Q&A with World Champion Slam Poet: Joaquin Zihuatanejo and his touring partner Natasha Carrizosa

Rock the Republic and Mic Check hosted a great slam-poetry session at Revolutions Café & Bar this past Sunday night. It was not your typical session at the bar either because, along with other great local poets, were slam-poetry champion Joaquin Zihuatanejo and his touring partner Natasha Carrizosa. They were both front-and-center on the stage. The two were a duet for most of the night while separating at some instances to do pieces of their own. The weather was just perfect outside, and it did show from the outcome of people at the event. The crowd was respectful, quite and of course rowdy at the appropriate times.

The two poets will be main features at this weekend’s up-and-coming Rock The Republic festival in downtown Bryan. I was lucky enough to get a quick interview with the both of them regarding their work ethic, influences, and even some great advice. 

How did you and Joaquin get together?

Natasha: “We met years ago, at a Fort Worth poetry slam and I fell in love with his work. We found some similarities between ourselves and our upbringings and it just went on from there.”

What do you base your poems on? Are they free ranging poems or do you focus on a certain topic?

Natasha: “Both of us actually write about all types of things.  We talk about truth and life. We mention things that we’ve actually lived through. Stuff that we’ve seen, and experienced and we also talk about our upbringing a lot, our cultura (culture). We talk about anything from being bullied at school to things going on in Africa. Just any social, love, and comedy poems; we have everything.”

Now, you both are of Hispanic descent. Do you fuse a lot of that upbringing into your work?

Natasha: Yes. That’s what we know. The best thing to do as far as poetry is to write about what you know and to speak the language of the heart to the people. We can’t be anybody other than who we are.” 

How did you first hear about Rock The Republic?

Joaquin: “Actually, I was invited last year by Dr. Steven Sergeant to be a part of the event. When he invited me back again this year, I told him that I had been touring with Natasha and that we’d been doing things together as a duet. I thought it would be really great if we came and did the show together and he was absolutely open to it.” 

Are you both excited about Rock The Republic 2010?

Natasha: “I’m excited, this is my first year!”

Joaquin: “Absolutely. This is my second year! I cannot wait because I know a lot of the people are going to be exposed to an artist that they might not have been exposed to, like Natasha, if it wasn’t for this festival. Also, a lot of the other poets and bands are going to be here. It is a great way to bring art to the community.” 

Do you have any kids that you teach your poetry and art to?

Natasha: “Yes. I have a teenage daughter. Joaquin has a daughter in college and one daughter in middle school. Whenever we tour or go somewhere, we come back with those experiences and I personally try to teach my daughter that you can do whatever you want to do no matter who you are or where you come from. ‘If you can dream it you, you can do it’, is something that Walt Disney said and I truly believe that.”