How Immigrant Writers Are Shaping New Genre of Undocumented Literature

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The public discourse about undocumented immigrants often lacks humanity and complexity according to writers Reyna Grande and Rafael Agustin, who have written acclaimed memoirs about their immigrant experiences. They and many others bring nuanced narratives to the burgeoning genre of undocumented literature. Grande co-edited “Somewhere We Are Human,” an anthology released last year that features work by 41 undocumented or formerly undocumented writers, poets and artists. The editors’ note states, “Opportunities and infrastructure for immigrants to tell their own stories in their own words are few and far between.” In this hour of Forum, we’ll hear some of those stories and discuss the undocumented experience in America. Guests: Reyna Grande, author, "A Ballad of Love and Glory," "The Distance Between Us," "A Dream Called Home," "Across a Hundred Mountains," and "Dancing with Butterflies" Aline Mello, poet and author of the poetry collection, "More Salt Than Diamond," and essay "Fit," which appears in the anthology, "Somewhere We Are Human." Kaveh Bassiri, Iranian poet, translator who is currently a Tusla Artist Fellow in Oklahoma; his poems appeared in the anthology, "Somewhere We Are Human." Rafael Agustin, television writer; CEO, the Latino Film Institute; author, "Illegally Yours" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KGBD Podcasts comes from Landmark College, offering a fully online graduate-level
0:06.1	certificate in learning differences in neurodiversity program. Visit landmark.edu slash certificate to learn more.
0:13.9	Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:21.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:27.7	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:31.7	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and
0:40.2	devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only,
0:47.2	May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
0:54.7	From KQED.
0:56.1	From KQED.
1:09.4	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:11.2	While the literature of some kinds of immigrants is firmly baked into the American canon,
1:15.9	the editors of a new anthology say that the modern undocumented experience remains untold.
1:21.7	Undocumented people have a difficult path to telling their own stories
1:24.8	because of the precarious position they have in this country,
1:33.1	even if they've been here for decades. So Reina Grande and a co-editor pulled together contributions from dozens of undocumented people for somewhere we are human, a multifaceted look at what it is
1:39.6	to live without papers inside the U.S. border. No two stories, like no two people, are the same,
1:45.7	but we'll talk about what connects them
1:47.2	and how to think about these poems and essays.
1:50.1	That's all coming up next, after this news.
1:58.2	Welcome to Forum.
1:59.4	I'm Alexis Madrigal.
	...

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