Jose Hernandez Diaz : part one

Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020). His work appears in The American Poetry Review, Bennington Review, Conduit, Crazyhorse, Georgia Review, Gigantic Sequins, Huizache, Iowa Review, The Journal, The Missouri Review, Poetry, Porter House Review, Southeast Review, The Southern Review, Witness Magazine, The Yale Review, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading Anthology 2011. He teaches creative writing online and edits for Frontier Poetry. More at JoseHernandezDiaz.com.

What are you working on?

Right now, I have two full-length manuscripts that I’m submitting. They both contain poetry and prose poetry. The poems tend to be about my real life: odes, homage pieces, poems about growing up first-gen, low-income in Southern California. The prose poems tend to be surreal, absurdist, sometimes with Mexican or Mexican American imagery or settings. 

I’m also teaching a couple generative workshops online. For these workshops I like to write new prompts for prose poetry. For each prompt, I write a new prose poem, so I have been producing about 5 new prose poems per week. I also edit poetry and poetry manuscripts on the side. I have been privileged to work with writers at many different levels. I’ve worked with writers that are ready to submit to the top journals and book competitions in the world. I’ve also worked with writers where instruction is more paramount, and through a collaborative approach, we reach our writing goals.