - not only our personal but our social and political lives. Juan Felipe Herrera livepersonalpoetry Change image and share on social
I know I'm representing the Library of Congress, all the people of the United States and, of course, the Latinos and Latinas as well. Juan Felipe Herrera congresslatinaslatino Change image and share on social