By Fausto Fernós on December 6, 2007 | Share & Save | Link | Print |
Today we’re talking to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and writer Achy Obejas about her little new book, “This is What Happened in Our Other Life” a collection of poems about love, desire and exploring her roots as a Cuban-born Jewish lesbian.
Achy Obejas was born in 1956 in Havana, Cuba, a city that she left six years later when she came to the United States with her parents after the Cuban revolution. She grew up in Michigan City, Indiana, and moved to Chicago in 1979. At the age of thirty-nine, Obejas returned to the island of her birth “for a brief visit and was seduced by a million things”(thanks Gregg)
Listen as Achy and Gregg Shapiro joins Marc and I to talk about the collective history of Hispanic people and how it illustrates the future of humanity as more and more people share a multi-racial and multi-cultural identity. We also chat about the shared legacy of anuism, where thousands of Jews and Muslims in Spain were forced to erase their religious identities from their decedents in Spain after the Reconquista. Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? We wanna know.
Achy is the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz chair at Depaul University and my mother did her dissertation on the love poems of Sor Juana. What a small world? Sor Juana is considered the first feminist of the Americas and is often called the Tenth Muse so I can see why both Achy and my mother have taken to her.
We also get the dirt on some of Achy’s romances, including her long-term relationship with Cuban national artist Tania Bruguera.
The tenth muse of podcasting, with fabulous hair, a glowing aura and roller-skates: Feast of Fools!
Featured Book:
This Is What Happened in Our Other Life
by Achy Obejas
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Barbara says:
December 6, 2007 at 06:08The Lost and Found still exists !! I was there when it was raided by the Chicago Police in 1973.
moonsammy says:
December 6, 2007 at 07:30I have been voting fausto on gay bloggies, and been wondering, does it help the cause if you give a thumbs down to the other participants?
Persikov says:
December 6, 2007 at 11:43Wow! One of the best guests yet. I loved her laugh and her insights… and I went to the U of C and am currently at UIC - her comments about different Chicago universities are absolutely right on (and hilarious).
BrewCityCrooner says:
December 6, 2007 at 11:59I rememeber hearing a mild bit about todays guest, when I was working at a Cuban reastaurant her in Milwaukee. My boss and some of her friends always told me it was something I might want to read into. So good to hear her on the show.
I’m still voting Fausto, hopefully it’s doing some good.
Maia says:
December 6, 2007 at 15:39Love it, love it, love it! This show was right up my alley… anyone who uses the adjective “perverse” regularly is my kind of person. I was wondering why her name sounded so familiar, and then realized she translated “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” Wow, indeed. Achy is amazing. So prolific!
The on-the-spot poetry translation was hilarious. What your translation lacked in music, Fausto, you made up for in steamy lesbian passion. Thanks for that.
Barbara, I’d love to hear your stories about lesbian life in Chicago in the 70s. We drove by the Lost and Found a couple of days ago, and were scratching our heads at the sign that advertised “Fish Fry — two doors north” … wondering if that was a secret code, or do they actually serve fried fish??
PupDon says:
December 6, 2007 at 17:00Why is her love like a carton of eggs? ROFLMAO!!! Marc, you kill me!
Duane says:
December 7, 2007 at 23:10Thanks for another great show! I really enjoyed you interviewing Achy. When I read the notes for the show I thought things might become a little dry but I was pleasantly surprised. Achy is a very charming person. I found her to be intelligent, talented and very real. I probably would not have sought her out on my own but I am now considering her book as part of my Christmas shopping! Thanks guys 
lis says:
December 8, 2007 at 10:38Great show. So glad to hear someone speaking out some truth about the Cuban situation and the political myths about Cubans in Miami. I’ll be looking out for her writing. Great translation Fausto!!!
Fausto Fernós says:
December 9, 2007 at 06:14Moonsammy, every thumbs up counts and of course every thumbs down counts as well. It’s round based, like American Idol. I need your votes to make it to the next round!
David in San Francisco says:
January 8, 2008 at 11:44I just listed to this one last night and I really enjoyed it.
Zoomer says:
February 10, 2008 at 16:17I just listened to this one recently too — what a great show, very interesting!! It’s a nice change of pace when you have smart, funny lesbians on for us girls to drool over. Don’t forget about us.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Fausto Fernós created the Feast of Fools in 1998 as wacky artists variety show in Chicago, Illinois.
Along with his partner Marc Felion, he hosts the world's most downloaded talk show for gay people on the internet, Feast of Fools.
Fausto loves pomegranates, waterfalls and 70s retro funk music.
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SAL-E | July 4, 2008
I can’t Believe you did the accent……… 230;I keep rewinding it………I can so see you do it and squinting you eyes while you do it. You...
goldie | July 4, 2008
You also get to see Jane doing things with her eyebrows that no botoxed actress could do today.
the zak | July 4, 2008
Universal testing is not likely and doesn’t even make sense. Not enough people die from STDs to make it worthwhile. There’s no universal testing for cancer or...
Jeff | July 4, 2008
That was absolutely delightful! I see a collaborative project between Ben and Ms. Houston in the future :o)
14 comments on Ben Lerman and Britney Houston - Let Me Smell Your Dick
the zak | July 4, 2008
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LATEST
patchouli_stink says:
December 6, 2007 at 04:37First of all I just love saying her name its so much fun. Sister-centric! So the Lost and Found is a cruisy lesbian spot… I thought she was talking about lesbian orgies in the lost and found in like sears or maybe Lowe’s. Thanks for the show.