The Latest of Her 100 Books in Two Languages
Margaret Randall—poet, essayist, oral historian, translator, photographer and social activist—reads from her new book of poetry at the Tranquilbuzz poetry encounter, noon, Saturday, July 8.
The Tranquilbuzz, a coffee community on the corner of Yankie and Arizona, sponsors an afternoon of poetry readings the second Saturday each month. Following featured readers, local poets can participate in Open Mic. The Buzz closes at 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
"During the Buzz afternoon we hear from an exciting range of Silver City's poetic voices," says program facilitator Elise Stuart, a former Silver City poet laureate. "With Margaret we're taking account not only of the tumultuous 1960's and 70's but also of the Spanish speaking Americas and of northern New Mexico."
Randall, 86, has written 100 books, barely enough to convey her varied life and displaying a brilliant array of distinguished talents, according to Stuart.
In Vertigo of Risk, her newest volume that she will be signing, a reader can sense her objection to those who refer to "the twilight of our years with muted pinks and golds" while "I see bright colors, a sun powerful/ enough to sustain life/ on a planet where we threaten it/ at every turn."
A resident of Latin America for 23 years, Randall, co-editor of the prestigious bilingual literary journal El Corno Emplumado, published some of the most promising writers of the period.
"Today, in Vertigo, her words are charged with an honesty honed by a lifetime of advocacy," Stuart said, turning to the poem "Footprints" where Randall admits that writing about her end "is like remembering a color photograph in black and white."
Stuart then points to the other image of Randall's biography —" there is nothing / more eloquent than the thrill / of giving yourself / to creativity."
In 2017 Randall received the Medalla al Mérito Literario from Literatura en el Bravo, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. In 2018 she was named "Poet of T wo Hemispheres" by Poesía en Paralelo Cero in Quito, Ecuador. In 2019 UNM gave her an honorary doctorate of letters, and in 2022 she received the City of Albuquerque's Creative Bravo Award.
Randall lives in Albuquerque with her partner, the painter Barbara Byers.