Barbara Jane Reyes

Tired of the party lines. Tired of the authenticity police.

Barbara Jane Reyes — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:35:08 PDT

I’m tired of the party lines. I’m tired of the authenticity police. I’m tired of people pushing their agendas in my face. I’ve been trying to hang back, and to just focus on work. I know I am a human being of very strong opinions and beliefs. Whoever agrees with some of what I believe, [...]

Words Manifest: Why I Write

Barbara Jane Reyes — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:51:15 PDT

It’s no big secret, that I am gaga over Eduardo Galeano. Since being introduced to his work some years ago, something has opened and has continued to open in me. The things he does in his work, those are the things I need in the world, in my writing and reading life — I have [...]

USF and SFSU: Syllabizing Next Semester

Barbara Jane Reyes — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:06:54 PDT

One more class meeting at SFSU and then we’ve survived the semester. It’s rough, the pace at which I’m working, but I also really love it. Sometimes I think that teaching only/mostly Filipino Lit classes should bore me, but really, it hasn’t been. As I blogged yesterday, I am really grateful that my students are [...]

End of Semester: Grateful.

Barbara Jane Reyes — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:08:38 PDT

Yes, I’m grateful. On FB last night, one of my FB friends, who’s a professor, wrote that a student could not relate to a certain assigned work, because it took place in Oakland, and the student did not know where Oakland is. A citizen of Oakland, I don’t take that personally! But it got me [...]

Pinay Manuscript: Responding, Maybe Refuting Jane Hirshfield

Barbara Jane Reyes — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:47:17 PDT

To Be Bound [poem edits below!] We are not scarred – Scars indicate space tell stories For Of unbound bodies To heal Healing – proud flesh. We are wounds, vessels Bound, together, dark- Flesh our birthright. Half-emptied, weighted, We are beasts, broken. We are small, darker Than your binds, opening Our unmended flesh. This one is in [...]

Minding the Ethnic Artifact: Continuing Dialogue on Teaching and Writing “Ethnic” “Identity” Lit

Barbara Jane Reyes — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:39:54 PDT

A fellow Pinay writer and I have been engaged in some interesting and much needed conversation about teaching and writing “ethnic” “identity” literature — this comes about as a result of my previous blog post on Resisting Objectification and Cultivating Readers. Another word to use here would be essentialism. How does that strip us of [...]

End of Semester, Summer To Do and Readin’ Lists, Here I Come

Barbara Jane Reyes — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:24:17 PDT

Well, almost. We’ve survived the heavy lifting, so here is what’s on the summer readin’ list: Robert Kirkman, et al, The Walking Dead Compendium One Mark Siegel, Sailor Twain, or the Mermaid in the Hudson Jessica Hagedorn, ed., Manila Noir Lysley Tenorio, Monstress Gerry Alanguilan, Elmer Jason Bayani, Amulet More to come, both to prepare [...]

Resisting Objectification and Cultivating Readers: End of Semester Teaching Filipino Lit Thoughts

Barbara Jane Reyes — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:11:34 PDT

OK, what do I have to offer today to push forward any discussion of Filipino American Literature. How about a reiteration that we need to push past the identity politics and past theorizing the work into abstraction. Where is the middle ground, or the place where we handle the work not just as Filipino American [...]

Opening Filipino American Literature to Include Rafe Bartholomew, and a Pinay in Latino Poetics

Barbara Jane Reyes — Wed, 01 May 2013 09:23:55 PDT

Maybe it’s a strange thing for me to say, but I’m back at a place of ambivalence about identity politics. I know, I teach in Philippine Studies and Asian American Studies Departments, and I am active with PAWA, and maybe this time spent grinding and fielding material is what is contributing to my current (ongoing?) [...]

Manuscript: Multivocal Poems

Barbara Jane Reyes — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:07:38 PDT

To Love as Aswang With razorblade eyes The Filipina is most sincere With too much water And will make a very good wife. With animal teeth The Filipina is a loyal partner, We sometimes kill Deserving of all your love. With splintered hands The Filipina is the total package, With too much life Much more [...]