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
