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Luisa Igloria's Poems on Monday's Access Utah

Utah State University Press

Luisa A. Igloria  is winner of the May Swenson Poetry Award, a competitive prize granted annually to an outstanding collection of poetry in English, named for Logan Utah native May Swenson, one of America's most vital and provocative twentieth-century poets. Igloria's collection "Ode to the Heart Smaller than a Pencil Eraser" is published by Utah State University Press. Originally from Baguio City in the Philippines, Igloria is Professor of Creative Writing and English, and Director of the MFA Creative Writing Program at Old Dominion University. Since November 20, 2010 she has written a poem every day. 

Luisa A. Igloria is Tom Williams' guest for the hour on Monday's AU. They'll talk about translating poetry from one language to another (Igloria translates some poems from English to Tagalog), the transience of experience and poetry's attempt to capture it in words, the philosophy of Epictetus, and the poet's close observation of the world. Igloria will read several of her poems, including such images as Spanish-language telenovelas, cows escaping from the slaughterhouse, and lovers in a restaurant on a rainy day.

In addition to 10 previous books of poetry previously published, Igloria's work has appeared in a number of anthologies and journals including Poetry, Crab Orchard Review, The Missouri Review, Indiana Review, and others. She is an eleven-time recipient of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature in three genres (poetry, nonfiction, and short fiction) and its Hall of Fame distinction; the Palanca award is the Philippines' highest literary prize

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.