Eduardo Martínez-Leyva: Being a Good Ancestor

Eduardo Martínez-Leyva considers what it means to be a good ancestor, to live and work with the desire to comfort those who will follow us in their own trying times. He shares Gloria Anzaldúa modeling the mixed languages of the border (“mujer cacto”), Rigoberto González leading the gaze to strange beauty (“Walking by the Panteón San Franciscano”), and Adrienne Rich showing the way to walk away from comfort (“August”). Martínez-Leyva closes with his “Learning the Language,” a poem that springs from the ground broken open and prepared by those before him.Listen to the full recordings of Anzaldúa, González, and Rich reading for the Poetry Center on Voca:Gloria Anzaldúa (October 23, 1991)Rigoberto González (September 22, 1999)Adrienne Rich (January 31, 1974)Full transcripts of every episode are available on Buzzsprout. Look for the transcript tab under each episode.Voca is now fully captioned, with interactive transcripts and captions available for all readings! Read more about the project here, or try out this new feature by visiting Voca.