By middle school, I said to myself that it's time I begin to speak. I joined the choir, not because I wanted to. I forced myself. Juan Felipe Herrera beginchoirforce Change image and share on social
My mother was a great storyteller and a great historian in her own way. She only made it to third grade. She came from Mexico City at the tail end of the Mexican Revolution and that kind of turmoil and chaos and frenzy and also excitement. Juan Felipe Herrera chaoscityend share on social
Sometimes it's like that. I go, 'You know what? I'm going to just change scales. I'm going to even change instruments. And I'm going to go into the chromatics of the Spanish language,' and I do. You know, the poem is totally different. It's like a lunar voice versus a day voice, a solar voice. Juan Felipe Herrera changechromaticday share on social
My parents moved from ranch to ranch, valley to valley, town to town, but our roots in Fowler never really faded. For me, it's a place of history, stories and songs, not just facts and figures. Juan Felipe Herrera factfadefigure Change image and share on social
We speak about understanding each other, having those conversations nationwide - culturally, historically - and yet there's a lot of gaps. So I want to assist with closing the gap of knowing about and hearing about our Latino communities in terms of literature, in terms of writing. Juan Felipe Herrera assistclosecommunity share on social
Poetry can tell us about what's going on in our lives - not only our personal but our social and political lives. Juan Felipe Herrera livepersonalpoetry Change image and share on social
A pen is different from the pad, the key, moving your fingers across a screen. I like both. I like to work on sketchbooks, big old white sketch paper. I like how that feels, and I like to put different media on it. Then there's the phone, smartphone, iPad: It's the new page, and it's not the same page anymore. Juan Felipe Herrera anymorebigfelt share on social
I write while I'm walking, on little scraps of paper. If I have a melody going, I can feel it for days. Juan Felipe Herrera dayfeelmelody Change image and share on social
What I really had was stories, the oral traditions of my parents. We moved so much that that was really our encyclopedia. A dream world told to me from my parents in the living room. Juan Felipe Herrera dreamencyclopedialive Change image and share on social
I know I'm representing the Library of Congress, all the people of the United States and, of course, the Latinos and Latinas as well. Juan Felipe Herrera congresslatinaslatino Change image and share on social