Interview with Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

I get the feeling that a lot of people still don’t realize that the Twin Cities spoken-word scene is one of the strongest in the country—from our arts programs to our organizations to our slam teams to our youth—Minneapolis and St. Paul are doing some amazing work (Full disclosure: I’m the 2008 Minneapolis poetry slam champ and work with some of these great organizations… but you can trust me!). Highlighting this scene is quite a challenge—so many talented artists are doing so many different things all the time.

For me, however, a good place to start is Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria. One of the scene’s most respected writers and performers, Rodrigo has released an album, Desconocidos, and, along with his collective Palabristas, a book, Outside the Lines. He also runs a monthly open mic at El Burrito Mercado in St. Paul, and can be found performing all over the Twin Cities.

Kyle Myhre: So why spoken-word poetry? Why not page poetry or hip hop or writing plays or dancing or any other form of expression?

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria: In my life, growing up in Lima, Peru, there were always story tellers, whether they were on street corners, plazas or theaters. If people had something to say, to express, they used their voice. I was always intrigued by the performance and how they were able to express themselves to make a point. It was always present around my family but it was also following a tradition that goes back to the indigenous communities alive today—they tell their history orally and I believe in keeping these traditions because once it stops, it dies; I don’t want that. To me it’s also been about using it as a tool of liberation, I grew up listening to the nueva cancion (new song) movement and I learned how words can have an impact. Not only on a personal level but also on a level others could relate to.

It started as page poetry. I started to keep journals when I first arrived here in 1988. I started writing for myself, for my sanity, not knowing the language and the culture shock gave me tons to write about. My first poem was about the absence of noise. I grew up in a big city so I was accustomed to city sounds, so being in a place where you could see trees (in Lima, trees are luxuries) and fauna and it wasn’t in 10×10 cell was uncommon. But as I grew older I started to share my work with others and in return they encouraged me to read them out loud, so after years of persistence I decided to go to an open mic. I fell in love with the idea that for three minutes people had to listen to me. The experience was liberating and it still will be until I can’t write no more.

I don’t like to limit myself as just a spoken word artist because I always want to be challenged. I believe that when we are trying something new or are in an uncomfortable environment, we learn more about ourselves and our abilities and in my case, I create new art. Recently, I had a small part on a play and I enjoyed it. It was challenging trying to bring to life someone else’s ideas and words but it was rewarding. I crave challenges. It might be something that I pursue or add on to the list of many projects on the backburner, but writing plays is also not of the question. Especially after seeing Robert Karimi’s one (self-remix) theater piece. But spoken word is more than just a genre to me, to me it’s something that’s in my blood, inherited. It chose me and I accepted.

KM: Identity can be a tricky thing to write about. Lots of poets do it and few of them really illuminate any sort of greater truth about themselves or their communities, but your work around being a man, around being a Latino artist and around other identities are very effective. What’s your approach to writing about identity? To you, what makes good poetry that deals with those themes?

RS-C: First it’s hard to write about identity, because it’s personal. At the beginning I was apprehensive to let people know about my feelings about it, because when I was growing up I was a very confused kid, trying to fit in and not being welcomed and trying to hold on to the identity I knew. Trying to find that balance was the toughest. There was a time in my life, where I refused to speak Spanish (high school) and I all I wanted to do was be in the crowd, it created problems at home, so my mom decided to take us all back to the homeland for a year. It was the best thing that happened in my life; my eyes, my mind, my soul were regenerated and created a new outlook on life and a poem grew out of that (“land of the Incas”). The reason I write about identity is because I know there are other people who will or are going through the same identity issues and I wanted to let them know that they are not alone, because when I was growing up I had to deal with the identity issue by myself. But it also lets people relate to the experience, feel what I feel.

My approach to writing about identity aspires from life experience and the appreciation for who I am, what I represent and what I stand for. There is this belief in greater America that Latinos only contribution to this nation is just labor. I don’t believe that. I find beauty in many aspects of all Latino cultures, but I saw how people would only focus on the labor part and all the negative immigration myths and I took it upon myself to write about my identity and my struggles and at the same time pay homage and give voice to those aspects that people were not listening to and also to those who do everything but can’t speak.

To me what makes good poems about identity are the ones that talk about personal experiences, of how perhaps their mother cooks, or pronounces certain words, or expressions and how the poem ties it to the writer. To me the more personal you get, the more people learn about you. The more they know, the more they will relate to you.

KM: As a writer and performer, what are you goals? When you approach a piece, do you just let it spill out of you, or do you have certain things you want to accomplish? On a broader, more concrete level, where would you like your poetry to take you?

RS-C: My goals as a writer is keep writing. That seems to be my biggest challenge. Being a family man (no Nicolas Cage jokes please!) it’s hard to find time to sit down to write. But being a family man has given me immense amounts of material to write about. It is also to be out in the community spreading the word, teaching kids about the art of spoken word and how they can make it their own. I want my art to take me outside of Minnesota, maybe a couple of tours and get published, but mostly I want to stay active as a writer and performer until I can’t do it no more. But also, write more in Spanish. I see that this is needed and it’s wanted.

There are times that a piece just comes out of inspiration and that is exciting for me because you never know where the piece will take you, but I still try to make sure I say certain things. I always write with intent, with the audience in mind. But there are poems that I have written to make a point or to highlight an issue (“borders”).

KM: How do you view the Twin Cities spoken-word community as a whole, from your open mic to Ibe’s to Desdamona’s to the slam scene to MNSWA to everyone else? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

RS-C: The Twin Cities have a good, active spoken word community and there is an open mic every week or at times twice a week in which you can see poets rock the mic. There is a good start of diverse open mics which gives a poet a great appeal and makes the community smaller, which is good because I’ve gotten to know some amazing poets but at the same time it makes it competitive and I think that can have a negative effect on the scene. I also think that there is a lot of opportunity for spoken word artists here. To start off, MN poets can apply for a spoken word grant, the only grant of its kind in the nation, therefore having funding to create the art they want to. Second, residencies at schools and after school programs and shows make it possible to make a decent living wage.

One thing that I think is needed in the scene is a more collaborative effort from the established artist to work together to create art. I know, it’s hard, but we need to start to step out of our comfort zone (myself included) and reach out to each other and start creating. A good example: in 2006 there was a collective of artists, Found in Translation, that created their own spoken word performance for the Minneapolis Mosaic. It was amazing! We need more of that.

But I am looking forward to see what the Loft puts together for the Nation of Immigrants album. It has lots of local spoken word artists speaking about immigration. From the line up it looks to be a very exciting album.

KM: For those who don’t know, talk about Palabristas. Who is in it, why does it exist and what are y’all currently working on?

RS-C: Palabristas started about five years ago when Emmanuel Ortiz and Dessa Darling (of Doomtree) got a bunch of poets together and pitched an idea of creating a collective of Latino writers, activists and poets whose goal was to show the rest of the arts community that there were Latino spoken word artists and that they need to listen to our stories… that our contribution was valid and unique, that we don’t hold back and that you can’t box us in. We come out slinging, words that is. Hence the term wordslingers. The group consists of about 10 artists, Dessa Darling, Emmanuel Ortiz, Lorena Duarte, Larry Lucio Jr., Tatiana Ormaza, Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria, Lupe Castillo, Magdalena Kaluza and Brandon Lacy Campos. We write about our struggles, our identities, beliefs, families, love in English, Spanish or spanglish.

After releasing the chapbook (available at Palabristas performances), “Outside the Lines,” this past September, we are currently working on what our next project might be as a group, perhaps a multimedia production. But the plans are on the way; some members are always busy, so we like to support them in their projects like Lorena’s “Red Queen” play and her inroads mentorship, to Dessa’s shows with Doomtree, to my open mic on the Westside of St. Paul every last Saturday of the month fro 6:30pm-9pm @ El Burrito Mercado. Palabristas is not only a group of performers but also a group of activists and community organizers who believe in the power of the word, el poder de la palabra.

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria: Official | MySpace
Palabristas: MySpace