VOTM: What’s the most unusual experience you’ve had at a reading?
LÓPEZ: One time a guy sat in the front row at a reading I did with his eyes closed and arms crossed. I thought he was ocean deep into my stuff until I heard him snoring. He leaned slightly to his left, I remember. I worried that he was going to fall over and jackhammer the floor with his shoulder blade. I left him alone, though, while I did my thing and he did his.
Manuel Paul López’s books and chapbook include These Days of Candy (Noemi Press, 2017), The Yearning Feed (University of Notre Dame Press, 2013), 1984 (Amsterdam Press, 2010) and Death of a Mexican and Other Poems (Bear Star Press, 2006). He co-edited Reclaiming Our Stories (City Works Press, 2016). A CantoMundo fellow, his work has been published in Bilingual Review, Denver Quarterly, Huizache, Puerto del Sol and ZYZZYVA, among others. He lives in San Diego and teaches at San Diego City College.
Come see Paul read at Book Show in Highland Park on Friday, January 19 at 7:30pm and at La Bodega Gallery in San Diego on Saturday, January 20 at 7pm.