Meet Camille

We had the good fortune of connecting with Camille and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Camille, what’s your definition for success?
Care is how I define success. Care is multifaceted: you can care about your community, engage in communities of care, extend care in relationships, be gracious enough to receive care, have self-care rituals, or uphold care-centered leadership. This means so much to me as a Black and Filipino woman who gets denied access to care regularly. Care communicates the ability to listen deeply, remain observant, and maintain dedication. That type of attention to detail translates into poetry writing.

Society has a bad habit of assuming success is a singular action. That’s not it for me. Any success I gained exists because I cared deeply, and people deeply cared for me. To be a poet is to tap into the interconnection of all things. We find these vivid threads of life and weave them together to recreate language and give life back to exploited people and populations. It’s disappointing and downright maddening to experience how language is a dehumanizing weapon against unprotected people. Poetry is the art of reclaiming language; self and society can’t be reclaimed without engaging in the artful practice of care.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
If language is the poet’s jungle, then dignity is my machete. With my writing notebook, I contemplate how language dictates cultural, social, economic, and political realities. Like my grandmother’s machete, my pen hacks away at withering flora, uncovering nutrient-rich life below rotted roots. My poetry and prose serve meals from those nutrients, proclaiming dignity through pairing vibrant textures, intricate patterns, sensory experiences, and the fluidity of intimacy.

I started writing poetry at seven years old but didn’t start my writing career as a poet. I wanted to be a minister! My first book THE HERO AND THE WHORE was a nonfiction book about Christian theology and sociologies of abuse. I decided to include poetry in my manuscript long after I signed the contract. I didn’t ask for permission because, in my mind, it’s better to shrug and say, “We’re sticking with it.” That’s how I published my first works of poetry: through a press that wasn’t expecting it and didn’t have a poetry editor. The biggest challenge in that process was accepting that this is who I am and this is how I want the world to know me. Not as a minister or sociologist but as a poet who questions everything to implant dignity into our core.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend and I were going to do it up in the city, I’d base our trip on our holy trinity: plants, books, and museums. Some places we’d go to are Latinx with Plants in Boyle Heights, Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, Sims Library of Poetry in Hyde Park, the California African American Museum, and an open mic night at Da Poetry Lounge. As a mom of three young kids (ages 3, 6, & 9), I’m not looking for fun and excitement. I need places to chill and connect. Bonus points if there’s delicious food.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First, I need to shout out to my family — my husband and three kids — who all believed that I could do this. I remember being pregnant with our third kid and crying on the birth ball because I was receiving poor treatment at the job I had at that time. My kids (who were 5 and 3) were hugging me, giving me tissues, and telling me they believed in me. My family will always remain to be my support system.

I also want to shout out to my folks in the group chats! You know who you are. Thank you for turning a text thread into a sacred space.

Finally, I want to thank the community-driven organizations making writing accessible and affordable to folks like me: Roots.Wounds.Words, The Watering Hole, and Hugo House. I’m a better writer because of the classes, retreats, and workshops you offer.

Website: https://www.camillehernandez.com

Instagram: writercamille

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/writercamille

Other: www.camillehernandez.substack.com