In a Callaloo interview with John Keene, Baca claims, I approach language as if it will contain who I am as a persona statement that reflects the poets interest in the transformative and generative power of language. And hes being courted by famous literary agents. "You really don't have time to be angry," Baca explained to Beth Ann Krier in the Los Angeles Times. 1, 6-7. shelved 17,121 times Showing 30 distinct works. His memoir, A Place to Stand (2001), garnered the International Prize. Even today, it appears Baca writes to stay fully alive. Jimmy Santiago Baca Biography Jimmy Santiago Baca is an American Poet and writer. You can scroll down for information about his Social media profiles. and seethes, like a frightened cat. He didnt look like the cholo, the tough guy who comes up in his poems. If they were taught to be racist or violent, language has this amazing ability to unteach all that, and make them question it. He later divulged to Krier: "[In prison], I saw all these Chicanos going out to the fields and being treated like animals. He writes about people that much . He soon abused drugs and alcohol and, by age twenty-one, was convicted of drug possession (a crime, he later told Krier, he did not commit). It all comes down to my act of sitting down in my little room and writing whats in my heart.. " And so I pray I am today as honest with myself, with life all around me and below and above me, with all who I encounter. First came reading (from an anthology stolen from a jail guard): "It was late when I returned to my cell. www.cityscape8.com, Kym Sheehan Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. 214-231. Under Review. C-train (Dream Boy's Story): and, Thirteen Mexicans (poems), Grove Press (New York, NY), 2002. I'm too busy trying to capture the aspects of myself in the dark. . We moved half way across the country to Missouri when I was 8 years old. I have to deal with changing diapers, washing dishes, changing doorknobs. I wanted to know how to function in this world. "Baca began to exercise a natural and gifted ability to arch his circumstance into metaphor and sling forth his poems as personal responses to the lived experience of his early years. Famously known by the Family name Jimmy Santiago Baca, is a great Screenwriter. Personal . But it was not to beI wanted to challenge the shadow and vanquish its heart of darkness. WORK IN PROGRESS: A Glass of Water, a novel for Grove; Hand Signs and Closing the Circle, sequels to Set this Book on Fire!, for Cedar Hill. Everyone else was dressed up and suave. PBS is preparing a documentary on his life. Denise VanBriggle Kym_LiteracyRX@comcast.net, Ghost Ranch, NM August 31-September 4, 2015. Abandoned by his parents at the age of two, he lived with one of his grandmothers for several years before being placed in an orphanage. ", Baca has also had some success with dramas: his play Los tres hijos de Julia was performed in Los Angeles in 1991, and his film Bound by Honor, for which he cowrote the screenplay and produced, was released by a Disney company in 1993. Jimmy Santiago Baca Quotes. Immigrants in Our Own Land (1979, 1991) was Bacas first significant collection, one based on his imprisonment. As success stories go, its a grisly one. Born in New Mexico, poet Jimmy Santiago Baca recounts his long saga of imprisonment, beginning in childhood and stretching into adulthood. My life as a background has had darkness; the only way to survive the darkness is to have my soul flash. There is entirely too much telling and too little showing." Compared to other places, its pretty hard-core there. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Attuned to real-life circumstances, each of Baca's books represents a concrete step in the process of rebuilding his life from the point of nonexistence that he associates with the years spent in prison. . Occupation Poet Notable works Martin and Meditations on the South Valley Notable awards American Book Award, Pushcart Prize, International Hispanic Heritage Award, International Award. A fellow inmate convinced him to submit some of his poems to the magazine Mother Jones, then edited by Denise Levertov. He'd never read a book and didn't know how to write. In the title story, the couple's three children-a . It was while in jail that he taught himself to read and write. Abandoned by his parents at the age of two, he lived with one of his grandmothers for several years before being placed in an orphanage. . What's Happening (poetry), Curbstone Press (Willimantic, CT), 1982. Most importantly, Kym believes in the power of literacy to save lives. Of Chicano and Apache Indian descent, Baca lived with his grandmother after his parents divorced and abandoned him at the age of two. "I took a wild chance," he related to Krier, "I didn't even know how to put the stamp on the envelope and address it." Baca also appeared as an actor in the film and as one of its producers.[16]. . Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. At the age of 13 he ran away and wound up living on the streets. And I believe that we the people can make it happen and raise our children in a way that allows them to love who they are. New York Times, April 30, 1993, Vincent Canby, review of Bound by Honor, p. C8; January 14, 1994, p. D16. ." We will formulate lesson-plans and curriculum that will fortify our children and prepare them to become leaders. He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on January 2, 1952. Abandoned by his parents at the age of seven, he lived with one of his grandmothers for several years before being placed in an orphanage. Can you imagine the shoe room, with 70,000 pairs of shoes and you find one that fits and then try to find its mate?. The organization employs ex-offenders as interns. Bacas most recent novel is A Glass of Water (2009). I forgot how to pronounce my own name, he recalled. He was born in New Mexico on January 02, 1952. We are a living entity made of parts and will continue to grow! 67-79. ", Baca's next work, 1987's Martin and Meditations on the South Valley, met with outstanding success, earning the American Book Award for poetry. Jimmy Santiago Baca (born January 2, 1952) is an American poet, memoirist, and screenwriter from New Mexico. Jimmy Santiago Baca was born on January 2, 1952 (age 71) in New Mexico, United States. You just stand there and make money.. Jimmy Santiago Baca. So many people I know, their parents give them their homes, and they get married and have children, or whatever. Salary in 2020. Jimmy's partner, Stacy, had given birth only a few days before I flew to Albuquerque to meet him, so I felt touched that he could find the time for me. The poet Will Inman published Mr. Baca's poetry in his 1977 anthology Fired Up with You: Poems of a Niagara Vision (Border Press), one of the earliest anthologies to include Jimmy Santiago Baca's poems. Although a Publishers Weekly reviewer found many of the themes and images included in the collection to be predictable, the critic assured that Baca's readers "will certainly want to come along for his heartfelt exploration of the American Southwest. In his works, he suggests that poetry is not always restorative, but resilient when human life is given a chance. Throughout her lifes journey she continues to find ways to feed her passions and promote literacy. The book is underpinned by Baca's vision of a man moving from violence to peace and from personal turmoil to spiritual harmony. He is the founder of a nonprofit grassroots cooperative for inner-city youth called Black Mesa Enterprises. 2. Prairie Schooner, winter, 2002, Marcus Cafagna, review of Set this Book on Fire!, pp. In the Way of the Sun, Grove Press (New York, NY), 1997. His memoir reaches for a deeper truth. He published an original essay in 2013 called, The Face, in ebook form with Restless Books, along with digital editions of his Breaking Bread with the Darkness poetry volumes. (poetry), Cedar Hill (Mesa, AZ), 1999, 2nd edition, 2001. Judging Baca a talented writer, Levertov began corresponding with the inmate and eventually found a publisher for his first book. Poems Taken from My Yard, Timberline (Fulton, MO), 1986. I had lived with only the desperate hope to stay afloat; that and nothing more. I dont believe in comfort zones. Raised by his grandmother and later sent to an orphanage, he became a runaway by age 13. He wrote the popular 1993 screenplay for the movie Blood In Blood Out aka Bound By Honor. In prison. Baca during the videotaping of Add-Verse, 2004, "Jimmy Santiago Baca, Compton College guest speaker", "Episode 1143 - Jimmy Santiago Baca: Words Have the Power to Change The World", "Hispanic Heritage Awards for Literature", "Award-Winning American Poet and Writer Jimmy Santiago Baca To Read at WNMU, Detention Center", Western American Literature Journal: Jimmy Santiago Baca, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jimmy_Santiago_Baca&oldid=1107761633. Everyone is welcome. . Commending Baca's descriptions, drawn with "great telescopic accuracy and poignance," the reviewer called Martin and Meditations on the South Valley "a book of great complicity, maturity, and finally responsibility. I want to use what we discover to help others wandering helplessly in life, many in worse situations. Denise Levertov, who describes Baca as an extraordinarily gifted poet, was the magazines poetry editor at the time. U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove is the third African Americanand the youngest poet everto hold the post of dis, Heaney, Seamus Exploring Latino/a American poetry and culture. Jimmy Santiago Baca is a poet and novelist who has written more than a dozen books, several of which, including A Place to Stand, were banned by the Tucson school district. They can't believe the language can carry so much power, and once they get hold of that, they begin to unteach what they were taught about who they are. As well as writing workshops, Cedar Tree has produced two documentary films Clamor en Chino and Moving the River Back Home. $ 9.39. I wanted to know how to function in this world. Kym Sheehan is a secondary literacy specialist for a Florida school district, as well as a teacher-consultant with Tampa Bay Area Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing Project. In July 2007, he married Allyn. Though the words were direct and tinged with challenge, Baca is hardly the tough homeboy you might expect from hearing his life story. Youll be surprised and amazed at how youve come into your own light again. But thats obviously not the case. I never fully accepted the fact that I was a writer until a year and a half ago (with the publication of Martin), he said. She is also an independent literacy consultant at the local and national levels. When he . By his own account, Jimmy Santiago Baca's parents divorced and abandoned him to a grandparent when he was 2. Baca's most recent novel is A Glass of Water (2009). I think Im going to do a play for these people, he said, sitting in one of the centers offices, smoking a cigarette. Photo: Adabel Allen. I got caught in a net. It was there that he first started writing poetry. . Jimmy Santiago Baca (born January 2, 1952 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) is a Chicano-American poet and writer. Americas Review, fall-winter, 1988, pp. Jimmy Santiago Baca was born on January 2, 1952 in New Mexico. Baca radiates a gentleness, serenity, and lack of anger. A Publishers Weekly critic felt that "readers may find Baca's poetry more dazzling than this prose memoir," but acknowledged that "the content of his story is so interesting and his poetry simply shines." His memoir, A Place to Stand (2001), chronicles his troubled youth and the five-year jail-stint that brought about his personal transformation. From that moment, a hunger for poetry possessed me. ", Despite his impressive accomplishments, Baca claims to maintain the humble attitude he first fostered while in prison. The film was produced by Gabriel Baca, David Gruban, and Andres Salazar The creators of the movie also made a school curriculum to strengthen and highlight the morals within Bacas life story, containing a workbook and films. 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