2020 Jack Straw writer Jose Trejo-Maya’s project is an extract of his poetry that is intended for a three-dimensional museum exhibit based on the Tonalpohualli, a Mesoamerican conception of time. In his conversation with curator Anastacia-Renée, they discuss his organic writing process, his connection to the immigrant experience, and listening to the voices of his ancestors. “It just comes to me from what I know and the experience I have — it’s the people, the elders that have been with me. So, they tell me . . . to speak when you’re spoken to. And it’s just a refraction of where I come from, like the people before me. And I think it is my duty to not to let that the language die. Even now, keep it alive.”

Jose is a remnant of the Nahuatlacah oral tradition -a tonalpouhque mexica from the lowlands of a time and place that no longer exists. Published in UK, US, India, Spain, Australia, Argentina, Germany, and Venezuela. He is from Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, where he lived in the small rural pueblo of Tarimoró. His inspiration(s) include Netzahualcoyotl, Humberto Ak’abal, Ray A. Young Bear, and James Welch. He was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2015 and was awarded Tercer Premio from El Centro Canario Estudios Caribeños – El Atlántico – en el Certamen Internacional de Poesía “La calle que tú me das” 2016. He was a New Rivers Press Many Voices Project 2018 Finalist. While in ceremony with Chololo medicine men in the Tule River Reservation, all this came from a dream written in prophecy.

SoundPages was produced by Jack Straw Cultural Center as part of the Jack Straw Writers Program. All of the writers heard in this series are published in the Jack Straw Writers Anthology, and featured online at www.jackstraw.org. Music by SassyBlack, produced as part of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.