Two Poems by Vivian Lorena Carmona and Fresban Alexis Bueno

Dear readers!

This post is dedicated to two Colombian embera-chamí writers. The brilliant Coda editorial team published some of their work in Community Literacy Journal. But readers (at least this reader!) wanted more. Here Vivian and Fresban describe the freedom that comes with writing, the places and ways of being that they inhabit, and the kind of self-discovery possible in poetry. As Fresban writes (and excuse my translation), “In every written word there is a small description of who I am.” Thank you for contributing your work! And thank you, as always, to EncantaPalabras for connecting us.

Con cada verso escrito me identifico...

por Fresban Alexis Bueno

Tan solo basta un lápiz y papel para desahogar....
Soy un escritor libre...
Preso de mi única musa...la vida.

Sus enseñanzas me han hecho fuerte.
He reído y he llorado...
Al igual que todos tengo mis errores
aprendo de cada uno.
Soy un poeta...caminante...
Viajero de mis pensamientos...

Sus enseñanzas me han hecho fuerte.
He reído y he llorado...
Al igual que todos tengo mis errores
aprendo de cada uno.
Soy un poeta...caminante...
Viajero de mis pensamientos... En cada palabra escrita va una pequeña descripción de lo que soy...
Aprovecho cada segundo ...
Vivo la vida a mi modo...
Me acomodo a cada instante... Cuando estoy triste, sólo me dejo llevar por este don...
Rompo cada cadena que me impide volar...
Escribo para desahogar...
Canto para liberar...
Y sonrío para no llorar...
Vivo en tranquilidad...
pienso con relajación... Canto con amor.
Y río con pasión.

(poem first published in la revista, Relieves y Torrentes: Territorios Sostenibles (Chec, 2019)

Para algunos soy...

por Vivian Lorena Carmona

Para algunos soy invisible,
para otros completamente visible. Soy alguien que trata
de estar siempre alegre.
En mi cuerpo soy
una persona tranquila
y sin rencores.

(first published in la cartilla, Soy Incluyente, Poesía para la Paz IV, 2019)

El lugar donde vivo es muy especial...

por Vivian Lorena Carmona

Tal vez no sea grande, pero es mi hogar,
no es una ciudad, pero hay paz y tranquilidad, muchas personas no lo ven así,
yo sí, porque aquí vivo desde que nací
aquí aprendí a ver el mundo tal como es,
no hay tanta contaminación.
Y ver el horizonte me hace sentir
de este lugar.

(first published in la revista, Relieves y Torrentes: Territorios Sostenibles (Chec, 2019)

"Someone Else's Language"--essay up at Guernica

Click here to read!

When Russia attacked Ukraine unprovoked this February in what has become a brutal daily reminder of the fragility of peace amidst the horror of unchecked colonial ambitions, I was flooded with memories of my years in the Peace Corps in the former Soviet Republic of Latvia from 1999-2001. I remembered the optimism of post-Cold War independence. I thought, too, about what I had learned about the peaceful Baltic Singing Revolution (1987-1991) that led to Latvia’s Independence--a miracle of language, music, and solidarity to effect mass social change. Finally, I thought of my own experiences learning Russian in Latvia, about it what it meant both personally and politically to endeavor to learn someone else’s language. I thought about the potential of language to bridge who we define as ‘us’ and who we define as ‘them.’

The result was this essay. I wrote the initial draft in a flood of emotion and horror. I am grateful to deputy editor Eryn Loeb of Guernica for finding the through line and for working tirelessly with me over multiple drafts to shape it not only conceptually, but artistically. Thanks to the copy editor! Thanks to the fact-checker! Thanks, too, to my wonderful friends who read drafts, offered feedback, checked my facts and imperfect memory and translations and politics and diacritical marks. A special thank you to my friends in Latvia, some of whom have family in Ukraine, who amidst their own trauma, took the time and space to share their experiences and reflections with me. Kristine, Cathy, Matt, Catherine, Alla, Judy, Heather, Indra, Mary, Jesse Lee, Lana, David, Ivan, Andrejs, you all are the best. Even a short essay takes a village! Writing is not a solitary undertaking!

I commit to donating my honorarium to humanitarian aid to Ukrainians via this Latvian site, which Latvian friends have recommended. There are so many pressing needs right now. As the war continues, if you can, please consider joining me.

Essay up at The Sun

During the most intense periods of pandemic isolation, when it was just me and the kid, the kid and me, I gardened and wrote this essay about single parenting. I will be forever grateful that The Sun chose to publish it.

I submitted this essay as part of my application for the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award for parenting artists. This beautiful organization recognizes how important it is for parents to be able to create art—and also how difficult it is. I can’t believe I was named a finalist. Thank you for reading my essay and caring about parents. Congratulations to the awardees and finalists. I’m so lucky to be in your company.

Paz: Escribiendo un Corazón Común

Just before the pandemic, at the very end of 2019, I was honored to co-edit with the brilliant Jhoana Patiño Lopez a community-authored book and board game, what Jhoana calls a “writing-for-peace toolkit.” The brainchild of Jhoana, who wanted to create a model of research that was not extractive and instead was community-led, the book includes powerful contributions by many in the Manizales, Colombia community committed to using writing to transform social relations: a publisher, a psychologist/musical ensemble leader, an artist, youth writers, educators, poets, and a researcher from the U.S. (hi!).

The kit includes a TOTALLY FREE AND DOWNLOADABLE BOARD GAME that we had a ball creating and has been so much fun to play. I was grateful for the opportunity to help distribute these kits in a pedagogical tour organized by Jhoana. Here are some pictures of our team, the tour, and people playing.

One of the many beautiful parts of this project is that anyone can publish their poems for peace here. The most recent published poem “I wasn’t supposed to be here” by anonymous is a moving bilingual exploration of belonging, alienation, and survival. Check it out. Check them all out. Write your own.

Thank you to our beautiful team, to Fulbright, to ICETEX, to Susan J. Cellmer, and to a Baldwin Seed Grant for funding our work! Here’s some more about writing for peace in Colombia

The travels of Writing for Love and Money

Friends, I am so grateful and honored that this book—a book with lots of maps (thank you UW Cartography Lab!) that is all about the movement of people and writing—has made its way into readers’ hands. It was published in 2019, and then there was (is) the pandemic, so here’s some catch up.

The wonderful Amy Garey, from CaMP Anthropology, honored me with this interview. My favorite comment of hers: “This may well be the only ethnographic project comparing Brazil and Latvia.” But seriously, all her comments and questions were wonderful.

In 2021, the book was honored with the CCCC Advancement of Knowledge Award. The award is for “empirical studies” that “advance writing studies.” Thank you, writing studies colleagues, for reading and caring about this work! I’m especially thrilled to have shared this award with the amazing team of co-editors of Bordered Writers about Latinx literacy practices at Hispanic-Serving Institutions!

In 2020, the book was honored with the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association. Education and literacy family, thank you supporting work that I hope highlights and honors transnational family literacy practices.

Thank you again to Spencer/National Academy of Education, Susan Cellmer, my wonderful research team, the University of Wisconsin, the committed community members who so generously shared their stories with me, and so many more for helping this book be born. A special thank you to Amália’s caregivers. Writing takes a community.