By Romeo Fierro
Google the words “El Paso poetry,” and you find almost 89,000 matches, but most are useless or irrelevant. In a city as rich in history, beautiful scenery and an abundance of cultures connecting and clashing on a daily basis, the voices of El Paso’s poets are virtually unheard by the community.
“The polarities and dichotomies between cultures, nations and langauges will always influence good art, good writing, good El Chuco poets,” said Vero Guajardo, poetry editor for the Rio Grande Review.
Despite the riveting impact El Paso could make on poetry, the overall enthusiasm for poetry in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez area seems to be lacking.
“I think that poetry in general is underappreciated in El Paso,” said Sarah Olivas, a UTEP undergraduate in creative writing who also writes her own poetry.
There are few publications in circulation that feature poets from the El Paso area or Hispanic poets across the country. Two that do are the Rio Grande Review and Border Senses, both literary journals for writers in the El Paso community. The publications accept submissions from writers and publish selected work twice a year. The Rio Grande Review, UTEP’s literary magazine, started in 1981 and Border Senses was first published in the Fall of 2000.
“The magazine is not new to the area, and as such, it has provided a venue to local poets, as well as attracted national attention,” said Guajardo, adding that the magazine contributes to El Paso's long literary tradition.
New issues of the Rio Grande Review and Border Senses will be published in the next couple of months. The Rio Grande Review is expected to release its newest issue at the end of this month and Border Senses in June.
“(In El Paso) I like to think of it as some people are still thinking about (poetry) and doing it. People are interested here,” said Dr. Rosa Alcala, a poetry professor at UTEP.
Dr. Alcala performed at a poetry reading along side renowned poet Juan Felipe Herrera in late April. Dr. Alcala’s poems have been published in books and literary magazines across the country. She also translates poetry and has done readings in Spain, Cuba and Scotland.
There is no solid figure for the number of poets in El Paso because poetry is often treated as a hobby done by writers in their spare time. However, some prominent El Paso poets include Sheryl Luna, a graduate of the MFA program at UTEP who published Pity the Drowned Horses in 2006.
Leslie Ullman, former director of the MFA Program with a bilingual option, has published three books of poetry and is a well known poet in the country. Ullman’s most famous poem Peace, can be found on many popular poetry websites and there are other faculty members who have published works of poetry or who are in the stages of having their work published.
Poets might be some of the most underappreciated people in history and not just in El Paso. But with a strong base of followers and people devoted to poetry it doesn’t look like poetry will fade anytime soon.
“Just the pure joy of language and how you can do anything with it is what I love about poetry,” said Alcala.
