National Poetry Month: Filipino American Poets To Read!

There is a myth in this country, and maybe you've heard it before. Filipinos do not read, and Filipinos do not buy books. Well, it's National Poetry Month, and so this is a good opportunity to suggest some reading material. This is not a complete list at all, but a good place to start.

1.

Al Robles, Rapping with Ten Thousand Carabao in the Dark. Robles is the godfather of oral tradition in Filipino American poetry on the West Coast. He's gritty, jazzy, and honest. The marker of a great storyteller in the ability to listen and hear the stories of others. Robles did this, gathered the stories of the old Filipino men, once young laborers and soldiers, and made beautiful, heart wrenching poems from them.

2.

Jeff Tagami, October Light. Tagami's poems sing the deep soul of the California Central Coast's Pajaro River, the tragedies and vibrancy of farmers and families whose work, whose intimate relationship with the land, strengthened the backbone of this state.

3.

Jessica Hagedorn, Danger and Beauty. Hagedorn has created the blueprint for future generations of Filipino American poets to want to emulate. Known more so for her novels, especially the critically acclaimed Dogeaters, this formidable volume of poetry shows us her earliest, most raw and defiant works.

4.

Fatima Lim-Wilson, Crossing the Snow Bridge. This is a fine and meticulously crafted collection of poems. Savor these poems' lovely, precise use of language. In the poem, "Luzviminda, or Filipinas Make Such Good Maids," the Filipina, named for the Philippine islands, speaks not with outrage or hysteria, but in meditative tones, of her isolation. There is a lot of sadness in these poems, and so much beauty.

5.

Catalina Cariaga, Cultural Evidence. This is a fantastic and challenging collection by a very talented poet who really knows how to use the page to create and convey poetic meaning. It opens with the problematically titled, "Dogmeat." "Of course / they didn't eat dogs. / They didn't have dogs. / If they had dogs / they would have eaten them." You think you know what you're in for. You really don't.

6.

Joseph O. Legaspi, Imago. I really admire this collection for Legaspi's honest and intimate meditations on the themes of Filipino American masculinity and sexuality, from childhood, entering manhood, compounded by patriarchal tradition, transnational migration, and socioeconomic class.

7.

Elynia S. Mabanglo, Invitation of the Imperialist. Originally composed in Tagalog, then translated into English, these poems are historically sweeping and feminist. In these poems, Mabanglo asks, what does it mean to be a Filipina in the world? How are we viewed or portrayed? And most importantly, how may our poems serve as resistance against those inaccurate, degrading portrayals?

8.

Jose Garcia Villa, Doveglion. As a Filipino American poet, if you are asked, "who is your granddaddy?" You might have to answer, Jose Garcia Villa, the Doveglion. The Doveglion is a contraction of the dove, the eagle, the lion. It is a mythical, elusive hybrid. Sound familiar, Filipinos? These poems are lyrical, modernist. Dive into this weighty volume; consider the comma poems, the reverse consonance. While not immediately accessible, their innovation makes us think about the role of Filipinos in shaping this thing called Contemporary American Poetry.

9.

Oliver de la Paz, Names Above Houses. Not your typical immigration story, by any means, this collection is a beautiful biomythography. How does a young person make sense of his place and movement in the big world, but by allowing his imagination to run wild, by returning to the oldest and most intimate stories in his memory.

10.

Virginia Cerenio, Trespassing Innocence. This is a very important collection that often is omitted from discussions on Filipina poetry in this country. These are poems of cultural and political awakening. A second generation Filipina American, the speaker of these poems has come of age, and continues to find her voice in a very turbulent time.