Blanco, Richard

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.