Manteca! an Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets by Melissa Castillo Planas

Ethnography is, of course, related to journalism which is, in turn, related to English and literature. I took a few classes to fulfill that, one of which was a Sociology class that introduced me to the concept of ethnography. Fordham offers a graduate certificate in Latin American and Latino Studies, which I recommend to anyone in the English department who might be interested. My scholarly book too, A Mexican State of Mind, which is about Mexican migrant youth culture in New York City, started in a class at Fordham. “Oh my gosh, my experience at Fordham influenced everything I do now!” I said, “Why not?” My very first poems, which were later published in my first book of poetry, Coatlicue Eats the Apple, are from that class. A friend recommended that poetry could improve all of my writing. As an undergraduate at NYU, I started as a journalist and then dabbled in fiction writing. I am not actually someone who has written for all of my life. One of the reasons for that is because Fordham allowed me to explore so much, even within the M.A.

Melissa Castillo Planas: Oh my gosh, my experience at Fordham influenced everything I do now! All of my book projects were started at Fordham. Could you talk about how your time in the English department at Fordham influenced your early career? Many of our readers are deciding whether to declare a major in English or wondering where their already declared English degree will take them career-wise. Peter Krause: Thank you, Melissa, for chatting with Fordham English News today.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Please visit Melissa's website for more information. She has also been interviewed by Fordham News in 2020 and Fordham English News in 20. Her second book of poetry, Chingona Rules is forthcoming with Finishing Line Press in summer 2021.Īt Fordham, Melissa participated in the Poets Out Loud event series in 2017 (now called the Poetic Justice Institute). Her most recent book project, with Rutgers University Press’ new Global Race and Media series, A Mexican State of Mind: New York City and the New Borderlands of Culture (Rutgers UP), examines the creative worlds and cultural productions of Mexican migrants in New York City within the context of a system of racial capitalism that marginalizes Mexican migrants via an exploitative labor market, criminalizing immigration policy, and racialized systems of surveillance. Melissa Castillo Planas (GSAS 2011), is a poet and Assistant Professor of English at Lehman College, where she focuses on Latinx Literature and Culture. Melissa is the author of the poetry collection Coatlicue Eats the Apple, editor of the anthology, ¡Manteca!: An Anthology of Poets, co-editor of La Verdad: An International Dialogue on Hip Hop Latinidades and co-author of the novel, Pure Bronx.

Manteca! an Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets by Melissa Castillo Planas