Michelle Peñaloza

On Nov 22. Michelle Peñaloza, author of “Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire” features alongside Đỗ Nguyên Mai at KSW Presents “A History of Our Naming”. We checked in with Michelle before this Friday’s reading.

We're drawn to how both of your books asks us to look at—and not away from—the histories, hauntings, and presences of colonialism, conquest, and imperialism, particularly the gathering fragments and fractures. Could you share some of your thoughts on how fragments and fractures may inform your process and work as a poet working with this subject matter?

I think fragments and fractures speak to multiplicity and the qualities of various, often contradictory, things being true at the same time. Or how you can ask the same question over and over again and get a different but still true answer each time. Or how fracture means to break but also sustain a break. I also think that for me, sometimes fragments are all I have to work from, especially in regards to family history -- memory handed down by multiple hands is messy. History ignored or glossed over still exists--I think for me the action of gathering (I really like the use of that verb in your question--it connotes tenderness and sustenance and community) fragments and fractures is part of my process of reimagining and reclaiming.

Kearny Street Workshop is a multidisciplinary arts organization, and we're curious if during the journey of writing your book you were drawn to or inspired by other artwork or artists? (If not, any other literary works or writers?)

Yes! I think there's a mix of sources of inspiration--visual artists, pop culture, and literary works. An off-the-top-of-my-head catalog of some: Binh Danh; 90s movies; St. Augustine; Master of None Season 1, Episode 2; Erik Satie; Island of the Blue Dolphins; and a really messed-up book, Understanding the Filipino, written by two Filipinos for colonizers/imperialists.