On November 1st, KLS hosted Noel Quiñones, Emmy-nominated spoken word poet, educator, and community organizer from New York engaged in his Fall 2022 tour in the Bay Area.

We participated in his Pure Saturation: Poetry and Color Theory workshop. The following was conducted as a Khranicle interview.

“I fell in love with poetry in high school as a way to put my thoughts to paper. I loved how focused the genre was, how intricate with all its attention to the smallest levels of language. For a long time, there was no overlap for me between poetry and color but my favorite color since childhood has been orange. Finally, when I went to get my M.F.A. in poetry three years ago everything clicked. I was writing about my childhood and I realized the best lens to do that would be orange. This led me to color theory as a way to talk about being a kid, understanding queerness, conveying a sense of play and danger about growing up in the Bronx.

This past week has been my first time doing in person shows again since the pandemic started in 2019. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working with young people, how dynamic and fun and passionate you all can be. So this tour has been fulfilling because I am reminded that I still have a lot to offer and learn from young people as I continue to explore my love of poetry and attempt to share it. From talking with students, I’ve learned the importance of asking questions, of engaging in conversations. The power of grappling with language is consistently underestimated but I believe it’s one of the strongest ways forward as a social species. Humans are naturally curious, naturally social and so a workshop space is a great environment to engage those things with young people who bring so much to the table.”

http://noelpquinones.com