It’s Complicated by Leonardo Flores

“It’s Complicated”

Artist Statement

“It’s Complicated” is inspired by a lifetime of considering and debating the issue of Puerto Rico’s status in relation to the United States and triggered by the recent Puerto Rico Status Act, which seeks “to resolve Puerto Rico’s political status” with a plebiscite that offers “eligible voters a choice of independence, sovereignty in free association with the United States, or statehood.”

This work centers the Puerto Rican community, with our varied provenance and opinions about each status option. As the work unfolds over time, readers should come to understand how complicated our relationship to the U.S. has become.

Bio

Professor Leonardo Flores is Chair of the English Department at Appalachian State University. He served as President of the Electronic Literature Organization from 2019 to 2022. He was the 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholar in Digital Culture at the University of Bergen in Norway and was a professor in the English Department at University of Puerto Rico: Mayagüez Campus from 1994 to 2019. His research areas are electronic literature, with a focus on digital poetry, and the history and strategic growth of the field. He’s known for I  E-Poetry, the Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 3, “Third Generation Electronic Literature” and the Antología Lit(e)Lat, Volume 1. For more information on his current work, visit leonardoflores.net.

This poem is part of The Los Angeles Review‘s electronic literature folio presented by Letras Latinas and The Poetry Foundation. Please read the introduction letter HERE for more information.

22 May 2023