Poetry of Place with Claudia Castro Luna

Poems are tools for existential work and Claudia Castro Luna’s poetry is our guide to a deeper understanding of place and belonging. Claudia was born in El Salvador and fled to the U.S. in 1981 at the age of 14. She writes about the grief of losing her first home and country in her book, Cipota Under The Moon, which she reads from in this episode. Claudia has put down roots, raised a family, and made Seattle her home. This sense of place is deeply tied to her work: Claudia is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellow, a Washington State Poet Laureate and Seattle’s first Civic Poet. We talk about the language of grief, her relationship with her grandmother and what it’s like to flee home.

You can find Claudia’s poetry and learn more about her work here: https://www.claudiacastroluna.com/