Creative Writing alumnus Paolo Javier named Queens (NY) Poet Laureate for his community-engaged new media practice.
New York City is a long way from Vancouver. And Vancouver is a long way from the Philippines. But they have all been home for Paolo Javier, a self-described “nomad”, who has not only taken his BFA in Creative Writing more than halfway around the world, but has also taken it into the undiscovered country of digital media. His work recently helped earn him the distinction of being named Queens’ Poet Laureate. He plans to teach the youth of the New York borough of Queens to express themselves with a poetic mix of language, image, sound and video.
Javier is an award-winning author of two poetry collections, 60 lv bo(e)mbs, and the time at the end of this writing, as well as a playwright, film director, college professor. Also, he is the editor and publisher of 2nd Avenue Poetry, an online journal of contemporary poetry.
“I am delighted to approve Paolo Javier as the next Poet Laureate of Queens,” said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “Mr. Javier is an up-and-coming poet as well as a filmmaker who has a clearly articulated vision of how to promote a love of poetry among our diverse youth through multimedia programming. We are very excited to collaborate with him over the next three years.”
Queens College president James Muyskens said Javier’s background shows he “understands diversity.”
“Paolo Javier is truly a 21st century poet who is recreating poetry as a dynamic literary art form that draws from theatre, new media, sound art and international cinema,” Muyskens said.
In a recent interview on PhilStar.com, Javier said he plans to create greater visibility for poetry in the borough and help foster literacy in children by teaching them poetry through new media. He told the New York Daily News he plans to organize workshops that will teach writers not only how to craft poems, but how to combine them with audio and video components.
Furthermore, Javier said in press that he plans to create a roving poetry reading series at borough Library branches, bring an international poetry festival to the Jamaica Library, and start a multimedia project that focuses on and includes the people of Queens.
“This is my way of giving back,” he said.
The Queens Poet Laureate is a three-year, non-salaried appointment. Candidates must have lived in Queens for at least the past two years, had their work published, written poems about the borough and have a clearly articulated vision for serving. A native of the Philippines, Javier has traveled widely and has lived in Sunnyside, Queens, for over a decade.
Javier holds MFA in Creative Writing from Bard College. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Miami and he is the recipient of the 2010 Millay Colony for the Arts Writer-in-Residence (forthcoming) and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Writer-in-Residence, 2007-2008.