From Beethoven to Jenni Rivera: José B. González Interviews Luis Lopez-Maldonado

Luis Lopez-Maldonado is a Xicanx activist, poeta, playwright, dancer, choreographer, and educator born and raised in Southern California, as well as the the author of the poetry collection, Mexican Bird (Querencia Press, 2024). He/Him/They/Them earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California Riverside, in Creative Writing and Dance. His/Their poetry has been seen in The American Poetry Review, Foglifter, The Packinghouse Review, Public Pool, and Latina Outsiders: Remaking Latina Identity, among many others. He/They also earned a Master of Arts degree in Dance from Florida State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame.

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González: Writing the end of a poem is one of the most challenging aspects of the creative process. In your case, your endings are powerful in a thoughtful and poignant way. Quite often, there is a buildup that sometimes takes you in one direction and just when you think that as a reader you have it all figured out, the poem takes you to an unanticipated closure. What is your strategy for writing such memorable endings?

Lopez-Maldonado: Let me be honest: I have been through graduate school and mastered strategies and techniques and other fancy poetic devices, and yet I continue to do what I want, break rules, and paint with bold colors. For me, beginnings are just as important as endings, and I really enjoy stepping outside of myself, when editing a poem, and making sure I have more than one set of eyes. I’m going to give the many personalities that live inside of me the credit they deserve, for I am positive that they have had a part in how my poems’ endings have played-out in this collection. 

I am an amalgamation of tradition and trending.

Luis Lopez-Maldonado

González: Your collection is a song of pride that presents itself as a love song (or anti-love song in a few cases). Do you have musical influences? If so, which?

Lopez-Maldonado: I am so happy you observed the musicality in these poems because one Luisism that I do when creating art, when writing poems, when choreographing dances, is that I always listen to música. Mexican Bird houses many previously-published poems, some which date as far back as 2011, so it is a given that my musical tastes and influences have evolved since then; I am an amalgamation of tradition and trending. I am attracted to Beethoven, Yo-Yo Ma, Pedro Infante, Bronco, Lil Nas X, Las Jilguerillas, Thalia, Greenday, Boys II Men, Vicente Fernandez, Rebelde, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Frank Sinatra, Celia Cruz, James Blunt, Sam Smith, Brittney, Madonna, Ana Gabriel, Jenni Rivera… I mean, I can write a list that can go all the way down to the page. And naturally as I write and think about language unfolding, whatever music I am listening to, by default, affects my “style” and product, in that very moment.  

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González: Throughout your collection, I’m reminded of the concept of “eat, pray, love.” That’s in part because there is almost a spirituality in your descriptions of food. How would you describe your relationship, so to speak, with dishes, particularly Mexican ones? 

Lopez-Maldonado: ¡Me encanta la comida! My beginnings were centered around family and food. The intimate memories of my ancestors live through specific foods from my culture and traditions, and when I include food items in my poems, I am including so much more than just what I swallow: love, fear, hate, sex, pecado, desire, abuso, trauma, and so much more. Food for me is the ultimate metaphor, simile, and everything between this thing we call life, and infinite, infinity. Poesía is tacos and pan dulce and menudo and carne asada and Duvalínes and canela and pozolé and how my thick thighs used to remind my lovers of mangos, my lips of cherries, my words of salsa. 

González: Your poems are at times about love of family and sometimes about love of partners. Which poems did you find most difficult to write?

Lopez-Maldonado: I have always been in communication with the divine, with intense organic energies, with spiritual beings, with departed souls, and with the voices in my head. With that said, I have never written love poems on my own. Poems that talk about love, showcase love, define love, these poems spilled from within me out of necessity and with a gentle ease. I rarely have trouble writing about what I know, and I know love. I also know lies and abuse masked-as-love. Both with family and lovers, I have been tortured with kindness, and that is why I tend to write about la familia y el amor entre hombres.

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The writer can be a master of the alphabet, the modern shaper of language, and the CEO of poetic imagery.

Luis Lopez-Maldonado

González: Some of your poems are written in second-person point of view, and as I read them, I can’t help but think that your choice is not only effective but also natural, as if that is the only way that poem can be written. How do you decide whether a poem should be written in second-person point of view?

Lopez-Maldonado: Playing with point of view is something I have been exploring since I discovered I was a poet. Naturally, as an Aries, I am uncomplicated and direct and I write to never apologize or explain. In college and later in grad school, anytime I heard things like “you can’t do that” or “I don’t think so” or “it doesn’t make sense,” that is when I opened another door, ignited the fire adentro de mí, and I did what I felt my poetry needed. The writer can be a master of the alphabet, the modern shaper of language, and the CEO of poetic imagery; they just have to believe it and want it, then claim it. I always play with how my poetry sounds on the page, and aloud, making sure I take my wide-audience into consideration, and then ultimately look in the mirror and see if there is a smile on my brown face. Porque el punto de vista puede hacer que un poema explote de belleza, o que se desinfle con tristeza. And I let the poem choose what it wants, and usually time (and editing) is the catalyst for its evolution.

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