Episode 36 with the Well-Read Author of Coconut Versus and Los Angeles City College Professor Extraordinaire, Daniel Jose Ruiz

Show Notes and Links to Daniel Ruiz’s Work and Allusions/Texts from Episode

On Episode 36, Pete welcomes the well-read author of Coconut Versus and professor extraordinaire at Los Angeles City College, Daniel José Ruiz. The conversation is rich, as the two discuss Daniel’s transitory childhood, code-switching, masculinity, Octavia Butler’s greatness, teaching literature, Daniel’s gripping Coconut Versus,  and much more.

 

Daniel’s Website

Buy Coconut Versus! Through Amazon 

Buy Coconut Versus through Floricanto Press!

Daniel talks about mentors and the origin of his children’s unique and stellar names-at about 2:00

 

Daniel talks about his upcoming novel, which is currently in galley form-at about 5:10

 

Daniel talks about his childhood in which he moved often-at about 5:40

 

Daniel talks about CA’s Central Valley as a bedrock for him and a formative location in his development-at about 8:50

 

Daniel talks about always being the “new kid” and how that affected his development, a tendency to be proficient at “code-switching” and how being an observer helped his writing-at about 10:30

 

Daniel talks about his interesting approach to writing strong dialogue-at about 12:30

 

Daniel talks about language and literacy in his youth-at about 14:00

 

Daniel talks about childhood reading choices-at about 17:30

 

Daniel discusses some stalwarts of his adult reading, starts like Luis Rodriguez, Zora Neale Hurston, Octavia Butler, and Toni Morrison-at about 19:20

 

Daniel discusses Octavia Butler as his #1 favorite and how she was “incredibly prescient” in writing about power-at about 19:45

 

Pete and Daniel discuss sci-fi and fantasy as escapism, a refuge for people who consider themselves “outsiders” in some way-at about 21:30

 

Daniel quotes Butler’s Kindred and a line from Pablo Neruda as chill-inducing for him-at about 23:50

 

Daniel talks about The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a “seminal text” in his life-at about 25:50

 

Daniel discusses art and his particular writing and reading as “always [inherently] political”-at about 27:40

 

Daniel discusses his wife’s art and art’s place in the couple’s life-at about 31:00

 

Daniel talks about his recent appearance at the open mic night at Mi Espresso Cultura-at about 36:00

 

Daniel talks about the state of “publish or perish” in 2021 academia-at about 38:35

 

Daniel discusses the impact of Common Core as he sees it in his classroom-at about 40:22

 

Pete and Daniel discuss “engag[ing] the word on the page” with difficult-at about 44:00

 

Daniel and Pete discuss texts that energize and interest his students, including V for Vendetta, 1984,  World War Z and Octavia Butler’s trilogy which leads to rich discussion with their realistic depictions of race, climate change, pandemic, and the vagaries of power-at about 46:20

 

Shout out to the LACC student favorite, Daniel’s friend Scott Creley, and his Digging a Hole to the Moon-at about 50:30

 

Pete and Daniel discuss The Inland Empire, described adroitly by Daniel as a “collection of contradictions”-at about 52:25

 

Pete and Daniel discuss the latter’s book, Coconut Versus, and its seeds, including a professor who inspired him to put his thoughts on Chicanismo on paper-at about 53:35

 

Daniel talks about the epigraph’s importance and his want of writing about his unique culture(s)-at about 57:00

 

Pete talks about his love of the book Pocho, and how Daniel sees the term “pocho,” including its connection to W.E.B. Dubois’ “double consciousness”-at about 57:55

 

Daniel talks about how peers often saw a need to act in a certain way as “Latino” or “Mexican”-at about 1:00:00

 

Daniel and Pete discuss masculinity as seen in Coconut Versus, and in society in general-at about 1:02:20

 

Daniel discusses the “coming-of-age- qualities of Coconut Versus-at about 1:08:30

 

Daniel and Pete discuss the cultural markers that make Coconut Versus authentic-at about 1:09:45

 

Daniel reads from Coconut Versus-at about 1:10:50

 

Daniel discusses the significance of the book’s title-at 1:14:45

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