Benito Pastoriza Iyodo

Infobox Writer
name = Benito Pastoriza Iyodo


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birthdate = December 14,1954
birthplace = Humacao, Puerto Rico
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occupation = Poet, author, essayist
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Benito Pastoriza Iyodo is a Puerto Rican author of poetry, fiction and literary articles. He is known for the daring topics of his literary creations, which are both lyrical and thought provoking. While he writes primarily in Spanish, the thematic content of his works vary - including the roles and expectations placed on men and women in a changing, yet conservative society, the role of love and perseverance in the face of inhumanity and condemnation and a wake-up call to a higher level of respect for nature, man and differing ways of life. .” [García, Heidi Ann. Review: Pastoriza Iyodo, Benito. Cuestión de hombres. Bronx: Latino Press 1996. 79 pp. ISBN 1-884-91208-7. "Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana", Vol. 35, Número 2, Nov. 2006, pp. 157-161.]

Biography

Early life

Benito Pastoriza Iyodo was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico (December 14, 1954) and has lived in various states in the United States as well as on his native island. The author’s observations of New York’s Lower East Side, Florida, Chicago, Texas, California and Puerto Rico greatly influenced his writing – especially impacting his view of masculinity, poverty, cultural identity and women’s issues.

Education and early awards

Spanish was the language spoken at home during Pastoriza Iyodo's upbringing, but he attended English-speaking classes when the family lived in the mainland US. He graduated from the Colegio Universitario de Cayey (University of Puerto Rico at Cayey), where he studied English. He also engrossed himself in Hispanic Studies and won two poetry prizes at the university for: "Canción para la existencia" ("Song for existence") and "Hojas" ("Leaves").( [http://www.BenitoPastorizaIyodo.com See Author's Awards] ) While still at the University of Puerto Rico, he was awarded a prize by the Ateneo Puertorriqueño for his book of poetry entitled "Gotas verdes para la ciudad" ("Green drops for the city").

Pastoriza Iyodo holds a master’s degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara and he completed his doctoral course work in Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago.

Writing philosophy

Pastoriza Iyodo has been interviewed several times and the dialogue usually returns to his philosophy on literary creation. In a 2006 interview for "Chasqui" (the Spanish-language literary magazine at Arizona State University) he was asked (rendered here in translated form): “What do you believe is the role of the writer in today’s dysfunctional society?” To this, Pastoriza Iyodo replied: “A little bit of everything. We must be chroniclers, observers of changing societies - we have to be the flashing yellow light saying: watch out - be careful - where are we going? - let’s not throw ourselves off a cliff. A writer has to be the pulse of a changing language that is constantly reinventing itself. But the writer must not forget that he should also cultivate an art whose intrinsic role is also to entertain, to make one laugh, think and meditate on the important things in life.” [García, Heidi Ann. Review: Pastoriza Iyodo, Benito. Cuestión de hombres. Bronx: Latino Press 1996. 79 pp. ISBN 1-884-91208-7. "Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana", Vol. 35, Número 2, Nov. 2006, pp. 157-161.]

Books: Poetry and fiction

Lo coloro de lo incoloro

His first book of poetry published in the United States – "Lo coloro de lo incoloro" ("The color of the colorless") won a prize from the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize competition in 1979-1980. [ [http://www.hnet.uci.edu/spanishandportuguese/cllp/History.htm Chicano/Latino Literary Prize - History ] ] From the beginning, Pastoriza Iyodo has always considered himself to be a poet. His poetry defies Spanish-language poetic conventions, showing a propensity to put contemporary devices to good use in the Spanish language. One poem may resemble the traditional sonnet, while another may flow in quasi-sentences bereft of punctuation (a la e. e. cummings) as if it were to be read in a single – exhilarating breath.

Cuestion de hombres

In the 1980s he began to experiment with the narrative and won his second prize from the Ateneo Puertorriqueño for the short story “El indiscreto encanto” (“The Indiscrete Charm”). By the mid-nineties he had written a collection of nine stories, all of which featured male protagonists. The Latino Press (CUNY) published "Cuestión de hombres" ("A Matter of Men") in 1996.

A second edition of this title was published in December 2006, adding a prologue by Carlos Manuel Rivera, Ph.D. (a professor at Davidson College). This edition was preceded by a review in Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana at Arizona State University (translated into English):

"Cuestión de hombres"... lays out, in a poetic manner, in diaphanous language with innovative and daring images, the evolution of man from youth to adulthood, not defined by age, but through the encounter with one’s self. [García, Heidi Ann. Review: Pastoriza Iyodo, Benito. Cuestión de hombres. Bronx: Latino Press 1996. 79 pp. ISBN 1-884-91208-7.]

Cartas a la sombra de tu piel

Then the author returned to poetry, with two collections released in rapid succession (2002 and 2003). The first of the two books, "Cartas a la sombra de tu piel" ("Letters to the shadow of your skin") chronicles the birth of the prefigured love, in all of its aspects: through its metaphysical inception, physical appearance, passion and solidarity in a society that insists on the continued taboo nature of same-sex partners. As stressed by an article in the Caribbean Quarterly:

“The poems and prose pieces in each section portray a world that is vibrant, charged with life, vivid images of lovers in warm embraces, feelings of nostalgia, reminiscences on past erotic experiences and anxious anticipation of future ones. ... Bilingualism functions as an important rhetorical strategy and is demonstrated in different ways. Some poems are written in English entirely but most are in Spanish. ... This switching between linguistic modes is dominant in poems in which the poet advocates a ready acceptance and tolerance of difference – suggesting that sexuality is not limited to heterosexuality, in the same way that the same emotion can be communicated in different languages. ... Cartas a la sombra de tu piel is an intriguing addition to Spanish Caribbean poetry in general and specifically to the area of queer theory, a contemporary approach to literature and culture which developed out of gay and lesbian criticism, and regards sexual identities as fluid. It should provide interesting reading and generate much discussion." [Paulette A. Ramsey. Review: Cartas a la sombra de tu piel by Benito Pastoriza Iyodo.México: Editoral Tierra Firme, 2002. 80 pp., "Caribbean Quarterly", Vol. 51, No. 2, June 2005, pp. 100-105.]

Elegías de septiembre

"Elegías de septiembre" ("September Elegies"), on the other hand, focuses on man’s inhumanity to both nature and man. This collection of poems was published in 2003, when talk of global warming had not yet reached the heightened pitch of An Inconvenient Truth. It begins with a section entitled "Natura Viva Natura Mortua." This Latin phrase could be mistaken for a “still-life”, but what it represents is a wake-up call for man to change his insensitive and apathetic attitude toward nature, which – once beautiful – is being destroyed by our selfish consumerism. Similar attitudes toward poverty and geopolitics are also explored – in beautiful poetic fashion – in a way to make one think and meditate on the causes and cures of the human condition. In the prologue, Mexican writer Estela Porter Seale states (as translated into English):

"This work could be described as a thesis condemning optimistic rationalism [that believes] “ours is the best of all possible worlds”, advocating against all forms of extreme individualism that diminish the possibility of a harmonious coexistence with all things...." [From the Prologue by Estela Porter Seale in Pastoriza Iyodo, Benito. "Elegías de septiembre". Editorial Tierra Firme, Mexico City, 2003, pp 5-9.]

Nena, nena de mi corazón

"Nena, nena de mi corazón" ("Beloved, beloved of my heart") is a new collection of short stories released in December 2006, at the same time as the second edition of "Cuestión de hombres" ("A Matter of Men"). While the protagonists in the latter work were men, "Nena" features female characters in an account of Latino displacement throughout the world; decentralization manifested in movement, transference and substitution. The principle characters circulate and circumnavigate within multiple geographic, political, historical and social spheres pertaining to the ever-changing Hispanic reality.

“The 16 parts, … are presented in the form of vignettes, epistles, chronicles, or commentaries. In spite of major hardships, the characters keep on searching for a better life in places that seem indifferent and even hostile. Women are central to these tales. … This work questions the motives that lead people to abandon their homelands and underlines the resiliency of those who migrate to foreign lands in order to fulfill their dreams.” [ [http://reviews.criticasmagazine.com/BookDetail.aspx?isbn=1425736211 Criticas Magazine Review] ]

Other publications

Pastoriza Iyodo continues collaborating with academic and literary magazines in the United States. Literal has published his interviews of distinguished poets Giaconda Belli and Isaac Goldemberg, essays and book reviews. His writings have been published in the magazines: En Rojo, Línea Plural, Taller Literario, Cupey, Luz en Arte y Literatura, Los Perdedores, Mystralight, Vagamundos, Carpeta de Poesía Luz, Hofstra Hispanic Review [http://www.geotrans.hofstra.edu/academics/Colleges/HCLAS/RLL/HHR/hhr_fall05.html Fall 2005 Issue] ), Visible and Literal. His poetry also appears in the U.S. anthologies Poetic voices without borders and AMOR DEL MISMO SEXO as well as the Antología internacional de la narrativa Carmen Báez in Mexico and Terra Austral of Australia. His works have been published in Australia, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Puerto Rico and the United States.( [http://www.BenitoPastorizaIyodo.com See site for full listing] )

External links

[http://www.BenitoPastorizaIyodo.com Official Web site]

References