A Conversation with Adela Najarro

Institute for Latino Studies

Available on-demand

Embark on an evocative journey through “split geographies” with poet Adela Najarro in an oral history interview with director of Letras Latinas Francisco Aragón ’03 MFA. From the boarding houses of mid-century San Francisco to the classrooms of Los Angeles, experience how deep ties to family history transform into precise, body-centered poetry. Discover a narrative of motherly and grandmotherly resilience that bridges Nicaraguan heritage with the American literary landscape.

Najarro will be in residence with Letras Latinas and the Raclin Murphy Museum Art in mid-March 2026 to continue “Poets & Art: Ekphrasis at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art,” a multi-year partnership between the Museum and Letras Latinas. In addition to her poetry reading on Wednesday, March 18 at 5:30 p.m., She will spend two days at the Museum observing, reflecting, and writing a new ekphrastic poem inspired by an artwork on display. Najarro will also lead a community-focused ekphrastic writing workshop on Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m. For more information, please visit the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art website.

For more information on Letras Latinas at the Institute for Latino Studies, please visit the Letras Latinas website.

From Nicaragua to the Page

The Letras Latinas oral history project at the University of Notre Dame serves as a vital repository for the diverse, often fragmented narratives of Latinx creators. In this installment, poet Adela Najarro’s life story acts as a profound microcosm of the Latinx experience—a journey marked by the “split geography” of migration, the search for a cohesive identity, and a tireless commitment to linguistic clarity.

Foundations and Fragmented Geographies

Najarro’s lineage is rooted in Nicaragua, a country her family departed during the early years of the Somoza Dynasty. Her grandmothers arrived in San Francisco in the late 1940s and early 50s, establishing themselves as “Independent Businesswomen” by operating boarding houses and factories. This migration was born of a rejection of patriarchal norms; Najarro’s mother, seeking an independent life beyond the limited option of marriage in Nicaragua, eventually secured a cosmetology license and built a career as a state examiner in California. While these women forged new paths, Najarro notes the “fissures in their hearts” caused by the trauma of leaving children behind during their initial journeys. Najarro’s own childhood was defined by transit, moving twelve times by the third grade—an instability that made reading her only permanent foundation.

This early volatility, balanced by the autonomy of her matriarchal figures, shaped Najarro’s relationship with language as a tool for survival. Her work explores the psychological labor of “becoming whole” when one’s history is scattered across disparate landscapes.

The Academic and Poetic Awakening

At the University of Redlands, Najarro’s trajectory shifted from law to literature. A pivotal crucible occurred under the mentorship of poet Ralph Angel. Despite her avid reading, Najarro initially received “C-minus” grades because her “great ideas” were not actually present “on the page.” This rigorous critique forced her to bridge the gap between abstract thought and precise execution. Following her MFA and PhD, Najarro spent thirteen years as a bilingual educator in high-poverty districts. Nurturing “30 little human beings” daily demanded a rejection of convoluted academic postures in favor of radical clarity.

The tension between her elite academic training and the visceral needs of the bilingual classroom forged her poetic signature. She prioritizes “precise” language over “convoluted” jargon, viewing the poem not as an intellectual puzzle, but as a direct vessel for human connection.

The Philosophy of Truth and Accessibility

Najarro’s collections—Split Geography, Twice Told Over, and the forthcoming Variation in Blue—trace a movement through California, Michigan, and Nicaragua. Variation in Blue serves as a sophisticated nod to Rubén Darío’s Azul…, grounding her work in the foundational tradition of Latin American Modernismo. Despite these high-literary roots, Najarro remains a vocal critic of academic “hermeneutics” and “exegesis.”

Najarro frames her rejection of academic jargon as a critique of Western epistemological gatekeeping. She argues that when the university cloaks truth in inaccessible language, it disenfranchises the very people who need that truth to survive societal injustice. Her “body-centered” poetry seeks to reclaim this knowledge, offering it as a “gift of truth” that explores the universal human desire for love and belonging.

These individual milestones—from the boarding houses of San Francisco to the halls of academia—culminate in the direct, poignant insights shared by Najarro during the interview.

The “Split Geography” of the Immigrant Heart Najarro identifies the internal fragmentation that occurs when a life is divided between Nicaragua and various American landscapes.

• Impact: This insight helps the reader understand that migration is an ongoing psychological process of reconciliation rather than a simple relocation, requiring the poet to map a new, unified identity from cultural fragments.

The Duality of Tradition (Rubén Darío and American Letters) By referencing Nathaniel Hawthorne and Rubén Darío’s Azul…, Najarro claims her place within two distinct literary lineages simultaneously.

• Impact: This reinforces the specialist view that Latinx literature is not a peripheral category but a central site where North American and Latin American traditions converge to enrich the national narrative.

The Rejection of Academic Gatekeeping as Social Justice Najarro critiques terms like “hermeneutics” not merely as a stylistic choice, but as a rejection of linguistic barriers that hide knowledge.

• Impact: This highlights the writer’s social responsibility to maintain accessibility, ensuring that transformative truths are available to the “common person” rather than being hoarded by the academic elite.

The Narrative of Matriarchal Autonomy The conversation centers on grandmothers and a mother who utilized boarding houses and cosmetology licenses to bypass patriarchal constraints in Nicaragua and the U.S.

• Impact: This shifts the focus toward the foundational role of women’s labor and agency, showcasing a legacy of Latinx resilience that is rooted in economic independence and the refusal to be defined by traditional social roles.

The Poem as a “Gift of Truth” Najarro views writing as an act of bravery—digging into personal “fissures” to extract a universal truth for the reader.

• Impact: This evaluates poetry as a tool for universal connection; by being radically personal and “body-centered,” the poet allows the reader to recognize their own human search for love within the specificities of the immigrant journey.

• “My mother did not have opportunities in Nicaragua… she wanted an independent life. She wanted to build her own life.” — Adela Najarro

• “At my identity I was always a poet.” — Adela Najarro

• “I didn’t want to be a performance poet… instead I wanted to focus on the page, on the poem on the page.” — Adela Najarro

• “The truth that the university system creates… is in a convoluted language that the very people who need the truth cannot understand.” — Adela Najarro

• “In a poem when you have to do that work to find your truth and then it becomes a gift that you give to the reader.” — Adela Najarro