Jose Hernandez Diaz : part five

Why is poetry important?

Poetry is important for many different reasons to different people. For me, it is a vehicle or a voice or an outlet for my creative and philosophical ideas. I always wanted to be an artist growing up. I wanted to be a musician or guitarist. I wanted to be a painter. I wanted to be a short story writer. When I discovered contemporary poetry at the library and I saw Octavio Paz, Rosario Castellanos, Francisco X. Alarcon, Lorna Dee Cervantes, I saw that I could do it, too. Folks like me had done it before and done it well. Why couldn’t I do it? 

Poetry is like a religion to me. So long as I can write poems and prose poems that I’m proud of, my life will have meaning. Writing poetry fulfils my dreams of becoming an artist. It gives me new dreams of teaching, editing, and leaving doors and possibilities open. Poetry is dreams. Poetry is important because without it the world would lack part of its soul.

Jose Hernandez Diaz : part four

What poets changed the way you thought about writing?

I’d say James Tate and Alberto Ríos. With Tate, I had never read surreal prose poetry. His unique, understated approach to prose poetry spoke to me right away. I was fascinated by his dry sense of humor, sense of alienation, and accessibility. Less was more with Tate. I immediately felt inspired to write some of my own. Mine were shorter pieces, about half a page long (his were about an entire page long), and mine also often had Mexican American imagery. Still, he lit a fire in me that continues to this day.

With Alberto Ríos there was less of an influence in terms of the initial writing process. I read Ríos later in life. However, when I saw that he was writing in couplets and in an understated way about his upbringing as a Mexican American, I felt it made me feel similarly validated in writing couplets with a similar backdrop. I was already writing a similar style as Ríos, however, the fact that his style was so celebrated gave me the stamp of approval that I was on the right track. When someone said I reminded them of Ríos early on, I thought it was just an easy comparison because we are both Mexican American. Later, as I read him more, I started to see what a high compliment it was because I’m trying to do a lot of similar things on the page. If I had to describe my writing style or aspirations to someone, I’d say a mixture of Tate and Ríos would be ideal.

Jose Hernandez Diaz : part three

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

When I first started writing poetry in my 20’s, I tended to write about politics and trying to change the world. As I got older and the world continued to burn, I started to write more odes or homage pieces to the people in my life, like my parents, that I wanted to thank or everyday experiences about growing up first-gen Mexican American as opposed to broader political rants with agendas. Also, as I finished graduate school, I started writing prose poems both surrealist and absurdist. Many of these prose poems were written in the third person which was new to me having only written in first person before that (other than fiction). The third person allowed me to be less personal, to write more in persona or as a mask or sorts, avoiding the confessional of my personal life.

Jose Hernandez Diaz : part two

How do you know when a poem is finished?

When the poem flows as well as it can. When the poem jumps off the page and demands to be read in one sitting. After this reading in one sitting, if there are no hiccups or errors, one knows it is finished and ready to submit. I feel that figuring out when a poem is complete is like when you’re making oatmeal in the morning without instructions. It’s not your first rodeo. You know what it takes to get it just right. Before a poem is ready, you tinker with it. You add spices or specificity (of imagery, for example) to the initial writing. You make sure the punctuation accentuates the pace and tone. You add a little of this; take out a little of that: until it's just right. Sometimes poems require very little editing. Others require a more hands-on approach,

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.