tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15429740578157494992009-11-01T22:09:13.573-06:00<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-67068984104238366412009-03-24T16:42:00.003-05:002009-03-24T17:39:50.667-05:00

Super quick notes... because I keep forgetting to post.San Francisco International Poetry FestivalI received the kindest email from San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman last week, who organizes the San Francisco International Poetry Festival. He invited me to be a reader for the festival, which is unbelievable, and just plain stunning. Thank you, Jack. I so look forward to meeting

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-20007799407021739072008-12-11T17:34:00.002-06:002008-12-11T17:37:27.249-06:00

Arthur Sze's poem "The Gingko Light," published in Field magazine and featured today on poems.com. It's amazing. From one silence and one stillness, it fragments into overhwelming pains, moments and stories, only to fall back into that first silence newly, heavily. Read it here.[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-321363866166347532008-12-09T18:23:00.003-06:002008-12-09T18:53:44.885-06:00

Ellyn Ruthstrom posted a review of the 2007 fall/winter Colorado Review issue, in which my first nonfiction essay "The Falls We Take" appeared. Thanks to impeccable editor Stephanie G'Schwind again for including me in the issue, which is one of the finest journals I've ever received in the mail, let alone been included in, as well as for telling us about the review (see here).Ruthstrom was kind

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-21622064221183727132008-11-25T13:08:00.005-06:002008-12-11T17:40:56.868-06:00

This morning, while Daniel was on his chair writing, the sun hitting his face and the edges of his laptop, I felt the need for croissant. So, after calling multiple bakeries in El Paso only to find out that no, there is no french bakery near my house (despite my hopes) and that no, bakeries in my zip code aren't open even at 7am, I went to Albertsons. That croissant soon became a need for Arabic

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-44313595303931895532008-11-24T17:38:00.004-06:002008-11-24T18:02:21.752-06:00

Daniel's been getting some nice (and well-deserved) press recently for his new collection of short stories, Unending Rooms. Published as the winner of the Hudson Prize (Black Lawrence Press), it was just short-listed as one of Kansas City Star's top ten short story collections of the year.Click here for Black Lawrence's press about it. And here for the Kansas City Star article.The panelist who

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-65515083973908797542008-11-24T12:45:00.002-06:002008-11-24T12:48:44.883-06:00

All,This week my class is reading M. Butterfly, and I'd love to include some "fun" racist quotes to drive the Orientalist's views home to my students. Do you all have any good conquistador passages about the Asian man or woman? I'd like for them to see how othering, how higly sexualized their idea of our "orient" is.[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-46356185266123066522008-11-22T19:52:00.002-06:002008-11-22T19:54:54.021-06:00

I'm pretty excited. This week, I received a post office-forwarded letter from Editor Elizabeth Scanlon at The American Poetry Review, accepting my poem "Blood, Sister" for publication.Whoot! Whoot![ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-10652860344712753952008-11-17T17:36:00.008-06:002008-11-17T18:26:06.499-06:00

We Torch the Village, an eclectic student group at the University of Texas at El Paso, is putting together a completely brand new event for a brand new class at the Creative Writing Department: Poetics and Performance (taught by Daniel). They're an impressive group of students as literary activists-- check out their myspace site here-- full of sound and language, witty, and it looks like, a

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-45556376535017931312008-11-11T17:29:00.004-06:002008-11-16T20:34:36.024-06:00

It's been a big year for our BorderSenses contributors, who have all recently won three prestigious book awards! Congratulations to Juan Felipe Herrera, who just won the PEN USA 2008 Literary Award for his collection of poems and essays "187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border." His poem "Walk In Empty" was featured in our last issue of BorderSenses, volume 14.And congratulations to Stella

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-58034870209074945722008-10-20T17:34:00.005-05:002008-11-16T20:37:49.793-06:00

This Friday, October 24, I'm lucky enough to be doing a poetry reading with two stellar poets: Carmen Gimenéz Smith and Bobby Byrd.Some of you know Carmen from her work as the publisher of Noemi Press. A graduate of the Iowa's Writing Workshop, she's now an Assistant Professor in creative writing at NMSU. She is the author of Odalisque in Pieces, a book of poems forthcoming in 2009 from

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-76490050501524316242008-06-13T10:50:00.004-05:002008-11-16T19:45:09.145-06:00

A big thanks to my good friend Tim Z., who pointed this out to me. On the off-chance, along with Sergio Troncosco (an El Paso native, Premio Aztlan Southwest Book award-winner and author of the wildly popular The Last Tortilla), I'm a directory "face" for this month's Poets and Writers online directory.Check it out here.And my full Poets and Writers directory listing here..[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-36817979492816475692008-06-06T14:52:00.007-05:002008-11-16T19:49:01.473-06:00

For the past few months, I've been reading submissions and soliciting poems for the next issue of BorderSenses, which, is also my first issue as the English-language poetry editor. BorderSenses is an annual bilingual literary magazine based out of El Paso, Texas. Since we publish writers and artists from the Southwest and U.S./Mexico border only, our writers are currently living in, or natives of

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-75865886271915699112008-06-04T09:52:00.003-05:002008-06-04T09:55:30.918-05:00

Because I don't have any poetry students to play with this semester, maybe you all will play with me.Question: How do you know when your poems are ready for a chapbook, versus when your poems are ready for a book? Is your process/approach different for these formats? Your goals?.[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-10037937863879575372008-05-16T12:10:00.022-05:002008-11-16T19:50:07.626-06:00

It's official. My first book of poems, Insides She Swallowed, is forthcoming from West End Press in 2009. Thank you to John Crawford and the rest of West End Press for your kindness in taking up my book-- it's a press I love and admire.The first printing will run 1,000 copies, so if you participate in or know of organizations, universities, community colleges, schools, conferences or other

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-69244726573014276512008-05-07T18:21:00.005-05:002008-11-16T19:50:29.906-06:00

I've just discovered Marianne Villanueva's blog "Kanlaon" here. Marianne is a prolific Filipina writer. Visit her blog..[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-43427532414079636622008-05-06T06:29:00.016-05:002008-11-16T19:52:43.153-06:00

It's hot tonight. The first time that summer heat has kicked in at El Paso since we've had a mild but blowy season, and I've been up since 3am figuring out how to market myself as a writer. I can feel the dry air against me, and while it isn't as palpable as the humid Georgia air I grew up with, the tension is there.Barbara Jane Reyes has a blog here on shameless self-promotion, i.e.: the poetry

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-63637819384750743342008-04-24T12:03:00.007-05:002008-05-08T14:14:15.625-05:00

A random sampling from my English 1302: Research Writing and Literary Analysis students at El Paso Community College:What makes a poem a prose poem?"Prose poems are poems because they use figurative language. Metaphors are used constantly. One example is “On the map it is precise and rectangular as a chessboard” from The Prose Poem [by Campbell McGrath]. They have great use of imagery. With vivid

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-61043474704126993542008-04-18T13:13:00.006-05:002008-11-16T19:53:24.668-06:00

Check that.I've been reading poetry again for the first time in a year en masse, eating it a la Mark Strand, devouring lyrics-- not to read it to prepare for a class lecture, an exigesis, not to prepare for a visiting writer, or to copy it out for a manuscript-- but to read it, really read it, like when I first fell in love with poetry-- in quiet study, in bed, on the backyard swing, on the couch

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-41130755542510448392008-04-18T13:04:00.005-05:002008-05-08T14:13:20.380-05:00

"187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border"A Poetry Reading, Plática and Receptionwith el maestro Juan Felipe Herreraand poet Rosa AlcaláFriday, April 18 20087:30 pmUTEP Student Union, Templeton Suite.[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-73741972748442490442008-04-14T12:52:00.008-05:002008-04-15T13:40:07.938-05:00

I had seen Daniel on our bed as he was editing the issue, their names spread out, their poems blinking on white surfaces. I had heard their names, known of them, and read their blogs-- and I'd seen their names again, floating above their smaller, italicized names of place (cities like el cerrito, eugene, new york city and elwha klallam) when Lee came into town, the proofing copy in his hands.

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-79881164608905002612008-03-25T10:43:00.004-05:002008-05-08T14:16:45.113-05:00

A poetry book contest for your manuscript consumption...From Craig Santos Perez:"[I]f you have a manuscript ready, you should submit to Omnidawn's Poetry contest. Omnidawn makes amazing books and we work very very hard getting the books out there. unfortunately, i am not involved in any of the contest process--if i was, you'd all be winners ;)[A]nyways, check out the details here. and please do

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-74125321864490917812008-03-11T19:57:00.004-05:002008-11-16T19:46:34.880-06:00

More later, but a quick thank you to poet Lee Herrick, who stunned us in El Paso.[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-31970380351095066082008-03-11T19:49:00.004-05:002008-11-16T19:51:11.852-06:00

Thanks to Barbara Jane Reyes for the following links:OCHO 16, guest edited by our poeta listed above, is available on Amazon here. You can also browse the contents here, which is neat.Also, read Neela Bannerjee's review of the magazine, in which she compares the New OCHO to a mixed tape. Delicious.[ GO TO BLOG HOME ]

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-1036191509869640392008-03-11T19:02:00.007-05:002008-11-16T20:00:14.090-06:00

The latest issue of The Florida Review is out, including poems by recent Philip Levine Prize winner Lynn Chandhok, author of The View From Zero Bridge; Leslie St. John, Grace Danborn; Pablo Medina; Frederico Garcia Lorca; an interview with Elizabeth Stuckey-French; and a book review of Last Love Poems of Paul Eluard (translated by Marilyn Kallet). The fiction in this issue is especially

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542974057815749499.post-65626350206985201902008-02-17T21:36:00.009-06:002008-05-08T14:16:17.505-05:00

UTEP'S BILINGUAL PROGRAM IN CREATIVE WRITING AND BORDERSENSES are proud to present a reading by Lee Herrick, author of the critically-acclaimed poetry collection This Many Miles from Desire. The reading will be on Saturday, March 8, on 4:00pm at the Armijo El Paso Public Library (at the corner of S. Campbell and E 7th Avenue, Armijo Park, in the Segundo Barrio, El Paso, TX). There will be a

<i>Sasha Pimentel Chacón</i>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09971004276066793059sashapimentel@gmail.com