Mérida scribe named Cincinnati’s new poet laureate
Manuel Iris’ first book of poetry was published in his native Mérida when he was only 20. Now, he’s in the U.S., and by a vote of City Council, was named poet laureate in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Now 34, Iris left Mérida for the United States 12 years ago in pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Spanish from New Mexico State University.
In 2013, he graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a doctorate in romance languages and literature.
In March, Iris released Translating Silence, his newest book and his first one in English. It translates his previously published poetry.
Iris has a following back in Mexico. A few weeks ago, the telenovela “Por Amar sin Ley” mentioned Iris’ name in a brief scene.
In his poem “Ars poetica,” Iris sees the beauty in a stubborn yellow leaf fighting to stay attached to its branch in a storm:
I watch her battle
against wind and rain,
against gravity …
Her persistence
does not deserve oblivion.
That is why
I put her here,
in this verse
from which she will not fall.
Source: Cincinnati City Beat