every once in a while gets some press. Yesterday I had the pleasure of getting to hang out with Jimmy Santiago Baca for a bit (yes, smoking has its advantages...while everybody is inside, it was me and Jimmy shotting the shit outside). For those of you who might not know who he is, Baca is a poet, novelist and movie maker with more then 14 books to his credit and he made the film "Blood in, Blood out". He's taken in most of the awards there are to get in the field. So needless to say, getting him at our school to give a talk, reading and workshop was a pretty big deal for us.Let me start my review of his visit by telling you how wonderful of a person Mr. Baca is. It is apparent from the things he does in his life that he cares. He is on the road, working with underprivileged kids, explaining to them why they matter and how poetry matters. He himself has had a tough time of it, spending a long time in prison (where he began to read and write). He has turned down prestigious positions to keep up his work (though he has taken some of them for a while to pay the bills). He has a few travelling companions who were once on the outside of societies graces as well, and who now are poets. That's right, thugs-r-us and we are poets too. How you like me now! Mr. Baca's peeps were as enthusiatic as he was and great to talk to. One of them, Jason Yorcic, has recently got his first book published. I read it. It's not bad for a first book.
Anyway...enough of the ass-kissing. Here's my thought-provoking question of the day. Mr. Baca stresses experiencial writing; writing form experience. He says that's the only way to do it. My question is simple: Do poets like Baca and now Yorcic get the press and publications and awards because of their stories or their work? Does the fact that Baca has gone through so much make him a better poet? Or does it make him a sympathetic poet with a story worth hearing? I'm not sure what I think. I've read three of his books and I think they are okay. But, they speak to lots of people who love them and these are people who would usually scoff at any poetry. I actually have a lot more to say on the subject, but I am more interested in what y'all think.
Any thoughts?
4 comments:
My first thought is that interior experience (thoughts, feelings, etc) are, in fact, more boundless, greater than exterior experiences. A person with a seemingly mundane existence could acutally have a far richer interior life than someone "living on the edge." Frost never went to prison or went through any "harrowing" life trauma, but his poetry takes your thoughts and emotions on a roller coaster ride.
I imagine most of Baca's fans aren't connecting with him out of some aesthetic impulse. It's like reading for content as opposed to craft. If content, his life eperiences, is what you're after, then the quality of his verse is irrelevant. If you're looking for good poetry, the content can only take you so far.
P.S. I'm glad smoking helped you two connect.
P.S. I'm glad smoking helped you two connect.
Ed,
Of course you are right and like I mentioned, I've got no problems with the man. I think he does great things. But the question of content over form is still a struggle for me. It translates into other things as well. Visual Arts, for instance has me in a constant state of internal strife. I just can't get into post-modern/contemporary artists. I'm just a sucker for aesthetic and not schtick. Oh well. I guess that and thumbs seperate us from the animicules.
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