Episode 12: Poet and Activist, Words and Names, Marks and Meaning: Jim Lavilla-Havelin

PoetryLiterature

May 13

Jim Lavilla-Havelin says he can’t remember a time when he wasn’t writing. As a child he wrote puppet plays, poems, and stories. He began writing poetry seriously in high school. He also wrote a novel, which he lost. If anyone finds it, he has two words for them, “Burn it!”

Jim has written six collections of poetry, with several more in the works. His work has been anthologized widely, and he has been nominated for Poet Laureate of Texas, where he has lived for the last few decades.

Photo Credit: Brenda Bazán / San Antonio Report

This episode of Studio Aesculapius is different. Jim reads three poems and has a wide-ranging discussion with co-host, Eddie Dupuy: about the poems, about poetry, about art and activism, about language and knowing and finding patterns, about the human desire to make marks and the attempt to make meaning.

We think you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it!