Episode 135 Notes and Links to Briana Muñoz’s Work
On Episode 135 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Briana Muñoz, and the two discuss, among other topics, her upbringing and relationship with bilingualism and poetry, an eminently memorable visit to hear Michele Serros read, Briana’s performance experience in dance and poetry, inspiring and challenging poets who have inspired her, the issues and themes that populate her work, and exciting and important future projects she is working on.
Briana Muñoz is a writer from Southern California. Raised in
San Diego, she spent a lot of her time at her mother’s Mexican
folklore dance classes and at ranches where her father trained horses
into the sunset. She is the author of Loose Lips, a poetry collection
published by Prickly Pear Publishing (2019). Her work has been
published in the Bravura Literary Journal, LA BLOGA, the oldest
Chicana Chicano Literature blog in history, the Poets Responding
page, and in the Oakland Arts Review, among others. In the 2016
publication of the Bravura, she was awarded the second-place fiction
prize. Her poem “Rebirth” was featured in the Reproductive Health
edition of the St. Sucia zine. Briana’s work was one of ten chosen
for The Best of LA BLOGA from 2015. When she isn't typing
away, she enjoys Danza Azteca, live music, cats, and thrift shopping.
Briana Muñoz Instagram
Buy Loose Lips
Buy EVERYTHING IS RETURNED TO THE SOIL/ TODO VUELVE A LA TIERRA
“Briana Munoz: The TNB Self-Interview”
‘WRITTEN WITHOUT SHAME’: MEXICAN-AMERICAN POET BRIANA MUÑOZ ON POETRY, PERFORMANCE AND HER INDIGENOUS ROOTS" from Ampersand LA
Briana performs her work at Voices of California, Part II (Briana’s segment starts around 41:10)
At about 2:50, Briana talks about her growing up- her experience with writing and language, her bilingualism, and her family’s performance background
At about 6:15, Briana speaks about early influences and who she was reading when she was a kid/adolescent, writers like Sandra Cisneros
At about 7:30, Briana gives background on a turning point in attending a live reading by Michele Serros
At about 10:00, Briana talks about early reading and former and current favorite readings and how she has endeavored to “decolonize your bookshelf”
At about 11:20, Briana responds to Pete’s question about how she reads now that she is a published and accomplished poet
At about 12:40, Briana shouts out the great work of Cesar De León
At about 14:30, Pete asks Briana about how much she and the speakers in her poems are synonymous
At about 16:10, Pete wonders about how music figures in for Briana’s creative process, and she continues to explain her family’s performance background
At about 18:30, Briana details her experience with and love for danza azteca, and how it influences other parts of her life, her poetry, and her mindset
At about 22:30, Briana discusses the background for the subject matter of her first collection, Loose Lips
At about 23:20, Briana details the “big motivation” that came from a poetry trip through Cuba
At about 24:10, Briana describes how writing has been a part of her life since 10 years old and how her creative writing professors were very “motivating” for her
At about 26:00, Briana cites Sonia Gutierrez as a motivating influence
At about 27:20, Briana explains her performance “stage fright,” or lack thereof
At about 28:20, Pete wonders, and Briana responds to his question, about readers “decoding poetry”
At about 29:30, Briana talks about “seeds” for her most recent collection, the title’s significance, and a blur by Odilia Galvan Rodríguez that Briana feels sums up her writing styles
At about 31:30 and 33:10, Pete and Briana explore the Epigraph for the collection and a few selected poems, especially its focus on Mother Earth as a collection throughline
At about 32:20, Briana speaks on the idea of poetry as “catharsis” and “torment” and various and slipper
View all episodes
