Ire'ne Lara Silva is a

Chicana feminist Chicana feminism is a sociopolitical movement, theory, and praxis that scrutinizes the historical, cultural, spiritual, educational, and economic intersections impacting Chicanas and the Chicana/o community in the United States. Chicana feminism ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and writer from

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Her parents were migrant farmworkers. She has published numerous works of poetry and her short story collection won the 2013

Premio Aztlán Literary Prize The Premio Aztlán Literary Prize is a national literary award for emerging Chicana and Chicano authors, founded in 1993 by Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya.

. A central theme of her work is Indigenous survival and perseverance despite

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

: "let's empower ourselves with that knowledge."

Early years

Silva grew up in the

Rio Grande Valley Lower Rio Grande Valley (), often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) of South Texas, is a region located in the southernmost part of Texas, along the northern bank of the Rio Grande. It is also known locally as the Valley or the 956 (the ...

South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...

. Her parents were migrant

farmworkers A farmworker, farmhand or agricultural worker is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including har ...

and she spent many years with her family moving "from South Texas to Mathis to Oklahoma to New Mexico to the

Panhandle A salient, panhandle, or bootheel is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on three sides. Ins ...

and back to South Texas."The City and the Writer: In Austin with Ire’ne Lara Silva

Nathalie Handal Nathalie Handal is a poet, writer and professor, described as a “contemporary Orpheus.” A New Yorker and a quintessential global citizen, she has published 10 prize-winning books, including ''Life in a Country Album.'' She is praised for her ...

, January 28, 2016, ''Words Without Borders'', Retrieved June 2, 2016

Writing career

Silva is the author of three

chapbooks A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

of poetry, two full-length books of poetry, and one short story collection. Her work has appeared in various journals, including ''Acentos Review'', ''Pilgrimage'', and ''Yellow Medicine Review'' and various

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

including ''Improbable Worlds: An Anthology of Texas and Louisiana Poets'' and ''The Weight of Addition: An Anthology of Texas Poetry.'' Silva's collection, ''blood sugar canto'', was published by Saddle Road Press in January 2016. Silva served as co-editor with

Dan Vera Dan Vera (born South Texas) is an American poet and editor. Career Vera is the author of ''Speaking Wiri Wiri'', (Red Hen Press, 2013) and ''The Space Between Our Danger and Delight'', (Beothuk Books, 2009). His manuscript ''The Guide to Imagi ...

for ''IMANIMAN: Poets Reflect on Transformative & Transgressive Borders Through

Gloria Anzaldúa Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (September 26, 1942 – May 15, 2004) was an American scholar of Chicana feminism, cultural theory, and queer theory. She loosely based her best-known book, '' Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza'' (1987), on h ...

's Work'', published by Aunt Lute Books (2016).

Awards and prizes

Her first full-length collection of poetry ''furia'' received an honorable mention for the 2011 International Latino Book Award. Her short story collection ''flesh to bone'' won the 2013

Premio Aztlán Literary Prize The Premio Aztlán Literary Prize is a national literary award for emerging Chicana and Chicano authors, founded in 1993 by Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya.

, was a fiction finalist for A Room of Her Own Foundation's 2013 Gift of Freedom Award, and was a finalist for Foreword Review's Book of the Year Award in Multicultural Fiction. Silva is the recipient of the 2014 Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award and the 2008 recipient of the

Milagro Award. Silva was a founding fellow of the

CantoMundo CantoMundo is an American literary organization founded in 2009 to support Latino poets and poetry. It hosts an annual poetry workshop dedicated to the creation, documentation, and critical analysis of Latinx poetry. History CantoMundo was founded ...

Writers Conference. From 2004 to 2008, Silva was the Executive Coordinator of the prestigious Macondo Writers Workshop, the workshop founded by

Sandra Cisneros Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954) is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, ''The House on Mango Street'' (1984), and her subsequent short story collection, ''Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories'' (1991). Her wo ...

. She was a co-director of the Flor De Nopal Literary Festival.

Works

Poetry

* ''ani'mal'', La Loba Press, (2001), reprinted Axoquentlatoa Press, (2010)https://pen.org/irene-lara-silva?member * ''INDíGENA'', La Loba Press, (2001), reprinted Axoquentlatoa Press, (2010) * ''furia'', London: Mouthfeel Press, (2010) * ''Enduring Azucares'', Little Rock: Sibling Rivalry Press, (2015) * ''blood sugar canto'', Hilo: Saddle Road Press (2016) * ''Cuicacalli / House of Song'', Saddle Road Press, 2019

Short stories

* ''flesh to bone'', San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, (2013)

As editor

* , with

and an introduction by

United States Poet Laureate The poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly referred to as the United States poet laureate, serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consc ...

Juan Felipe Herrera Juan Felipe Herrera (born on December 27, 1948) is an American poet, performer, writer, cartoonist, teacher, and activist. Herrera was the 21st United States Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. He is a major figure in the literary field of Chicano ...

References

External links

Author website

Author page
at

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'' ...

Interview with the ire'ne lara silva
on

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...

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