UTRGV explores borderlands through writer’s workshop
Writer Raquel Gutiérrez reads “Brown Neon” and explains their writing at the “Borderlands Poetics Workshop & Reading” April 7 at the UTRGV Library on the Edinburg campus. Logan Huizar/Pulse
The UTRGV Edinburg library hosted the “Borderland Poetics Writing Workshop & Reading” April 7, where author Raquel Gutiérrez presented her work to students.
During the workshop, Gutierrez had the opportunity to deliver writing prompts for attendees.
Borderland Poetics is a collaboration between the UTRGV Center of the Borderlands and the Department of Creative Writing.
Carolina Monsivais, a UTRGV assistant professor in the Department of History and faculty fellow for the Center of Borderlands, had the initiative to invite author Gutierrez to the university.
“I thought it would be interesting to bring someone from a different region who would share a different perspective of the borderlands,” Monsivais said.
“Brown Neon,” a collection of essays written by Gutierrez, came out in 2022. The book focuses on queer identity in the southwest and the borderlands. Gutiérrez shared that “Brown Neon” is a response to the first Trump era and their travels through States like California, New Mexico, Texas, and the creative ecosystems that they encountered on their way through.
“Queerness is a way to call power into question,” Gutiérrez said.
The author’s most recent work, “Southwest Reconstruction” is their poetry debut. It’s a biographical story of moving through the desert. It explores different histories and how they interact with ideas of settler colonialism.
“I love a road trip through the desert because for me, that’s quite an experiment of moving through time and space,” Gutiérrez said.
They explore the questioning of authority through the latinx and queer lense in their writing.
Gutiérrez said what makes being queer in the south so special is the people.
“The people, you know, the fact that we exist in light of all of these sort of institutional exclusionary designs meant to keep our ability to express ourselves as queer people,” the author said.
Elizabeth Guerra, a graduate in English studies, said it’s fascinating to interact with and read other people’s work from outside the Rio Grande Valley and to hear experiences that align with her own.
Mosivais encouraged her students to attend the workshop in hopes Gutiérrez could present different examples outside of academia writing to help improve their skills.
“Raquel was stating that sometimes we don’t give ourselves permission, and I feel sometimes that I need to give my students permission to be bold in their work,” Mosivais said. “I was hoping for them, that could be something they think about.”
