Poet Katie Kingston was selected as a 2011 Finalist for the Pablo Neruda Poetry Prize for her poem written during our Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat in Oaxaca. Katie gave us permission to publish the poem and to share her workshop experience (below).
Woman Resting
Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico
I have been waiting days to move
to the hammock, to drift
beneath the white portal into a white
dream delineated by black
ink.
Above me, the green tree
full of green grapefruit and a cluster
of yellow birds. My sky sways
with palm leaves and wingspan.
Footsteps approach
like a lullaby.
In the distance a child
wails blue syllables and the rooster
releases another qui-qui-ri-qui-qui.
I sketch their sounds on paper
alongside the corrugated bray
of burro.
The hammock swings
in the key of G. I am surrounded by tuning
forks and pomegranate blossoms.
I call this place
Granada.
Lull is the word that comes
to mind. Lull says the wood smoke, lull
says the sheet on the line, lull says
the loom’s shuttle tapping wool strands
of indigo and cochineal
into the snug fit
of weft.
Sometimes the name for gold
dye escapes me, so I put down the pen, feel
the rhythm of my body as if I too
am a leaf lulled by breeze,
as if I too am held to the branch
by a nub of stem.
–Katie Kingston, Finalist in the 2011 Pablo Neruda Prize,
First Published in Nimrod International Journal, Vol.55 Titled What Time Is It?
What Katie Kingston says about the Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat:
Immersion in a new culture with a group of talented and inspiring women was definitely the catalyst for this poem, “Woman Resting.” One day I found myself resting in the hammock, and while letting its hypnotic sway take over, I experienced the flooding of the five senses in this magical place, Teotitlán del Valle. I was motivated to write this poem, to try in one small way to capture the experience of this slower paced lifestyle. I haven’t experienced such a “lull” since childhood.
Teotitlán del Valle is all about weaving; indigo and cochineal dye hangs in natural wool skeins from the roof top lines. It fact, it seems that everything hangs from the sky in Teotitlan: the drying threads, the hammocks, the pomegranates, the grapefruits, the laundry, and even the sounds: birds, burros, roosters, pigs. The experience at the Oaxaca Woman’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat was enhanced by the meditative atmosphere that allows for interpretation with a gathering of women who believe in writing as a spiritual plunge into the unknown.
When I returned to the United States, I submitted the poem to Nimrod International Journal’s 2011 Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, www.nimrod@utulsa.edu, where it placed as a finalist and was published in the Nimrod Award Issue titled, “What Time Is It?” Other good news followed. I submitted my manuscript, What Does Lorca Own?, which had been reviewed at the conference by Professor Robin Greene, our instructor. We discussed the manuscript in depth, and I sent out the revision to several competitions. It placed as a finalist in the 2011 Idaho Prize for Poetry, www.losthorsepress.org, and will be published in October 2012 by Lost Horse Press (distributed by the University of Washington Press, Seattle) under the new title Translating Clouds.
No writer ever writes alone, and I have many individuals to thank for their support including Norma Hawthorne, Robin Greene, Susan Florence, and the other talented participants of the 2011 Oaxaca Women’s Writing Retreat. For me, the experience was a success, giving me the time to write new poems, forge new friendships, and experience a new culture, where I felt welcome and safe as I hiked the village roads and spoke to goat herders, children learning English, and women who smiled back.
kingston@wildblue.net
www.katiekingston.com
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When Indigenous Oaxaca Dress Becomes Inspiration for High Fashion
Years ago I discovered Mexican designer Carla Fernandez and her sweet little book (out of print) that taught me the difference between indigenous and Western clothing design. Rather than form fitting construction with darts, waistbands, zippers, buttons and collars, pre-European style clothing of the Americas is made for easy fit and comfort. The emphasis is on the weaving techniques and designs integrated into the fabric or embroidered rather than the cut.
Indigenous clothing is flowing, soft, loose, relaxed. Slip-it-on-0ver-the-head and you are dressed! The dresses, or huipiles, are made as (more or less) one size fits (almost) all! Patterns are rectangles, triangles and squares sewn together often with an intricate crochet stitch that can be as beautiful as the cloth.
Indigenous Fashion Inspires Mexican Runways Now, an Associated Press story picked up by the New York Times tells how Mexico City contempo-Mex designers like Lydia Lavin are incorporating indigenous clothing design elements into high-end fashion. (Click on her name to see the runway models.] Price tags are upwards of $1,000USD. (One can buy a lovely Oaxaca huipil for under $100USD. The weaver may get 40-70%.) Of course the look is entirely different! In Lydia Lavin’s work, you will recognize bits and pieces of indigenous textile in the couture. [Our friend Ana Paula Fuentes, director of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, adds to the story’s commentary.]
[Left: Women at the Guelaguetza wear indigenous dress, all handwoven, from the Alta Mixteca, in Oaxaca.]
Is this an issue of Fair Trade or Fair Game?
Ultimately, it is the consumer who must decide if the indigenous artisan is being fairly compensated for her/his work or role in clothing production. We all make choices. I constantly struggle with the question about what is authentic, since adaptation is part of evolution and creativity. Yet, our choices may be clearer when offered a high-fashion knock-off that incorporates synthetic fabric, is made on a commercial rather than back-strap loom, and perhaps is made in China!
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Posted in Clothing Design, Cultural Commentary, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving
Tagged blogsherpa, clothing, design, dress, fashion, huipil, Mexico, Oaxaca, postaweek2011, textiles, weaving