This article is part of a series of interviews related to the fifth season of the Organist podcast produced with KCRW, coinciding with the episode titled Borderlands.
Read More
Javier Zamora is a poet whose work reflects on memory, place, and the political landscape of both El Salvador, his homeland, and the United States, where he currently resides. At the age of nine, he crossed the U.S. border alone to reunite with family members who had fled the Salvadoran civil war. His latest poetry collection, Unaccompanied, captures the challenges of this journey, including the dangers of traversing the desert alone, the psychological toll of constant threats, and the yearning for a homeland rich in natural beauty.
Zamora's first interview took place in the fall of 2017 shortly after his book's release in his San Rafael, California home. He later spoke again in summer 2018 from his childhood house in La Herradura, El Salvador, marking his return after nineteen years.
The conversations reveal his sentiments about El Salvador's perception and his childhood experiences. Zamora expresses concern that media often portrays Salvadorans negatively, especially under the Trump administration, depicting them as gangsters or unaccompanied minors. He aimed to portray the beauty of his homeland in his work while navigating the complexities of representation.
In discussing the shape his book took during writing, Zamora noted that he initially envisioned it without breaks, but felt the intense and traumatic content required pauses. He described his first poem, “Mi Tierra,” as a crucial outlet for expressing his feelings of anger and longing related to his experiences as an immigrant.
Zamora acknowledges the delicate balance of capturing beauty amidst trauma in his poetry. He emphasizes that beauty can exist in stark realities and writes with the intent that those who share similar experiences can find resonance in his words.
He points out that the immigration of children to the U.S. predates the recent media attention, wanting readers to recognize long-standing patterns. Zamora seeks to highlight the political dimensions of his work and the myth of the