questions for BJR

amlit338

Feel free to answer what you wish, BJR. These are questions everyone came up with this morning in class.

--What do you hope the reader of the book will walk away with? Is the message different, depending on who reads it (Filipino or non-Filipino readers)?

--Has living in San Francisco been a necessary ingredient to writing this book (title aside)? Could you have written an equally effective poem had you lived elsewhere (Hawai`i, Oregon...)?

--Why did you choose not to include a glossary or footnotes to the languages most of your readers will not understand?

--When did you realize you wanted to write poetry on this subject?

--How many places have you lived and from which have you gained the most, emotionally, physically, intellectually?

--Why is the book split into different sections?

--Is there a reason why you switch languages when you do? Is there an inside joke/theme/thought you want some readers to understand (by using their native language) and others not?

--How long did it take from conception to publication of the poem?

--What is your personal editing process?

--Who is the "love" in the "dear love" poems?

--Are you fluent in all the languages you use?

--Could you walk us through at least one of the Babayin and Tagalog sections?

--How did you learn Babayan and how are those sections related to the Tagalog on the same page?

thanks in advance.

aloha, SUsan