Three decades ago, an immigrant mother brought her 6 year old daughter into the public library of the town they just moved into. She read a book to her daughter, and another, and another. Those mommy-daughter reading sessions became frequent trips to the library. A seed was planted and nurtured the girl’s love for the written word.
That little girl became a woman who writes poems and collaborates with others to create thoughtful literary programming. She was crowned one of @ocregister ’s 125 most influential people in Orange County.
It is my honor to serve my city with the literary arts. I’m so shocked and humbled to be named an influential person in an era where we are combatting book bans, defunding education, illiteracy, and xenophobia. Let us continue forward raising readers, sharing literary joy, and flexing the great muscle of empathy.
The devil works hard, but never as hard as the Black and Filipina immigrant’s daughter.
Every day is a reminder that I’m just a girl who survived a lot and is lucky enough to write about it. I’m very honored to have my essay on adolescent suicidal ideation be published in the upcoming anthology on Black mental health. The Blacklandia anthology series are essential readings where writers, poets, researches, and regular-degular Black folks share their souls and words on mental health. Comment 📖 to preorder your copy today.
April gave what was needed and, apparently, I like to wear the color pink when I’m outside. #photodump
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And big congratulations on your poetry zine @b.luz.bc ! It’s a beautiful collection of contemplations on death, love, and whether or not God is who God wants to be 😘
Happy National Poetry Month! TWH Fellow and Anaheim, C.A.’s Poet Laureate Camille Hernandez reads local high school student Sofia Patel’s poem “Laces in the Line of Fire,” which you can find online at Anaheimpoetry.com.
For more opportunities from The Watering Hole, visit our bio and register for our upcoming craft talk in June with Tara Betts.
#twhpoetry #twhtribe #poetry #spokenword
After so many weeks of book touring, public appearances and poetry readings, I had a little self-care Saturday.
My husband and kids stayed home while I took a train ride on the @pacificsurfliner from Anaheim to Los Angeles and beyond. I listened to audiobooks from @anaheimlibrary and @libby.app and enjoyed the views out my window.
10/10 recommend.
Swipe 👉🏾 to see the audiobooks I’m juggling.
What are you reading right now?
Sometimes you need to zoom out to zoom in. For many people, the pull of this moment is hard to name, but easy to feel.
✍️ @writercamille@emilywkingphd@makingsenseofscience@raymo111
There’s a sentiment that’s been circulating, that seeing people come together to do something complex and meaningful feels like a departure from the usual rhythm of the news. Maybe its the grounding that witnessing collaboration and expertise at this scale can offer.
Maybe it’s the perspective shift itself. From that distance, we can see our collective home as borderless and shared. And seeing the moon, our celestial neighbor, rendered in sharp clarity is a world away from the AI slop served to us by an algorithm that claims to know us.
Maybe it’s the faces in mission control. Women scientists lit by the quiet glow of their screens. A crew and a team that reflects more of who we actually are.
Or maybe it’s the throughline. The crew safely guided home by the calculations of Katherine Johnson in the 1960’s. Her legacy continuing as others begin.
For a moment, in watching it unfold, we are reminded of how to build toward something together and that maybe, just maybe, a more united world is possible.
Photos: NASA
📚✨GIVEAWAY✨📚
I’m giving away 2 books In honor of National Poetry Month, the successful Artemis II landing, sapphic moon colors, southside Chicago Pope, and African American April.
Book 1: my poetry collection, MOTHERLANDS
Book 2: Sister Love: The Letters of Audre Lorde & Pat Parker 1974-1989
To enter
✨ follow my IG + threads
✨ save this post
✨ tag two poet friends
BONUS:
✨ subscribe to my substack: camillehernandez.substack.com
The lucky winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the month! (Must be in the US.) Good luck 😘
#giveaway #bookgiveaway #poetry
