Richard Blanco
“An engineer, poet, Cuban American… his poetry bridges cultures and languages – a mosaic of our past, our present, and our future – reflecting a nation that is hectic, colorful, and still becoming.”
– President Joe Biden, conferring the National Humanities Medal on Richard Blanco
Homeland Of My Body: New & Selected Poems
Beacon Press, Release date: October 24, 2023.
A rich, accomplished, intensely intimate collection with two full sections of new poems bookending Blanco’s selections from his five previous volumes.
In this collection of over 100 poems, Richard Blanco has carefully selected poems from his previous books that represent his evolution as a writer grappling with his identity, working to find and define “home,” and bookended them with new poems that address those issues from a fresh, more mature perspective, allowing him to approach surrendering the pain and urgency of his past explorations. Pausing at this pivotal moment in mid-career, Blanco reexamines his life-long quest to find his proverbial home and all that it encompasses: love, family, identity and ultimately art itself. In the closing section of the volume, he has come to understand and internalize the idea that “home” is not one place, not one thing, and lives both inside him and inside his art.
Upcoming Events
May 11, 2025
On Motherhood: A Mother's Day Poetry Reading. Chevalier's Books, C.A.
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June 5, 2025
The Writer’s Hotel. Boothbay Harbor, ME
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June 14, 2025
Taproot: The Intentional Journey. Virtual.
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June 23 - June 27, 2025
The Photographic Poem. Maine Media Workshops. Boothbay Rockport, ME
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Keep in Touch
Sure, social media is great, but staying in touch directly is more meaningful, intimate, and informative. Sign up for my newsletter and I’ll occasionally share not only news, but also favorite poems from masterful poets, resources for educators, poems for various occasions, and much more to keep you connected to poetry and inspired.
Latest News
In Conversation with Kim Dower: Poetry as a Bridge to Self and Others
During this year’s National Poetry Month, I had the pleasure of joining my dear friend and fellow poet Kim Dower for a deeply personal and illuminating conversation as part of the WeHo Reads series, presented by the City of West Hollywood.
Together, we explored the ways poetry helps us navigate our identities—how it invites us to listen more deeply to ourselves and one another. We spoke about belonging, memory, and the quiet yet powerful work of language in transforming our experiences into something we can share. Kim’s voice and vision always remind me of the emotional honesty that poetry demands—and the connection it makes possible.
It’s moments like these that affirm why I write: to reach across the spaces between us, to create meaning, and to build community through art.
Learn more about Kim Dower’s poetry, life, and works HERE.
A Choral Composition by Oliver Caplan of “Cloud Anthem” by Richard Blanco
A belated note of gratitude to composer Oliver Caplan for his choral composition of my poem “CLOUD ANTHEM,” and to the New Hampshire All-State Festival Chorus for their dulcet tones. This performance, held on April 9, 2022, at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH, is a moment to pause, breathe, and remember that we are always connected; we “hold light in our lucid bodies like blood…”
read more…
María Magdalena Campos-Pons: “Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity”
Last month, I was honored to unite with all who attended the “Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity”; neighbors, poets, historians, musicians, puppeteers, et al who walked the 2.5 miles through the streets of East Harlem, a.k.a. El Barrio in solidarity for a more compassionate future. Thank you to María Magdalena Campos-Pons and all involved in organizing this heart-touching event; for inviting me to read “Declaration of Interdependence”
Here are some photos of the day we all came together.
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