Forum from the Archives: At Age 9, Poet Javier Zamora Migrated from El Salvador Alone. In 'Solito,' He Tells that Story

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KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When he was 9, poet Javier Zamora traveled 3,000 miles by bus, boat and on foot, without family or friends, from El Salvador to the United States. The trip was supposed to take two weeks. It took nine. Along the way, Zamora was embraced by fellow migrants and folded into a makeshift family. With them, Zamora encountered corrupt police officers and was robbed of the little money he had. He scrambled over mountains and under barbed wire fences that laced the desert border, all so he could be reunited with his parents who lived in Marin and who he had not seen in years. Thousands of immigrants, including children, have experienced similar journeys, but few have described them as eloquently as Zamora. We’ll talk to Zamora about those nine weeks to the border, which he recounts in his new memoir “Solito,” and his experience as an immigrant growing up in San Rafael. This segment originally aired Sept. 12. Guests: Javier Zamora, Author of the memoir "Solito," Zamora has been a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His debut poetry collection, which focuses on the impact of war and immigration on his family, is titled "Unaccompanied." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Kikiweedy Podcasts comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres located 45 minutes from downtown San Diego.
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0:15.0	Rancho LePuerta.com.
0:16.7	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:24.5	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:30.7	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:34.8	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable
0:40.2	test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:47.2	plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
0:54.0	at Broadwaysf.com.
0:57.8	From KQED.
1:13.6	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:17.7	This week we're listening back to special holiday archive editions of forum,
1:22.7	featuring authors with Bay Area ties who reckon with different aspects of the immigrant experience.
1:24.6	We start today with Javier Zamora.
1:30.5	At the age of nine, Zamora left home in El Salvador by himself to reunite with his parents who were living in San Rafael.
1:32.4	The trip was supposed to take two weeks.
1:34.2	It took two months, and that journey has haunted Zamora for more than two decades.
1:38.5	His new book, Solito, is a startling portrait of bravery that's both remarkable and every day.
1:47.1	Javier Zamora Solito is coming up after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
2:05.3	The new book, Solito, recounts the two-month-long trip that Javier Zamora took from El Salvador to reunite with his parents in San Rafael.
2:14.2	He was nine. Nine.
	...

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