To start, whats the brief timeline of the life of Blas Manuel De Luna?
I was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and grew up in Madera. I went to Fresno City College first, then to Fresno State for my BA and MA. I went to the University of Washington for my MFA in creative writing. Then I basically became a dead-broke poet. I got a fellowship in Wisconsin in 2000-01. It was a great year and it saved my writerly life. With dedicated writing time, I wrote the book. Carnegie Mellon accepted it in October 2003, and it came out January 2005. It sold a little, and then it fell off the face of the earth. Thank Jesus for the NBCC nomination. I was relieved that people would finally see the book. I started teaching at Firebaugh High in 2002-03. I live weekdays in Firebaugh and visit my brother in Madera on weekends. All I do now is write and read. I’ve got a little monastic thing going on. How would you describe your book to someone who’s not familiar with poetry? I’ve heard my writing described a couple times as plainspoken. I’m not a language poet. My poems tend to be firs
