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Patos Salvajes es el nuevo espacio radiofónico de los estudiantes del M.F.A. en Escritura Creativa Bilingüe en la Universidad de Texas en El Paso. Nuestro segundo episodio consiste en una charla muy personal con la reconocida escritora argentina Mariana Enríquez, invitada por el departamento de Creative Writing de UTEP. Platicamos sobre los vínculos entre la política contemporánea y el género del terror, la interconexión entre música y literatura, y los procesos creativos de la autora.
Patos Salvajes #2

Patos Salvajes es el nuevo espacio radiofónico de los estudiantes del M.F.A. en Escritura Creativa Bilingüe en la Universidad de Texas en El Paso. Nuestra primera emisión es una conversación con los músicos mexicanos Milo Tamez y Jerónimo Naranjo, quienes fueron parte del ensamble Texas/México de Nameless Sound, con base en Houston, Texas, que intervinieron The Hill, escultura de James Magee, en octubre de 2023. Una charla guiada por el entramado de los procesos creativos y la relación entre la música y la literatura.
Patos Salvajes #1

Host Daniel Chacón invites novelist and short story writer Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny into the Poets’ Cove to discuss her latest book, Trash (Deep Vellum, 2023).
Poets' Cove #22

Host Tim Z. Hernandez speaks with award-winning film and television director Carlos Avila in this episode of Words on a Wire.
The 3rd Story

Daniel invites Carlos Fidel Espinoza back into the Poets’ Cove to discuss his darkly humorous debut novel, The Sacred History of Braulio Cantero (Flowersong Press, 2023).
Poets' Cove #21

Host Tim Z. Hernandez speaks with former Border Patrol agent and UTRGV Professor Robert “Mike” Magee.
The two discuss an ongoing collaborative project founded by Magee in 2018, using Tim’s book, “All They Will Call You” to teach empathy and compassion to future Border Patrol agents.
Poets' Cove #20

Host Tim Z. Hernandez speaks with former Border Patrol agent and UTRGV Professor Robert “Mike” Magee.
The two discuss an ongoing collaborative project founded by Magee in 2018, using Tim’s book, “All They Will Call You” to teach empathy and compassion to future Border Patrol agents.
The 3rd Story

Host Daniel Chacón invites author, poet, and professor Inmaculada Lara Bonilla, Ph.D., into the Poets’ Cove to discuss her new book of poems, decir bóveda.
Inmaculada is an author and Associate Professor of Latin American and Latinx Literature and Cultural Studies at Hostos Community College, CUNY, where she also serves as the Director of the Latin American Writers Institute and as Chief Editor of the Hostos Review/ Revista Hostosiana.
Poets' Cove #19

On this episode, host Daniel Chacón speaks with acclaimed author Cristina García. They discuss Cristina’s new book, Vanishing Maps (Knopf, 2023), a follow-up to her best-selling novel, Dreaming in Cuban.
Poets' Cove #18

Host Daniel Chacón speaks with native Nicaraguan poet and UC Davis lecturer León Salvatierra about his collection of poetry, To the North/Al norte (University of Nevada Press 2022). Poet Javier O. Huerta, who translated To the North/Al norte into English, also joins the conversation.
Poets' Cove #17

Host Daniel Chacón speaks with poet Gabriel Dozal about his new collection of poetry, The Border Simulator (One World/Random House 2023). Poet Natasha Tiniacos, who translated The Border Simulator into Spanish, also joins the show to discuss the ground-breaking new book.
Poets' Cove #16

In a special episode recorded in the heart of Madrid, Spain, Host Daniel Chacón speaks with author and world traveler, Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez. They discuss a wide range of topics, including travel, artificial intelligence, and tacos in Poland.
Poets' Cove #15

Host Daniel Chacón speaks with author M. Evelina Galang about her incredible new collection of stories, When the Hibiscus Falls (Coffee House Press, 2023).
Poets' Cove #14

Host Daniel Chacón speaks with poet Brian Turner about his forthcoming three-part poetry series from Alice James Books: The Wild Delight of Wild Things, The Goodbye World Poem, and The Dead Peasant’s Handbook.
Poets' Cove #13
Featured Episode
June 4, 2022
In this episode Daniel talks with international best selling fiction writer Mariana Enriquez. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, she writes what might best be described as literary horror stories, which are translated into multiple languages. She often takes us into dark and horrible spaces and situations, but she does it with a skillful narrative voice and compassion for her characters. They talk about her writing process, the difference between writing short stories and writing a novel, and the effect of psychogeography on how she travels and generates story ideas. They mostly speak of her collection of stories entitled, in English, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, or Los peligros de fumar en la cama.
MARIANA ENRÍQUEZ
The Best of Words on a Wire
Ana Castillo
Daniel Chacón speaks with celebrated poet, essayist, editor, activist, novelist, and translator Ana Castillo, about her most recent poetry book, My Book of the Dead (University of New Mexico, Press, 2021).
Tracy K. Smith
Daniel talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Tracy K. Smith. She has written her first memoir, Ordinary Light, and she talks about why she waited many years to write about the death of her mother. She also explains why the memoir allowed her to explore the subject of race and to reflect on how her parents lived and coped in the segregated South.
Benjamin Alire Saenz
Benjamin Alire Sáenz visits us in Studio B to discuss his recent work. Dr. Sáenz taught as a professor in UTEP’s Creative Writing department for over twenty-three years before retiring to dedicate his time entirely to writing and there was so much to discuss, Dr. Sáenz is being featured in a special two-part edition of Words on a Wire.
Edward Hirsch
Edward Hirsch speaks with Words on a Wire about his latest book, A Poet’s Glossary, which is not so much a book of definitions as it is an exploration of the history of the terms and how those terms interrelate to each other. Hirsch explains why it took 15 years to compile the information for this book, and why he believes it can still be more expansive (it’s already over 700 pages long). We’ll learn about the terms “Duende,” “Flarf,” and “Spam Poetry.”
Juan Felipe Herrera
Juan Felipe Herrera previously served as the Poet Laureate of the United States. Before that he was Poet Laureate of California. And before that he was a Fresno poet who was inspiring the dreams and imaginations of thousands of children, their parents, and fellow poets. Herrera joins us again on WORDS ON A WIRE to talk about his Laureateship and how his life has changed (and how it hasn’t) since he was appointed Poet Laureate of the U.S. in 2015.