Richard Blanco, acclaimed Cuban American poet and storyteller, joined Centro Cultural Cubano de Nueva York and Americas Society Council of the Americas on the evening of Friday, Oct. 30 in New York City to read excerpts from his witty and charming memoir, "The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood." He also spoke about conquering the subject of home, his inaugural poem, and the maturation of the Cuban identity in America.

Blanco became the first gay, first Latino and youngest inaugural poet in 2013 when he was chosen to become the nation's fifth inaugural poet. More recently, the author of five prize-winning books was the featured speaker at the reopening of the U.S. embassy in August 2015. At the historic event, he read the poem "Matters of the Sea," and read it again during his appearance at the Americas Society headquarters located on the Upper West Side.

"It's going to be a very special evening for me, in this atmosphere that's about the very topic that obsesses my life," Blanco said to the room of listeners.

"They say that every writer is, in some way, obsessed with writing one poem, story or novel all of their life. And what that means, of course, in a figurative way, is every writer has a central obsession. Their entire body of work attempts to mention some part of that obsession ...to ask questions about it, then attempt to answer them.

"My obsession comes down to one word, still to this day, and that's home. And all that big word really means is community, family, cultural, identity, national loyalties, heritage and even sexuality to me. It's all a sense of home and meaning. That's really where I feel like my work is universal."

Blanco continued, expanding on his need to investigate his life as an adult, his younger life in Miami, and the romanticized version of Cuba, which was perpetuated by his elders who frequently told him how Cuba was where "the sugar was sweeter and the salt was saltier." While his finally settled in Miami when he was a young boy, he was always made to feel as if he shouldn't get too comfortable because they could be going back to Cuba any day.   

A Cuban upbringing in Miami was much different than life in other parts of the U.S. Miami, with its heavy Cuban population, echoed the traditions of Cuba, not America. For young Richard or Little Riqui, it was important for him to navigate those two worlds and demystify what it meant to be American, and he loved to do that through food. Particularly, he loved to investigate American culture through the magical foods that filled the shelves at the local grocery store Winn-Dixie, where apricots and string cheese were commonplace. As he matured, he realized that he was a part of a layered community and had a role in the stories about Cuba that he'd known so well.

When writing his own story, he knew to highlight his parents' and grandparents' stories and the stories of the exile, so they wouldn't disappear. Likewise, he has recognized a need to preserve the stories of his aunts and uncles who remained in Cuba, so that won't be discounted as the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba begins to normalize. Embracing these different concepts of home has proven to be important to his work and the Cuban American legacy.

 "As of recently, after the inauguration, I was eager to learn what home meant in terms of America. Looking at the demonstration of what it meant to be an American and writing the inaugural poem let me further that in the autobiographical sphere," Blanco said, responding to a question offered by Latin Post.

"Now, I'm working on a book that explores the idea of borders, in terms of internment camps on the west coast, and Ellis Island, the perpetual quest for home, and thinking about what immigration really means today. We have this outdated model of what immigration means and even what a nation is."

Additionally, Blanco is exploring the concept of "other" in relation to Cuba, and coming to terms with the fact that he's not a "hyphenated person." Instead, he is an Americubano or an Americuban. He plans to continue exploring his love of two nations and his parent's stories, which are stories that have been repeated thousands and thousands of times over history." According to him, "that request for home, loss of home, and regaining of home is really just a perennial theme in literature."