In this episode, AGG and Sergio sit down with Richard Blanco to discuss a range of topics including his decision to finally dedicate a book to his husband, his identity as a sensory poet, and his ongoing quest to find home. They also delve into his complex relationship with his abuela, including her attempts to bribe him into marrying a woman, and the intricate family dynamics with gender and gender roles. Richard shares his journey of being open and vulnerable, letting go of past burdens, his linguistic power over his parents, having the best queer experience as a youth in Miami, his visits to Cuba, and his strong dislike of toes. 

About the Author: @poetrichardblanco

Richard Blanco’s work has been praised by Ada Limón, Patricia Smith, Eileen Myles, and Elizabeth Alexander, among many others; his poems have appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Poetry, and dozens of other publications. He is the recent recipient of the National Humanities Medal and was selected by Barack Obama as the fifth presidential inaugural poet in US history. 

About the Book: Homeland of My Body
In this collection of over one hundred poems, Richard Blanco has carefully culled work from his previous book to represent the evolution of a writer grappling with his identity, working to find and define “home,” and bookended them with new poems that address those issues from a fresh, more mature perspective, allowing him to approach surrendering the pain and urgency of his past explorations. Pausing at this pivotal moment in mid-career, Blanco reexamines his lifelong quest to find his proverbial home and all that it encompasses: love, family, identity, and, ultimately, art itself. In the closing section of the volume, he has come to understand and internalize the idea that “home” is not one place, not one thing, and lives both inside him and inside his art. 

Author Recommended Playlist:
James Taylor - Carolina In My Mind
Jackson Brown - The Pretender
Dua Lipa - Cold Heart 

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Produced by Antonio Caro @agcaromaya