Award-winning poet, author conducts writing workshop in
Hollister
When Tim Z. Hernandez tells a story, he tells it with his whole
body. He gestures with his hands. He gets up and out of his seat.
His face twists into many different expressions to get his points
across. When he tells a story about how his grandfather created
jalapeno-eating contests for Hernandez and his cousins when he was
5, his body language and movements change as he switches between
the characters in the story. He moves his body in a Z as he
pantomimes swallowing the pepper whole. But as a published writer,
Hernandez also knows that poems and stories sometimes need to stand
on their own.
Award-winning poet, author conducts writing workshop in Hollister
When Tim Z. Hernandez tells a story, he tells it with his whole body. He gestures with his hands. He gets up and out of his seat. His face twists into many different expressions to get his points across. When he tells a story about how his grandfather created jalapeno-eating contests for Hernandez and his cousins when he was 5, his body language and movements change as he switches between the characters in the story. He moves his body in a Z as he pantomimes swallowing the pepper whole. But as a published writer, Hernandez also knows that poems and stories sometimes need to stand on their own.
Hernandez, who grew up in the Central Valley, came to San Benito County on April 2 to conduct a poetry workshop with local teenagers. He published a book of poetry called “Skin Tax” in 2006 and recently released his first novel “Breathing in Dust.” He won the 2006 American Book Award for his poetry collection and a 2006 Zora Neal Hurston Award for writers of color. In addition, Hernandez has written plays and a monologue entitled “Diaries of a Macho.”
The poetry workshop was co-sponsored by the San Benito County Free Library and the Si Se Puede Learning Center, through a grant from the California Center for the Book.
“We are trying to reach out,” said County Librarian Nora Conte, who said the poetry workshop is a way to connect with a segment of the population that does not always come into the library.
“If we need to, we will go to the teens,” she said.
At the workshop, 18 teenagers, as well as library and Si, Se Puede staff gathered at the learning center. Hernandez had the group arrange themselves into a semi-circle. One of his first questions was how many of the audience members are writers. One girl raised her hand. Then Hernandez asked how many of them were storytellers. A couple hands went up. Hernandez then asked the teens if they had ever gone up to a friend and recounted what happened to them or someone else. More hands went up.
“We are all storytellers,” Hernandez said. “We are all performers.”
He explained that everyone has stories to share.
“You have the story of how your parents met, where you family came from,” he said. “That’s how I started writing. My family had crazy stories.”
He asked the teens why they share their stories and a few said because they want someone to listen or believe them.
“That’s really what we are looking for,” he said. “We want to know there are a lot of people out there who feel the same way. That’s why I write. It creates a community.”
Hernandez shared one story from his new book, “Breathing in the Dust,” a fictional novel that is told from the point of view of a young man who grew up in the San Joaquin Valley. The novel is broken down into short stories, such as one entitled, “The Ashes,” about the narrator’s grandmother. As with his spoken stories, Hernandez’ pieces are full of description and details, such as a description of the grandmother’s hands as moving like birds.
After the reading, he told the teens they would be playing a game. They brainstormed about what makes a poem – rhythm, words, expression, story and theme.
“Go into your mind and throw out all your notions of what a poem is,” Hernandez said. “Tap it out. Tap it out. Or you’re going to get stuck. I am going to share a very easy way to construct a poem.”
Hernandez asked the students to divide a sheet of paper in half and then to spend a few minutes thinking about an event involving their families. After a few minutes, he asked them to write on the left-hand side of the paper 10 images from the event – the people it involved, the place, or other items. After a few minutes, he asked them to write 10 actions or verbs from the event on the right side of the paper.
“I am teaching you a magic trick,” he said. “I’m teaching you magic will happen at the end. If you get stuck, you are thinking too hard.”
Once the students were done, he asked them to connect each word on the right to a word on the left. Then he told them to write one sentence for each pair. He gave the students ten minutes to work on their pieces.
“This is how books get written,” he said. “Don’t worry about what it looks like or if it makes sense.”
As the students wrote, the room was silent except for the tapping of pencils against paper.
After the writing exercise, Hernandez asked for volunteers to share their poems with the group. When called on, most of the students read aloud their short pieces. One wrote about his grandfather being a hitman in Mexico. Another wrote about family road trips. Another wrote about a family argument at a party.
When all the poems had been read, Hernandez answered questions from the students gathered.
“I write because I am trying to make sense of my situation,” he said.
He said he writes in a journal or diary, where he just writes about the things he’s done for the day, such as the poetry workshop, without thinking too much about it.
“Later on, it will come into stories and poems in weird ways,” he said.
After the event, Hernandez talked about the energy at the workshop and how willing the teens were to participate in writing the poem.
“My job is not to teach,” he said. “I come in and excite them about who they are, their background, and I get inspired.”
