We went from crop to crop, field to field. And my father had that army truck, a 1940s army truck from Fort Bliss, El Paso. Juan Felipe Herrera 1940sarmybliss Change image and 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
What I really had was stories, the oral traditions of my parents. We moved so much that that was really our encyclopedia. A dream world told to me from my parents in the living room. Juan Felipe Herrera dreamencyclopedialive Change image and 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
A pen is different from the pad, the key, moving your fingers across a screen. I like both. I like to work on sketchbooks, big old white sketch paper. I like how that feels, and I like to put different media on it. Then there's the phone, smartphone, iPad: It's the new page, and it's not the same page anymore. Juan Felipe Herrera anymorebigfelt share on social
Sometimes I have a very fleeting emotional dance with a fleeting phrase, like 'half-Mexican.' Juan Felipe Herrera danceemotionalfleet Change image and share on social
Poetry is a call to action, and it also is action. Juan Felipe Herrera actioncallpoetry Change image and 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
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
If I can only be known as one thing, then, well, I guess it would be poet and performer and teacher. Juan Felipe Herrera guessperformerpoet Change image and share on social