Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in the United States, Richard Blanco is the author of the poetry collections City of a Hundred Fires, Directions to the Beach of the Dead, and Looking for The Gulf Motel, and the memoir For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey, recounting his experience in being selected by President Barack Obama in 2012 to serve as the nation’s fifth presidential inaugural poet. He is also a contributor to Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness (University of Florida Press). The collection showcases what editor Anjanette Delgado calls “literatura del desarraigo,” a Spanish literary tradition. Home in Florida features fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by Blanco, Ana Menéndez, Caridad Moro-Gronlier, Achy Obejas, Isvett Verde and many others. These writers – first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants to Florida from places such as Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Perú, Argentina, and Chile – reflect the diversity of Latinx experiences across the state. Together, they explore what exactly makes Florida home for those struggling between memory and presence.
April 17, 2025
Blanco, Richard
by
Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in the United States, Richard Blanco is the author of the poetry collections City of