Best film I've seen in the last 12 months:

Philomena.

Great story.  Full of surprises.  Poignant.  Deeply moving.

Some books I go back to

Nick Flynn's SOME ETHER
Alex Lemon's MOSQUITO
Matthew Dickman's ALL-AMERICAN POEM
Paul Monnette's BECOMING A MAN: HALF A LIFE STORY
Joe Weil's WHAT REMAINS
Sherman Alexie's LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN
Denise Duhamel's TWO AND TWO
Sandra Cisneros' THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Frank McCourt's ANGELA'S ASHES
Toni Morrison's BELOVED
John Patrick Shanley's DOUBT
Mark Doty's FIREBIRD

Check'em out. :-)

Edward Said

I never had the honor of meeting him, but his writing is with me always.

Beautiful mind.  Beautiful soul.  Ever.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/aug/02/alqaida.highereducation

Naomi Shihab Nye

Amazing human being.

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/naomi-shihab-nye

Readings/Workshops/Lectures

If you're interested in me visiting your community, don't hesitate to contact me at the following address:

JoseOrBust@yahoo.com.

Or you can find me in the English department website of the Univ. of Texas-Pan American.

Cheers.

New stuff at Connotation Press: An Online Artifact!

Great poetry and prose featured here.  A big thank you to its editor John Hoppenthaler for including my work.  If you want to see some of my latest stuff, visit the following link:

http://www.connotationpress.com/

Backlit Hour

Backlit Hour is a finalist for the 2014 Paterson Poetry Prize!  What an honor.  Look for the winner, Billy Collins, and finalists reading next May at The Poetry Center in Paterson, New Jersey.  Can't wait.

Here's the list:

http://www.pccc.edu/uploads/ba/fa/bafa66fbc1617a44423ee6748d78b274/Paterson-Poetry-14w.pdf

Here's the link to my poem in RHINO 2014:

http://rhinopoetry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/rodriguez_rhino2014.pdf

A great big thank you to Houston Community College for inviting me to read on April 21, 2014.  I look forward to this visit.  Very excited.

Con gratitud II

Thank you to the amazing Sean Thomas Dougherty for supporting Backlit Hour, for his great big heart:

http://www.thethepoetry.com/2013/12/thirteen-of-the-best-poetry-collections-for-2013-books-that-will-sustain-a-lifetime-and-another-and-another/

Con gratitud

Thank you to Sandra Cisneros for her wonderful work and for her support.

For counting Backlit Hour among her favorite books of 2013:

http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Writers-favorite-books-of-2013-5063365.php

Another book rec

Body, Remember: A Memoir

Thank you, Kenny Fries.

http://www.amazon.com/Body-Remember-Memoir-Lesbian-Autobiographies/dp/0299190544/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1396755333&sr=8-5&keywords=body+remember

Book Rec.

Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story by Paul Monette

Brilliant.

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Story-Perennial-Classics/dp/0060595647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396755271&sr=8-1&keywords=Becoming+a+Man+half+a+life+story

Okay, last one. I promise.

Look for a new poem in issue 21 of Memorious.

Here's the link to one of my new poems:

...aaaaaand even more!

Check out two poems of mine forthcoming in the special 10th anniversary issue of the wonderful and illuminating upstreet.  Also out later this year.

More News

Be on the lookout for an essay of mine in the forthcoming anthology Others Will Enter the Gates, a collection of essays by immigrant poets in America.  GREAT list of contributors.  Out later this year from Black Lawrence Press!

I'm still here!!!

Check out my new poem in the 2014 issue of RHINO out April 6!