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Richard Blanco

Goodreads Author

Born

in Madrid, Spain

Website

http://www.richard-blanco.com/

Twitter

rblancopoet

Genre

Poetry, Memoir, Contemporary

Member Since

November 2013

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Richard Blanco was born in Madrid in 1968, immigrating as an infant with his Cuban-exile family to the U.S. He was raised and educated in Miami, earning a B.S. in civil engineering and a M.F.A. in creative writing from Florida International University.

In 2013, Blanco was chosen to serve as the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, following in the footsteps as such great writers as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Blanco performed One Today, an original poem he wrote for the occasion, becoming the youngest, first Latino, immigrant and openly gay writer to hold the honor.

Following the inauguration, he continued connecting communities through occasional poetry. He has written and performed occasional poems for such organizations as Freedo Richard Blanco was born in Madrid in 1968, immigrating as an infant with his Cuban-exile family to the U.S. He was raised and educated in Miami, earning a B.S. in civil engineering and a M.F.A. in creative writing from Florida International University.

In 2013, Blanco was chosen to serve as the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, following in the footsteps as such great writers as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou. Blanco performed One Today, an original poem he wrote for the occasion, becoming the youngest, first Latino, immigrant and openly gay writer to hold the honor.

Following the inauguration, he continued connecting communities through occasional poetry. He has written and performed occasional poems for such organizations as Freedom to Marry, the Tech Awards and the Fragrance Awards. In May of 2013, Blanco wrote Boston Strong, a poem he performed at the Boston Garden Benefit Concert and at a Red Sox game at Fenway. Following his performances, he released a limited edition Boston Strong chapbook, with all proceeds going to those most affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.

His books, in order of publication, are: City of a Hundred Fires (1998), Directions to the Beach of the Dead (2005), Looking for the Gulf Motel (2012), One Today (2013), Boston Strong (2013), and For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey (2013).

Blanco has received numerous honors for his writings and performances, including an honorary doctorate from Macalester College and being named a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. His first book, City of a Hundred Fires received the prestigious Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize. His second book, Directions to the Beach of the Dead won the PEN / American Beyond Margins Award. His third book, Looking for The Gulf Motel received various accolades, including the Tom Gunn Award, the Maine Literary Award and the Paterson Prize. His poems have appeared in countless literary journals and anthologies, including Best American Prose Poems and Ploughshares.

Blanco has been a practicing engineer, writer and poet since 1991. He has traveled extensively in his adult life, living and working throughout Europe and South America. He has taught at Georgetown University, American University, Writer’s Center and Central Connecticut State University. Blanco currently lives and writes in the tranquil mountains of Bethel, Maine.
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Richard Blanco’s books

Average rating: 4.24 · 4,741 ratings · 740 reviews · 69 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood 4.26 avg rating — 1,814 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Love a Country 4.26 avg rating — 771 ratings — published 2019 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Looking for the Gulf Motel 4.34 avg rating — 576 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet's Journey 4.31 avg rating — 363 ratings — published 2013 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Today by Richard Blanco (Goodreads Author), Dav Pilkey (Illustrator) 3.96 avg rating — 273 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City of a Hundred Fires 4.04 avg rating — 213 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Directions to the Beach of the Dead (Camino del Sol) 4.23 avg rating — 131 ratings — published 2005 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Grabbed: Poets & Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment & Healing by Richard Blanco (Goodreads Author), Joyce Maynard (Goodreads Author) (Foreword), Caridad Moro (Editor) 4.36 avg rating — 85 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Homeland of My Body: New and Selected Poems 4.39 avg rating — 49 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Today: A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration 4.51 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Richard Blanco (?)

“We are always becoming. It never stops”
― Richard Blanco

12 likes

“to know a country takes all we know of love:

some days better than others, but never easy to keep our promise every morning of every year, of every century, and wake up, stumble downstairs with all our raging hope, sit down at the kitchen table again, still blurry-eyed, still tired, and say: Listen, we need to talk.”
― Richard Blanco, How to Love a Country

tags: america, country, improving, love, poem, poetry, what-i-know-of-country

2 likes

“Suddenly, no one, including me, was in Guescheste anymore; they weren't in Miami or Cuba; they weren't in the present, or the future, but floating somewhre in the formless, timeless space of memory.”
― Richard Blanco, The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood

tags: memories

2 likes

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Polls

We are marching into March 2022 with books related to Cuba or the Cuban experience. Below find four options and a write-in box for any other ones. More stories to consider are in the Comments section of the Poll. All the titles here or not here are from a Google search.

The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura

6 votes 40.0%

The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood by Richard Blanco

3 votes 20.0%

Havana Year Zero by Karla Suarez (write-in)

3 votes 20.0%

Music in Cuba by Alejo Carpentier

2 votes 13.3%

Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems by Dulce María Loynaz

1 vote 6.7%

15 total votes

1 comment

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