Jimmy Santiago Baca If education is supposed to open up the spirit or mind of men and you lock them up at night, that shows the stupidity of society. Most of the time our farm and animals are also a labor of love, Id try to think. This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 11:55. PRINCIPAL WORKS You stay there two years, until your skin peels to a papery white, from having no sunlight. Baca began writing poetry and, at the behest of a fellow inmate, sent his works to Mother Jones magazine. Personal Master Slave Husband Wife. Its just between the convict and the guard. [5], Immigrants in Our Own Land, Baca's first major collection, was published by the Louisiana State University Press in 1979. Intended to convey the sometimes traumatic Chicano experience in America, Martin and Meditations on the South Valley details the protagonist's sense of abandonment and displacement. Progressive, January, 2003, Barbara Stahura, interview with Baca. If youre a priest, you cant test yourself by living in a temple. Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. She currently serves as an official prison visitor and Co-convener of the Dauphin County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Prison Society and owns Cityscape Consulting, devoted to designing curriculum and programming to meet the unique needs of her clients.

And they sacrifice a mans destiny.

And thats when I had a vision going through the desert in California. I gorged at self-hatreds table and nourished my self-hatred on drugs, alcohol and violence until one day I remembered the beautiful boy I wasthat amazing clarity and kindness in my eyes, the shy smile, the universe cradling my heart with love, cascading lullabies of light on my soul, lighting up my entire being with joy. Jimmy Santiago Baca is an award-winningAmerican poetandwriter of Chicanodescent. Poems Taken from My Yard, Timberline (Fulton, MO), 1986. If they were taught to be racist or violent, language has this amazing ability to unteach all that, and make them question it. ADDRESSES: HomeAlbuquerque, NM. Some human beings are like animals caught in traps. He has written 31 books of poems, essays and stories. Source for information on Baca, Jimmy Santiago 1952-: Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series dictionary. He closed the door and refused to let me out because he thought Id left earth. Youre admonished, youre kicked, youre laughed at. He said, Dont worry about it, Im quitting tomorrow. "Baca has enriched the [short fiction] genre and exposed another facet of his multi-dimensioned literary talent," praised Cecil Johnson in his Fort Worth Star-Telegram review. My wife and I both work, and work long hours. A guard told Jimmy hed never leave prison alive. Cedar Tree came about when my wife and I were hiking in the forest one day and a gusher thunderstorm came out of nowhere, lightning and thunder and downpours. Discussing the themes in Healing Earthquakes, which include acceptance in a community, the loss of family, and contradictions in romantic relationships, a Publishers Weekly reviewer considered the work "a sprawling journal of epic proportions certainly a breakthrough book for Baca." The mission of cedar tree poetics is to improve the human condition; to advance knowledge through compassion and literacy, through excellence in learning, discovery and engagement; and to serve asdiverse a community as we can, adolescents on the edge and incarcerated children and adults. WebJimmy Santiago Baca was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on January 2, 1952. So you can screw up all this time and when the day comes to be released, theyve got to release, which doesnt give a man any initiative. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. You cannot expect grown men to go without sex to be barked at like they were children or to be locked up in eight-by-nine foot cells. And the way the court systems are working now, they are getting too backlogged, so theyre reverting to easier sentences. Your gums start to bleed, and your tongue is always dry. I was swimming in the murky lagoons of my familys decent and I stayed in that swamp, abscessed with the decaying souls of my brothers and sisters. But I didnt swing out at him and I promised myself not to speak at all to him. I was away somewhere else and WHACK! WebSantiago Baca lives in Albuquerque with his wife and two teenagers. BACA: The latter part of 1970. Most of the time Im looking at things and see absolutely nothing. American Book Review, January, 1982, Ron Arias, review of Immigrants in Our Own Land: Poems, pp.

"You really don't have time to be angry," Baca explained to Beth Ann Krier in the Los Angeles Times.

Hed had two years of formal schooling. Ghost Ranch offers adobe houses and dormitory accommodations, a cafeteria and pool, big sunlit rooms, hiking and horse back ridingeverything to refresh ones spirit. I dont believe that we can have anything in this life, that we can possess anything. And I learned very, very little from people. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. The poems, highlighting the splendor of human existence amidst the desolate surroundings of prison life, met with rave reviews. Reviewer's Bookwatch, September, 2004, Willis M. Buhle, review of A Place to Stand.

You can do things that otherwise you wouldnt have been able to do. And these are the truths that are called Truth. Tim Davis, reviewing the book for Kliatt, found The Importance of a Piece of Paper to be a "superb collection.

Denise VanBriggle, literacy professional, teacher-consultant with the National Writing Project, and JourneyDance Facilitator, spends most days following her combined passions as she explores the power of the expressive arts to act as change agents, perspective shifters, and resilience builders in her own life and the lives of others. to Upaya Zen Center for a special dharma talk entitled. SIDELIGHTS: Jimmy Santiago Baca, an ex-convict who taught himself to read while in prison, is a highly acclaimed poet who won the prestigious American Book Award in 1988. SUN: The system meaning also the gang system, as well as the official system? As success stories go, its a grisly one. What's Happening (poetry), Curbstone Press (Willimantic, CT), 1982.

I first came to write poetry as a young man in prison. The force becomes very potent and very powerful. It has been wonderful thus far and will only get better as our children get bigger and can understand and share in this wonderful place. I must have written at least a thousand letters to her. The letters are themselves poems, and are some of the first things he ever committed to paper as he learned to read and write. I didnt have a mother or a father image and so its very difficult for me to understand exactly what Freuds talking about. And the judges are the same way. I wanted to test it.

I accepted my damnation, and then I thought, What are you going to do now? And I was just like a newborn child, an embryo in dark space, no knowledge, no sensation, no language. SUN: What would be a specific way to change prison? So I took my pen and I was going to write the poem that Id first envisioned in the desert, about coming to prison someday. Which I did. Winter Poems along the Rio Grande, New Directions (New York, NY), 2004. Source for information on Baca, Jimmy Santiago 1952-: Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series dictionary. The whole system is based on favors. It's a search for personal and collective myths, a first-hand account that goes to the heart of an American reality that's often ignored." He wound up living on the streets, and at the age of twenty-one he was convicted on charges of drug possession and incarcerated. Why was I so ignorant and deprived? The only way of transcending was through language and understanding. When Jimmy Santiago Baca was 20, he was convicted of drug charges and sentenced to prison. Dictionary of Hispanic Biography, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1996. You can either be behind the walls, or you can be in the minimum security camps where youre able to go to town once in a while, get a piece, get a smoke, or drink, or even have a good job, where you can go to the city every day. We need to show them how they can help because it gives them pride to help someone. Master Slave Husband Wife. I cant take this place. Hed only worked there two or three weeks. . Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. I first came to write poetry as a young man in prison. Ilan Stavans of Nation found, "overall the work is stunning, the product of a poet in control of his craft, one worth paying attention to. SUN: In prison, what did you have to watch out for? 2023 . How can I help? And the convict will say, Whats happened here is that we dont have any books or any say-so, I dont have any freedom . . Healing Earthquakes: A Love Story in Poems, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2001. And the deeper you go into it, the more you feel that force. Feb. 15, 1989 12 AM PT. Or I would have killed somebody, and I would have gone to the madhouse if they would have taken me there, and I would have asked them to put me under some kind of drug where I wouldnt know my name anymore and I could completely dissolve myself. So he decided to start punishing me by taking my clothes away, or giving me disciplinary reports for having a spoon of sugar in my cell or for not combing my hair, or for having wrinkles in my bed.

Poet and critic Denise Levertov writes, Jimmy exhorts not others but himself; full of a rich, sensuous, romantic talent, his poems let us participate in a process of personal growth and developing consciousness, not without bitterness and rage but not dominated by these emotions.. 214-231. WebBorn in 1952 in Santa Fe of Chicano and Apache descent, Jimmy Santiago Baca was abandoned by his parents and at 13 ran away from the orphanage where his grandmother had placed him.

What fine human beings with so much to offer. ", Published in conjunction with his memoir, the poetry collection Healing Earthquakes: A Love Story in Poems draws on a technique of journaling to record emotions and experiences. By the time he was five, Baca was living in a New Mexico orphanage, his father dead of alcoholism and his mother involved with a second husband who would one day murder her. WebJimmy Santiago Baca was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on January 2, 1952. New York Times critic Vincent Canby, for one, wrote of Bound by Honor: "Though it's not the epic it means to be, it is not a failure. I had correspondences with other writers that were writing me after I learned how to write. I didnt even know how to write a letter, how to address a letter, Id never even used a stamp before. This society has sophisticated it a little they dont put the person on the altar and take his heart out but they do throw him in prison. In 2003, Baca appeared in an episode of Def Poetry Jam. You dont do anything. The Lone Wolf: The Story of Pancho Gonzalez (screenplay), HBO Productions, 2000. Because I studied Byron and Wordsworth and Coleridge then I went to Oh, my God, I just love those Russian poets I was searching for a voice to come out of me that had the imprint of my own culture, that had the imprint of my own people. 11. Youre enclosed like an animal. American Indian Quarterly, winter-spring, 2003, Diane E. Benson, "Standing up against the Giant," pp. Melendez observed that the publication of Immigrants in Our Own Land "established Baca's potential as a serious and prolific new voice on the poetry scene. ", Baca's following work, The Importance of a Piece of Paper: Stories, is a collection of short stories, one of which has the translated title of his earlier play, "The Three Sons of Julia." And yet my nature was to run away from authority like a wild pony. Copyright 19742023 The Sun. People think of a guard as somebody protecting Carter.

Hed never read a book and didnt know how to write. 1, 6-7. Set This Book on Fire! I visited and stayed the summers with him for many year. Jimmy Santiago Baca spoke with NPR's Arun Rath about his long career. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 122: Chicano Writers, Second Series, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992. You can hear Baca read from two of his longer poems, Singing at the Gates and Rita Falling from the Sky, below. Most of them are flying from job to job. I would walk back and forth and think about how I could overcome prison. We got to talking.

Im either dying or living and knowing it. WebSantiago Baca lives in Albuquerque with his wife and two teenagers. Under my blanket I switched on a pen flashlight and opened the thick book at random, scanning the pages. His numerous literary awards include the Pushcart Prize, the American Book Award, and the International Hispanic Heritage Award. Jimmy Santiago Baca spoke with NPR's Arun Rath about his long career. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 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. Jimmy Santiago Baca (born January 2, 1952 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) is a Chicano-American poet and writer. BACA: They go hand in hand. And then after that there was an invisible boundary around me because people thought I was going to be crazy, which suited me fine because it gave me more room to think. Theyll put you in the basement and say you tried to escape. He has two older children as well. He loves to feel himself breathe and run and play basketball or baseball. I didnt want to avoid it because I knew that I would find something there that I needed. WebBACA, Jimmy Santiago 1952-PERSONAL: Born 1952, in NM; married; wife's name Beatrice (a therapist); children: Antonio, Gabriel. Not the least of Baca's contribution to Chicano literature has been to widen the critical attention directed by mainstream critics and publishers toward his own work and that of other Chicano writers." The work that I began very early on was a homage to those who were silenced by oppression. Fleeing the orphanage as often as he could to hide in the barrio or live with relatives, Baca was eventually reduced to a life on the street. His is a gifted, young vision, and judging from this collection, I get the feeling he is just warming up. I wanted to know how to function in this world. The wife wanted more freedom, a bigger mansion. The mansion could represent her need for more things. I could hear the jailer making his rounds on the other tiers. He is the founder of a nonprofit grassroots cooperative for inner-city youth called Black Mesa Enterprises. When I became 15, or so, I did search for a mother unconsciously and I found that in the nuns, in authority. Hes more free spirited.

(snaps his fingers) WHACK! I refused to work. Agentc/o Author Mail, New Directions Publishing, 80 8th Ave., New York, NY 10011. We are a living entity made of parts and will continue to grow!

If you go along with the system perfectly, youre able to do that. And as we began to write letters to each other, I think American poets reveled in the epistolary form and for myself it became the resource and the instrument by which I would excavate my voice. A local newspaper headlined the story, the State Legislature investigated, and the warden was finally asked to resign. Jimmy cooperated with other prisoners to expose the racket. Santiago Baca lives in Albuquerque with his wife and two teenagers. Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. ; son of Patrick (a farmer) and Margaret Heaney; married Marie Devlin, 1965; children: Michael, Christopher, Catherine. Beneath it all, there was something quivering down there and I had to find it. His many honors include the Pushcart Prize, the American Book Award, the International Hispanic Heritage Award and the prestigious International Award. Baca was born in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, in 1952. Jimmy Santiago Baca Home Page, http://www.jimmysantiagobaca.com (September 21, 2005). My wife and I both work, and work long hours. Times Staff Writer. 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. I just try to stay within the rules of the earth, within the boundaries of dignity. 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. WebBorn in 1952 in Santa Fe of Chicano and Apache descent, Jimmy Santiago Baca was abandoned by his parents and at 13 ran away from the orphanage where his grandmother had placed him. He is a winner of the prestigious International Award for his memoir, , "A film based on the critically acclaimed memoir, ofone of America's greatest living poets. Molly Worthen On The Modern Search For Meaning. SUN: So you chose it, you chose to live through it. . Everyone is welcome. He is a winner of the prestigious International Award for his memoir, A Place to Stand, the story of which is now also a documentary by the same title. The reviewer declared: "One hopes to see the promise of his first book realized in a future, better-crafted volume. When he was 21, he was convicted on charges of drug possession and incarcerated. Jimmy Santiago Baca spoke with NPR's Arun Rath about his long career. Immigrants in Our Own Land: Poems, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1979, enlarged edition published as Immigrants in Our Own Land and Earlier Poems, New Directions (New York, NY), 1990. He will also share a clip of the forthcoming.

But when I finally had enough confidence in myself to confront that authority and asked that authority to have integrity, as I have had integrity in my own way, I found out that the authority was just ludicrous. A film based on Baca's memoir A Place to Stand, directed by Daniel Glick, was released in 2014. Baca has read from his work and provided an interview for a sound recording in the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape at the Library of Congress, 2004. I'm too busy trying to capture the aspects of myself in the dark. Please RSVP to our front office at 505-986-8518 ext. If prison elevates violence, you have to be kind.

And now theyre throwing all these 19 year old kids that dont have any responsibility in prisons. Not in theory, but in practice.

I dont believe in comfort zones. (laughs) Sure enough it frightened me. SUN: The dramatic way to put it is, if you hadnt gone to prison, you wouldnt have discovered that you are a writer. All took from us until we had nothing left but our own shame. Baca is also the author of a collection of stories and essays, Working in the Dark: Reflections of a Poet of the Barrio (1992); a play, Los tres hijos de Julia (1991); a screenplay, Bound by Honor, which was released by Hollywood Pictures as Blood In Blood Out in 1993; he also published at the end of 1993 Second Chances.

Theyre good people.

. 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. Contributor to anthologies, including New Worlds of Literature, edited by Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter, Norton (New York, NY), 1989; The Pushcart Prize XIV, edited by Bill Henderson, Penguin (New York, NY), 1989; and An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, University of Georgia Press (Athens, GA), 1989. People, September 30, 2003, "Second Acts," p. 123. You realize that nobody has truly understood you and you have not understood the world, and you have vague illusions about it that you live by, and it finally comes down to realizing you didnt catch the boat and youre drowning, and thats a hard thing to accept. WebSantiago Baca lives in Albuquerque with his wife and two teenagers. You take them and pop them in your mouth and it burns your whole mouth. Because I believe in the other route just as much as I believe in writing.

Theres no need to put your pants on, or shirt. Michael Hogan, writing in the American Book Review found Baca's focus on racial oppression, exploitation of laborers, and the horrors of state-run penitentiaries "powerful"; yet he also agreed with other reviewers, deciding that the poems showed a "tendency toward looseness and the prosaic.

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