Richard Blanco’s Gay Latino Poet Survival Kit

*”The first immigrant and the first openly gay man to be the inaugural poet, the Cuban-born author talks about exile, his new memoir, and the forces that formed him.”

By William O’Connor, The Daily Beast

Richard Blanco made waves in 2013 when he was the first immigrant, Latino, and openly gay man to be the inaugural poet.

Born in Madrid as his family was fleeing Cuba, Blanco grew up, as many exiles did, in Miami, in a family trying to recreate the culture and community that was lost.

This month, Blanco is out with a memoir, The Prince of Los Cocuyos, that is equal parts touching, heart-ache-inducing, and laugh-out-loud funny. It covers his years from early adolescence until high school, as he comes to grips not only with his nascent sexuality, but also his Cuban-American identity. One figure in particular towers over the book—his abuela (grandmother), whose merciless tormenting of him for being effeminate shaped him like little else.

In a Q&A Blanco opens up about coming to terms with his grandmother, about trying to pass as a straight man, and about the poem that changed his life.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Screenshot courtesy of CSPAN]

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