Alan Chazaro uses poetry to explore Bay Area culture, his love for hip-hop, and machismo stereotypes.

We first talked in 2019 about his first poetry collection, This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album. Since then, Chazaro moved to Mexico, travelled through Central and South America, and then, ultimately, returned to the Bay Area. Chazaro has also been dabbling in the journalism trade-- with stories that range from the first woman to play professional men's basketball to the tale of a notable Oakland A's hot dog vendor. Chazaro has even freelanced for KQED.

In addition to all of that and teaching English, Chazaro just published his second book, Pińata Theory, which takes a deeper dive into his Mexican-American identity, Hip-Hop and deconstructing concepts of masculinity.

Since April is National Poetry Month, it seems like a good time to revisit our first conversation. And because so much has changed since then-- traveling, book publication and more-- we brought him back to give us a life update and a poem.

To hear other poets on Rightnowish here's a playlist:

https://spoti.fi/3tnZpe5

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