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