Interview: Jose Hernandez Diaz
Happy New Year, #WritingCommunity! Here’s to hoping 2021 is full of wonderful opportunities for all of us.
One of the best things about the Twitter #WritingCommunity is how it can broaden your horizons and lead you to new things to read, new writers to follow that you may not have discovered otherwise. This is exactly how I came across the prose poetry of Jose Hernandez Diaz, and his debut chapbook, The Fire Eater: Jose had posted one of his poems (“The Flame”, which is still my favorite piece of his) and its mix of playful surrealism and shimmering prose immediately captured my attention. I quickly purchased a Kindle copy of The Fire Eater and devoured it in one sitting; I’d never read any prose poetry before I read Jose’s chapbook, and I was blown away by the staggering imagination and mastery of craft on display in its pages. I’ve been eagerly following Jose and his work ever since.
Another thing I appreciate about Jose is that he routinely posts about his writing life—especially the ups and downs of submitting to publications. His tweets have encouraged me to always keep submitting after receiving rejections, to take them in stride and press on. In fact, one of the highlights of 2020 for me has been seeing Jose’s hard work rewarded with publication in several well-known publications. (Here’s to an even more phenomenal 2021, Jose!)
Jose has graciously taken time away from writing—and submitting—to answer the following questions:
What is your personal writing process like?
I can go a month or two writing every morning, before work. Sometimes even before the coffee. I have a bit of insomnia, which actually often helps the creative process because I feel closer to dreams, and, on the more practical side: it’s quiet at 3-6 am.
I tend to go to the page and improvise a first line and build from there. If I’m working on a series, like “The Man in a Pink Floyd Shirt”, I might begin with a line about him. Sometimes I’m afraid I won’t write anything, but I’ve found it is a false fear; just about every time I try to write something I’m successful at finishing the piece.
With that said, I can go a couple of months without writing if I’m too busy with work, or I have enough poems already and am more focused on submitting, or if I just don’t feel like it.
How big a part does reading play in your writing life?
It plays a huge role, especially in the beginning stages of becoming a writer. If I hadn’t read poets like James Tate, Marosa di Giorgio, Michael Torres, Alan Chazaro, Rosario Castellanos, Octavio Paz, I never would’ve felt like a poet or inspired by poets. I always tell this story when someone is struggling with writing: in 2014 I was struggling with writing and took a break to read around 100 books. Soon after, I was getting published in my favorite journals; the same ones that had rejected me.
Nowadays, I don’t read as much. Most of my reading is work-related. But I still read books I can’t stop thinking about or that have been recommended to me. However, most of my writing is guided by its own type of aesthetic as opposed to the early days when I was more trying to write like someone else through inspiration.
How do you cultivate your ideas?
I tend to excavate my ideas from images/moments I have been thinking about throughout the day, week, month. It could be a beautiful women’s hairstyle, a jaguar, pan dulce. It could be something political that I just have to say, that I feel better after writing it out. Therefore, when I go to the page in the morning, it is like discovering what has been on my mind consciously or unconsciously and letting it out.
How do you get "unstuck" creatively?
I’ve come to understand that being “stuck” creatively is part of the process, too. It would be kind of weird and manic to just write non-stop, although sometimes it almost feels like that’s what’s going on. When I feel “stuck,” I do something else. Read. Submit. Watch Football all day. Play with my dog, Rufio. Post something online. Eventually, the writing comes back and I always have more than enough poems to submit.
What's your "go-to" piece of writing advice?
Read a lot in the beginning. Find the right forms. Patience is a virtue. Rejection is not always truly rejection of “bad” work. Try not to get caught up in professional jealousy.
What story or book or poem inspired you to become a writer?
Sometimes I hate to admit it, because of the criticisms associated with it, but The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger spoke to me in high school. Growing up first-gen, low-income, I didn’t really care about reading. I played football in high school and when my high school English teacher, Mrs. Weir, assigned Salinger, I was hooked. He spoke in an everyday English, not like Shakespeare or something outdated and pretentious to me at the time.
Where can people find you and your work online?
