New Mexico has a new Poet Laureate! Although Manuel González is well known in the slam poetry circles in Albuquerque—where he also served as the city’s poet laureate from 2016 to 2018—he is now stepping into a larger role with big visions about how to engage the entire state in the unique connection and expression inherent to poetry.
Throughout his career, González has made it his mission to reach the most marginalized people in New Mexico, and now he plans to leverage his role as Poet Laureate to heal hearts in as many communities as possible.
“I use poetry and literacy as a guise to get into spaces where we can do good heart work,” González says. “We find objects or metaphors or imagery to represent trauma, and then instead of talking about the pain and depression … you can talk about a cracked mirror and just describe that cracked mirror. … You don’t have to show everybody all your vulnerabilities. It’s there in the words; it’s there in the metaphors. And this is how we heal. Because I found that there’s medicine in this artform.”
Discover more:
Manuel González Xicanopoet
New Mexico Arts
Manny and the Casanovas
Al Hurricane
Native American Community Academy
Hear more on Encounter Culture:
From Goatheads to Grand Canyons: A Love Letter to the Landscape with New Mexico State Poet Laureate, Lauren Camp, Encounter Culture, Season 6
Curanderismo, Poetry, and How to Heal a Broken Heart with Tommy Archuleta, Santa Fe Poet Laureate, Encounter Culture, Season 7
Read more in El Palacio:
El Palacio article about women in the Chicano Movement in Las Vegas, by Myrriah Gόmez
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Encounter Culture is a production of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.
Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at El Palacio Magazine
Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann
Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz
Recording Engineers: Collin Ungerleider & Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios
Editor & Production Manager: Alex Riegler
Associate Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota)
Theme Music: D’Santi NavaInstagram: @newmexicanculture and @elpalaciomagazine