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Calendar of Dust
poetry, his first book
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
38 books15.7k followersBenjamin Alire Sáenz (born 16 August 1954) is an award-winning American poet, novelist and writer of children's books.
He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy in 1977. He studied Theology at the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium from 1977 to 1981. He was a priest for a few years in El Paso, Texas before leaving the order.
In 1985, he returned to school, and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned an M.A. degree in Creative Writing. He then spent a year at the University of Iowa as a PhD student in American Literature. A year later, he was awarded a Wallace E. Stegner fellowship. While at Stanford University under the guidance of Denise Levertov, he completed his first book of poems, Calendar of Dust, which won an American Book Award in 1992. He entered the Ph.D. program at Stanford and continued his studies for two more years. Before completing his Ph.D., he moved back to the border and began teaching at the University of Texas at El Paso in the bilingual MFA program.
His first novel, Carry Me Like Water was a saga that brought together the Victorian novel and the Latin American tradition of magic realism and received much critical attention.
In The Book of What Remains (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), his fifth book of poems, he writes to the core truth of life's ever-shifting memories. Set along the Mexican border, the contrast between the desert's austere beauty and the brutality of border politics mirrors humanity's capacity for both generosity and cruelty.
In 2005, he curated a show of photographs by Julian Cardona.
He continues to teach in the Creative Writing Department at the University of Texas at El Paso.
He was born at Old Picacho, New Mexico, the fourth of seven children, and was raised on a small farm near Mesilla, New Mexico. He graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1972. That fall, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado where he received a B.A. degree in Humanities and Philosophy in 1977. He studied Theology at the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium from 1977 to 1981. He was a priest for a few years in El Paso, Texas before leaving the order.
In 1985, he returned to school, and studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned an M.A. degree in Creative Writing. He then spent a year at the University of Iowa as a PhD student in American Literature. A year later, he was awarded a Wallace E. Stegner fellowship. While at Stanford University under the guidance of Denise Levertov, he completed his first book of poems, Calendar of Dust, which won an American Book Award in 1992. He entered the Ph.D. program at Stanford and continued his studies for two more years. Before completing his Ph.D., he moved back to the border and began teaching at the University of Texas at El Paso in the bilingual MFA program.
His first novel, Carry Me Like Water was a saga that brought together the Victorian novel and the Latin American tradition of magic realism and received much critical attention.
In The Book of What Remains (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), his fifth book of poems, he writes to the core truth of life's ever-shifting memories. Set along the Mexican border, the contrast between the desert's austere beauty and the brutality of border politics mirrors humanity's capacity for both generosity and cruelty.
In 2005, he curated a show of photographs by Julian Cardona.
He continues to teach in the Creative Writing Department at the University of Texas at El Paso.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 2, 2008
This is the real deal.. Rarely have I found a Latino/Chicano poet that displays this kind of historical insight, sensitivity and just plain "gets it." Calendar of Dust should be read in every classroom across America. The book is good poetics, good writing and a testament to all Latinos. The life portrayed here is a tribute to being a Chicano whose people have been here forever, before the first illegal immigrants landed on Plymouth Rock. The life of the betrayed and conquered peoples of the southwest, has no better champion. Five stars.
September 16, 2014
4.5
I'm not a big poetry reader, but I can appreciate a good poem. This book is a collection of touching stories pressed into poetry. They are each filled with history, death, grief, and love. Fantastic!
I'm not a big poetry reader, but I can appreciate a good poem. This book is a collection of touching stories pressed into poetry. They are each filled with history, death, grief, and love. Fantastic!
October 15, 2021
El poema retrata lo difícil que es emigrar. Me alegra que mantenga esa característica divertida que es única de un foráneo. Para alguien que fue del sur al norte de México, esto significa no olvidar y perseverar a pesar del ruido de la realidad a cada paso.
October 11, 2019
5/5
everytime i review a book of poetry by Sáenz i basically just say “wow, this was amazing.” this book will be no different because wow, this was amazing. the way he writes is so emotive and tender and vulnerable. i didn’t realize this was his first book of poems prior to reading it but just…man. every poem in this novel seems to tell an important story. looking forward to reading the two books of his poetry that i haven’t consumed. the only novel of his that i’ve read is “Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” which i’m anxious to change. i fell in love with that book, and it’s so satisfying to be in love with his poetry as well.
also, who is this good at writing both novels and poems? what the hell?
some poems/lines i enjoyed:
“She journeys every day. The journey is easy, never takes a long time, and always it is sunny. When it rains, the people who live here praise God—but she, she curses him for the spit that soaks her skin.”
— Journeys
“The quieting earth is turning
uncomfortable in its new position. Tired insomniac uttering moans
of sorrow and repentance, begging”
— Aftermath
“Your daughter will be bleeding soon.
She will smell like the rain
in a drought.
Your voice
cracks in grief
for your aging self
aware that as your dark daughter
grows,
you will start to wither—
aware that you
will no longer be
the only woman
in your house
And yet, your grief
Is more than for the passing of your time.
Your grief is for
your child
who must learn
too soon
the price she must pay
for her power”
— Your Daughter
“She is in tears, but the sat
that flows from within her
seasons her face with hope”
“His wife fed us food and forgiveness. She knew
About boys, about men, and knew the needs of both.
When she grew weak, I begged her to live. “Take him
Instead!” I’d pray, preferred his death to hers—
And cursed God for his choice. She left us poor,
Left us before we had learned the necessary skill of love.”
— Prodigal Men
(not quoted, but the poem “at thirteen” was one of my favorites as well.)
everytime i review a book of poetry by Sáenz i basically just say “wow, this was amazing.” this book will be no different because wow, this was amazing. the way he writes is so emotive and tender and vulnerable. i didn’t realize this was his first book of poems prior to reading it but just…man. every poem in this novel seems to tell an important story. looking forward to reading the two books of his poetry that i haven’t consumed. the only novel of his that i’ve read is “Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” which i’m anxious to change. i fell in love with that book, and it’s so satisfying to be in love with his poetry as well.
also, who is this good at writing both novels and poems? what the hell?
some poems/lines i enjoyed:
“She journeys every day. The journey is easy, never takes a long time, and always it is sunny. When it rains, the people who live here praise God—but she, she curses him for the spit that soaks her skin.”
— Journeys
“The quieting earth is turning
uncomfortable in its new position. Tired insomniac uttering moans
of sorrow and repentance, begging”
— Aftermath
“Your daughter will be bleeding soon.
She will smell like the rain
in a drought.
Your voice
cracks in grief
for your aging self
aware that as your dark daughter
grows,
you will start to wither—
aware that you
will no longer be
the only woman
in your house
And yet, your grief
Is more than for the passing of your time.
Your grief is for
your child
who must learn
too soon
the price she must pay
for her power”
— Your Daughter
“She is in tears, but the sat
that flows from within her
seasons her face with hope”
“His wife fed us food and forgiveness. She knew
About boys, about men, and knew the needs of both.
When she grew weak, I begged her to live. “Take him
Instead!” I’d pray, preferred his death to hers—
And cursed God for his choice. She left us poor,
Left us before we had learned the necessary skill of love.”
— Prodigal Men
(not quoted, but the poem “at thirteen” was one of my favorites as well.)
April 23, 2013
Brilliant cycle of emotionally resonant poems that weave a historical narrative of life, death, and resurrection out of that scarred, cursed, yet sacred land, the great Southwest.
July 27, 2020
I really love his work.
August 12, 2020
(FROM MY BLOG) (Not really a review, but maybe of interest if you're considering reading)
Mimbreños.
You buried your ancestors
in floors beneath your homes.
You slept on them,
you kept them with you always.
They grew through earthen floors
filling your lives
with dreams of passing worlds.
--Benjamin Alire Sáenz, "The Dead"
I had never heard of the "Mimbreños."
They were a people in southwest New Mexico, part of a larger ethnic group, the Mogolon culture. They are named after the Mimbres ("little willow") river, that runs through their region.
The beginnings of their culture can be seen as far back as A.D. 200, but their "classic" period was A.D. 1000-1130, by which time the Mimbreños had settled into towns and had become an agricultural people.
What do we know about them? They originally lived in "pit houses"-- houses half dug into the ground, and covered with a roof. In the larger communities, they build large, communal pit houses, called "kivas," which were probably used for community and religious ceremonies.
But by the beginning of the classic period, they were moving out of pit houses and building large, above-ground pueblos -- some of which contained hundreds of rooms. At the same time, they began a ceremonial destruction of their kivas, burning them to the ground in great fires.
The Mimbres culture is best known today for its characteristic black-on-white pottery. The pottery became quite sophisticated, and was both geometric and figurative in the designs used. Some were used as ceremonial burial masks, covering the faces of the dead, but most were produced for actual home use.
Near the end of the classic period, Mimbreños began abandoning their homes, and the culture disappeared within a few years. The end of the Mimbres culture, in its characteristic features, is usually blamed on local drought.
The Mexican-American novelist Benjamin Alire Sáenz, who has written novels for adults and young adults, as well as books for children, began his writing career as a poet. I learned of the Mimbres culture from two poems included in his collection Calendar of Dust (1991). "The Dead" marks the coming of the Mimbres people, from the time of their ancestors' first crossing of the Bering Strait, through the millennia as they cared for themselves and honored their ancestors, to the full flowering of their culture, and until ultimately their people and its culture died from drought.
The other poem, "Resurrection," is a reflection on the passage of time, and the communion between the living and the dead. Four stanzas -- First, the still-visible accomplishments of the ancient Inca civilization; second, the lifelong anguish of the poet's mother over the death of her brother, a brother whose photo she holds close; and third, the poet's thoughts and memories as he looks at photos of his own dead relatives, relatives with whom he once walked, all hoping to cross the border, hopes that for all but him were unfulfilled.
The communion of the living with the dead. The communion of the present with the past. The fourth stanza returns to the now extinct Mimbres people:
"The past is never dead. It's not even past." --William Faulkner
Mimbreños.
You buried your ancestors
in floors beneath your homes.
You slept on them,
you kept them with you always.
They grew through earthen floors
filling your lives
with dreams of passing worlds.
--Benjamin Alire Sáenz, "The Dead"
I had never heard of the "Mimbreños."
They were a people in southwest New Mexico, part of a larger ethnic group, the Mogolon culture. They are named after the Mimbres ("little willow") river, that runs through their region.
The beginnings of their culture can be seen as far back as A.D. 200, but their "classic" period was A.D. 1000-1130, by which time the Mimbreños had settled into towns and had become an agricultural people.
What do we know about them? They originally lived in "pit houses"-- houses half dug into the ground, and covered with a roof. In the larger communities, they build large, communal pit houses, called "kivas," which were probably used for community and religious ceremonies.
But by the beginning of the classic period, they were moving out of pit houses and building large, above-ground pueblos -- some of which contained hundreds of rooms. At the same time, they began a ceremonial destruction of their kivas, burning them to the ground in great fires.
The Mimbres culture is best known today for its characteristic black-on-white pottery. The pottery became quite sophisticated, and was both geometric and figurative in the designs used. Some were used as ceremonial burial masks, covering the faces of the dead, but most were produced for actual home use.
Near the end of the classic period, Mimbreños began abandoning their homes, and the culture disappeared within a few years. The end of the Mimbres culture, in its characteristic features, is usually blamed on local drought.
The Mexican-American novelist Benjamin Alire Sáenz, who has written novels for adults and young adults, as well as books for children, began his writing career as a poet. I learned of the Mimbres culture from two poems included in his collection Calendar of Dust (1991). "The Dead" marks the coming of the Mimbres people, from the time of their ancestors' first crossing of the Bering Strait, through the millennia as they cared for themselves and honored their ancestors, to the full flowering of their culture, and until ultimately their people and its culture died from drought.
The other poem, "Resurrection," is a reflection on the passage of time, and the communion between the living and the dead. Four stanzas -- First, the still-visible accomplishments of the ancient Inca civilization; second, the lifelong anguish of the poet's mother over the death of her brother, a brother whose photo she holds close; and third, the poet's thoughts and memories as he looks at photos of his own dead relatives, relatives with whom he once walked, all hoping to cross the border, hopes that for all but him were unfulfilled.
The communion of the living with the dead. The communion of the present with the past. The fourth stanza returns to the now extinct Mimbres people:
The Mimbres buried their dead beneath their homes.Sáenz's poetry is haunting and melancholic, as is his recollection of the slow rise and rapid collapse of Mimbres civilization. As are the lives of those of us still living. And as is the life of our own civilization.
At night, softly, the buried
rose, re-entered the rooms of the living
as blankets woven with the heavy threads of memory,
blankets on which the Mimbres rested,
on which they slept, and dreamed.
"The past is never dead. It's not even past." --William Faulkner
June 8, 2018
I enjoyed this book. The author is one of my new favorite authors and I'm excited that I was able to find this. A lot of the time I hear people say that they don't like poetry because they don't understand it...I think this book of poetry is very accessible, so more people can read it! I really enjoyed the style of writing and the actual topics the author wrote about. Very good emotive images.
January 20, 2024
Truly I cannot express the depth or breadth of the feelings I feel when I read his work. He is a master. 5 stars. I cried.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews