- Poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera, reads his poetry to full house during a Center for Literary Arts event yesterday evening in Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. Library. He read his poetry to music played by a local band. Photo by Vernon McKnight / Contributing photographer
With the American flag?standing in the middle of the room,?a band brought life through bongos, flutes, a guitar and other instruments, as well as with the voice of poet Juan Felipe Herrera.
?He makes everyone feel that poetry is theirs,? said Alan Soldofsky, director of creative writing and professor of English and comparative literature.
Herrera, who?has written 24 volumes of poetry and recently appointed a poet laureate of California by Gov. Jerry Brown, spoke at the West Coast writers event hosted last night by the?Center for Literary Arts.
He is the first Hispanic writer to be appointed to the position, according to an event press release.
The poet laureate position started in 2001 when Gray Davis was governor, according to the California Arts Council?s website.
A poet laureate is someone appointed by the governor to advocate for poetry in school and to inspire new poets, according to the website.
The room in the MLK Library was packedwith?more than?80 people in the audience, and it was so crowded that there were not enough chairs for everyone.
During a delay, the poet laureate took pictures with the audience members, and as the event started he thanked the crowd?for their support of poetry.
The music started before he said a word, setting the mood for his readings.?
?Let us let the colors show,? said Felipe Herrera in regard to the music.
He was facially animated, used gestures with every word and varied the pace of his voice to accentuate his poetry.
?I enjoyed it and it was definitely eccentric,? said Kendrick Ellis, a double major in English and German.
Herrera also had?the audience participate in his readings.
?Most poets don?t include the audience in their performance and he has learned how to do that,? Soldofsky said. ?(He makes) everyone belong to the art."
Brian Romaine, from Poetry Center San Jose, said he agreed with Soldofsky.
?It made me feel a part of the world family,? Romaine said.
Herrera said he?wanted this to come across to the audience as he made several references to it in different ways throughout his readings, such as when he eluded to the fact that he wanted all people to be included in his poetry.
?Let us have spring time all year in California,? he said.
Herrera?was brought to SJSU by the Center for Literary Arts?because he?gathers the audience to be apart of his work, said Andrew Altschul, director of the center.
?He is the best poet that can speak to Californians,? Altschul said.
He said the center tries to bring in a mix of writers from all kinds of backgrounds as well as different?authors based off their body of work and not just one book or one series.
The author?spoke to all students, said Rita Herrera, a lecturer of psychology.
?He honors student voices,? she?said.
Soldofsky was happy that he?came to talk at SJSU?because?it was a homecoming for Herrera, who was originally a San Jose-based poet.??
Herrera is the son of migrant farm workers, speaks about the plight of the Mexican population and has a book that goes into reasons why they cannot cross the border, according to his website.
Both Soldofsky and Altschul agree that he is involved in that community.
?As credentialed as he is, he is still a community person,? Soldofsky said.
Herrera said he thinks all stories need?to reach an audience.
?(This way) we can all be who really are,? he said.
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