Background
She was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.
( Tagalog is a language spoken by twenty-two million peop...)
Tagalog is a language spoken by twenty-two million people in the Philippines. Diwata is a Tagalog term meaning "muse." Diwata is also a term for a mythical being who resides in nature, and who human communities must acknowledge, respect, and appease in order to live harmoniously in this world. In her book Diwata, Barbara Jane Reyes frames her poems between the Book of Genesis creation story and the Tagalog creation myth, placing her work somewhere culturally between both traditions. Also setting the tone for her poems is the death and large shadow cast by her grandfather, a World War II veteran and Bataan Death March survivor, who has passed onto her the responsibility of remembering. Reyes' voice is grounded in her community's traditions and histories, despite war and geographical dislocation. From "Estuary 2": She was born with fins and fishtail, A quick blade slicing water. She was her father's mermaid child, A river demon, elders said. She mimicked her cetaceous brothers, Abalone diving bluest depths. She polished smooth her brothers' masks, Inlaid nacre half moon eyes. She lit oak pyres and bade the wind A whispered requiem. Barbara Jane Reyes is author of two previous poetry collections including Poeta en San Francisco, which was awarded the 2005 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. She was born in Manila and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works as adjunct professor in Philippine studies at the University of San Francisco. From National Book Critics Circle: Diwata as a mythological invocation takes the reader back to pre-colonial Philippines when the belief in these god and goddesses shaped the everyday lives on the Southeast Asian archipelago. They have now become your muses as you reach toward this cultural legacy to shape a distinct postmodern poetics in which you don’t simply erase colonial history- you build with that narrative as well."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934414379/?tag=2022091-20
(Poetry. Asian American Studies. POETA EN SAN FRANCISCO is...)
Poetry. Asian American Studies. POETA EN SAN FRANCISCO is the winner of the highly prestigious James Laughlin Award for 2005, awarded annually from the Academy of American Poetry and the only prize for a second book of poetry in the United States. Although Reyes' first book was not as widely known as the first book of many of the other eligible poets, the judges nevertheless courageously chose this risky, radical, and deserving second book put out by an energetic but very small publisher. Reyes received her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley, where she also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Filipino American literary publication Maganda. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her first book, Gravities of Center, was published by Arkipelago Books (SF) in 2003.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0975937642/?tag=2022091-20
author of Gravities of Center poet
She was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies at University of California Berkeley. As an undergraduate, "served as editor in chief for maganda magazine, and witnessed the emergence of Filipino American literary figures."
She received her Master of Fine Arts at San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including 2nd Avenue Poetry, Asian Pacific American Journal, Boxcar Poetry Review, Chain, Crate, Interlope, New American Writing, Nocturnes Review, North American Review, Notre Dame Review, Parthenon West Review, as well as in the anthologies Babaylan (Aunt Lute Books, 2000), Eros Pinoy (Anvil, 2001), InvAsian: Asian Sisters Represent (Study Center Press, 2003), Going Home to a Landscape (Calyx, 2003), Coloring Book (Rattlecat, 2003), Not Home But Here (Anvil, 2003), Pinoy Poetics (Meritage, 2004), Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area (Avalon Publishing, 2004), 100 Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry Since 1905 (University of the Philippines Press, 2004), Red Light: Superheroes, Saints and Sluts (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005), and Graphic Poetry (Victionary, 2005).
She has taught Creative Writing at Mills College, and Philippine Studies at University of San Francisco.
( Tagalog is a language spoken by twenty-two million peop...)
(Poetry. Asian American Studies. POETA EN SAN FRANCISCO is...)