A Poet in Motion – Juan Felipe Herrera

His parents sewed crops as migrant farmers feeding peoples bodies, but Juan Felipe Herrera has made his living sewing poetry feeding peoples souls. The Chicano poet’s four decades long career has shown that the magic of words and their ability to tell a story is not a lost art. Herrera, who was named California’s poet laureate in 2012, was christened with the title of the United State’s poet laureate just this past year. In doing so he made history as the country’s first Chicano to have the honor.

The son of migrant farmers received his BA in social anthropology at UCLA and an MA in social anthropology from Stanford at the genesis of the Chicano “Brown Power” movement. Influenced by writers like Allen Ginsberg, the civil rights era and a campesino childhood, Herrera’s work provides commentary on social issues without losing art; he blends form, languages and the even expression (think theatre, visual art and performance pieces). He honed his craft when he received an MFA from the prestigious University of Iowa where he later taught at their famous Iowa Writer’s Workshop. His daring methods and free form cemented his place in Chicano literature and America’s literary tradition. New York Times critic Stephen Burt wrote that Herrera created, “a new hybrid art, part oral, part written, part English, part something else: an art grounded in ethnic identity, fueled by collective pride, yet irreducibly individual too.” This unique fingerprint can be found throughout his body of work that include 25 books of poetry, children’s books, various plays, and songs.

Herrera wears his love for California on his sleeve. He credits his varied experiences in The San Joaquin Valley, San Diego’s Logan Heights and San Francisco’s Mission District with shaping his vision and his work. Most impressively Herrera’s influence has been sewn among many not just through his words but also his actions. Herrera has been teaching poetry for decades at art galleries, prisons, community centers and colleges. He currently shares his wisdom with those in Riverside county and the Coachella Valley of California where students get to study not just an art form but see a master story teller in action.

Image credit: Chris Felver