Unsplash Utah-based poet Jacqueline Balderrama explores identity and family history in her new collection “Now In Color.”
What makes up a person’s identity? That’s a question Utah-based poet Jacqueline Balderrama wrestles with in her recent poetry collection “Now In Color.” It’s a meditation on her own family’s history and her Latina identity.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Caroline Ballard: How did this collection come about?
Jacqueline Balderrama: I began writing this book roughly the time I was moving to Arizona for my MFA at Arizona State [University]. I was thinking a lot about my relationship to language and not being a native speaker.