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
July 30, 2024
The First Church in Belfast
Belfast, ME.
More info>>
July 31, 2024
College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, ME.
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August 8, 2024
BAAM at The Gem
Bethel, ME.
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June 5, 2025
The Writer’s Hotel. Boothbay Harbor, ME
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
Richard Blanco on Poetry in America – “Phillis Wheatley: To the University.”
Richard Blanco was thrilled to join host Elisa New, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and fellow inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, as a featured guest on the season premiere of Poetry in America. One of his favorite TV shows, it brings poetry into living rooms across the country. This episode celebrates the life and work of Phillis Wheatley. The first African-American author of a published book of poetry, she is one of the most famous names in early American history.
Click HERE to watch the episode.
Miami’s Favorite Poems Project
As the first-ever Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County, and led by his passion for connecting the community through poetry, Richard Blanco created Miami’s Favorite Poems Project. This project invites people from all walks of life to share a favorite poem that has had some meaningful impact on their life and thinking.
The project was launched at the Miami Book Fair on Nov. 19, 2022. Featured special guest readers included Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, poet and novelist Sandra Cisneros, and poet Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, among others in our community.
CLICK HERE for the Miami’s Favorite Poems Archive
Village Voice: Poet Richard Blanco Spotlights *Glitter Road* by January Gill O’Neil
Poet Richard Blanco returns to Boston Public Radio for an episode of the “Village Voice,” to celebrate poet January Gill O’Neil’s latest collection Glitter Road, and to retroactively honor Black History Month, and Women’s History Month.
O’Neil is a professor at Salem State University and the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. Her latest collection reflects on “Marriage, loss, and a new relationship, with the backdrop of a Mississippi season. She explores the legacy of Emmitt Till and how his legacy is braided with hers; how race blights us all.” Said Blanco. read more…
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