REPORT FROM SANTA FE IS MADE POSSIBLE, IN PART, BY GRANTS FROM THE NEW MEXICO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE, A BETTER NEW MEXICO THROUGH BETTER CITIES AND FROM >>LORENE: HELLO, I AM LORENE MILLS AND WELCOME TO REPORT FROM SANTA FE .

OUR GUEST TODAY IS BELOVED, ICONIC ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO AUTHOR, MARGARET RANDALL.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

>>MARGARET: THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME, LORENE.

>>LORENE: WELL, YOU RECENTLY RECEIVED THE CREATIVE BRAVO AWARD FROM THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE AND YOU HAVE GOTTEN SO MANY INTERNATIONAL AWARDS, BILINGUAL AWARDS, POETRY AWARDS EVERYWHERE.

BUT TO BE HONORED AND RECOGNIZED IN YOUR HOMETOWN IS SPECIAL, CONGRATULATIONS.

>>MARGARET: THANK YOU, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

I HAVE RECEIVED OTHER AWARDS BUT BEING HONORED IN ONE'S OWN TOWN IS ALWAYS WONDERFUL AND ALBUQUERQUE IS A CITY THAT REALLY SUPPORTS THE ARTS AND I WAS VERY HAPPY, ON THURSDAY NIGHT, TO BE ONE OF EIGHT PEOPLE HONORED WITH THIS AWARD THIS YEAR.

AND I WAS IN VERY GOOD COMPANY, THE OTHER AWARDEES WERE ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL TALENTED PEOPLE SO IT WAS QUITE A GALA.

>>LORENE: YES, YES.

OH, OTHER LOCAL AWARDS, YOU DID GET AN HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM UNM.

AND ONE OF THE ONES THAT I LOVE, YOU GOT THE POET OF TWO HEMISPHERE'S PRIZE.

SO WIKIPEDIA SAYS YOU ARE A WRITER, PHOTOGRAPHER, ACTIVIST, BUT ON YOUR BIOGRAPHY, THIS IS CALLED, I NEVER LEFT HOME, BUT YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF MUCH BETTER AS POET, FEMINIST AND REVOLUTIONARY AND IT IS QUITE A REMARKABLE LIFE.

I HAVE WANTED TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT IT FOR A VERY LONG TIME.

LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW MANY BOOKS YOU HAVE WRITTEN AND HOW HAVE YOU POSSIBLY BEEN ABLE TO WRITE SO MANY BOOKS.

>>MARGARET: WELL, IT IS NOT REALLY ABOUT QUANTITY, LORENE, IT'S HOPEFULLY ABOUT QUALITY.

I AM 85 AND SO I DO HAVE MORE THAN 200 PUBLISHED BOOKS, SOME OF THEM ARE BIGGER THAN OTHERS BUT, AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THAT THE NUMBER IS THAT IMPORTANT, IT IS REALLY WHAT YOU WRITE ABOUT, WHETHER ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN READING WHAT WE WRITE ABOUT, HOW WE CAN TRANSMIT WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US TO OUR READERSHIP.

AS YOU KNOW, THERE ARE GREAT WRITERS WHO HAVE ONLY PUBLISHED A SINGLE BOOK AND HAVE GONE DOWN IN HISTORY FOR DOING SO.

SO, AGAIN, I DON'T THINK IT'S REALLY ABOUT THE NUMBERS, BUT I AM HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PUBLISH AS MUCH AS I HAVE AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO MY PUBLISHER.

>>LORENE: WELL THEY DO A REALLY BEAUTIFUL JOB BY YOU.

NO, THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THESE ARE QUALITY BOTH IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL, PHYSICAL BOOK ITSELF, HOW BEAUTIFULLY THEY ARE DONE, BUT ALSO THE CONTENT IS EXTRAORDINARY.

AND YOU HAVE A RARE, RARE QUALITY OF BEING ABLE TO TAKE YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND YOUR ENVIRONMENT AND EXPANDING IT TO GIVE A REALLY INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE ON THE BIGGER PICTURE.

THAT'S A GIFT, IT IS WONDERFUL HOW YOU DO THAT.

>>MARGARET: THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT.

THAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME, AS A MATTER OF FACT WHEN I GOT READY TO PUBLISH MY MEMOIR WITH DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS, I DID NOT SUGGEST THE SUBTITLE, "POET, FEMINIST, REVOLUTIONARY," ALTHOUGH I ACCEPT THOSE THREE DEFINITIONS OF MYSELF.

I ACTUALLY WANTED THE SUBTITLE TO BE "A MEMOIR OF TIME AND PLACE," BECAUSE I HOPED THAT IT WOULD BE MORE THAN JUST ABOUT MYSELF BE ABOUT MY GENERATION, THE CONCERNS AND PASSIONS THAT I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SHARED BY MANY OTHER PEOPLE.

>>LORENE: THEY DID ADD THAT IN MUCH SMALLER PRINT.

>>MARGARET: THEY DID.

>>LORENE: SO AND IT IS A MEMOIR OF TIME AND PLACE AND PEOPLE, BEAUTIFULLY DONE.

A COUPLE OF YOUR RECENT BOOKS, THIS ONE I PARTICULARLY LOVE IT'S CALLED, MY LIFE IN 100 OBJECTS , AND ONE OF YOUR REVIEWERS CALLED IT LIKE A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES OF MEMORIES AND YOUR LIFE AND YOUR LOVE OF LIFE, YOUR INSATIABLE CURIOSITY.

IT IS JUST BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED AND BEAUTIFUL SHORT LITTLE PIECES.

I LIKE TO JUST KEEP IT AROUND, JUST OPEN IT AT RANDOM AS A LITTLE MEDITATION BUT BEAUTIFULLY DONE.

AND YOU HAVE A BOOK, ONE OF YOUR MORE RECENT BOOKS CALLED, STORMCLOUDS LIKE UNKEPT PROMISES, AND IN THIS MEGA DROUGHT THAT WE ARE IN, I NOW LOOK AT THE STORM CLOUDS THAT GO OVER AND DON'T GIVE US ANY RAIN, AS, "UNKEPT PROMISES."

IT IS A WONDERFUL POIGNANT IMAGE, THANK YOU.

AND OH, ONE OTHER THING ABOUT THAT BOOK, IT IS PAIRED WITH EXQUISITE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BY YOUR PARTNER, YOUR WIFE, BARBARA BYERS, AND THEY JUST RESONATE SO BEAUTIFULLY TOGETHER, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL BOOK.

WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE BOOK AND SINCE THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO UNDERSTAND POETRY AND THAT IS TO HEAR IT, IF YOU COULD READ, IF YOU COULD, JUST ONE SHORT POEM THAT I LOVE CALLED, "ABOUT THE LIGHT."

>>MARGARET: ABSOLUTELY, LORENE.

WELL FIRST, I WILL JUST SHOW YOU THE BOOK.

IT IS A LOVELY PRODUCTION BY CASA URRACA PRESS, A WONDERFUL INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER IN ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO.

AND AS YOU SAY, BARBARA, MY WIFE'S WONDERFUL BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS, THIS IS ONE, THERE ARE MANY THROUGHOUT THE BOOK, THERE IS ANOTHER.

AND I BEGAN TO READ YOU THE POEM THAT YOU INVITE ME TO READ, IT IS CALLED "ABOUT THE LIGHT."

IT IS THE POEM THAT OPENS THE BOOK.

"ABOUT THE LIGHT."

ITS ABOUT THE LIGHT SO YOU MUST SPEND SOME TIME IN SHADOW, EMERGE WITH YOUR EYES AND EVERY PORE, OPEN TO RECEIVE THE BRILLIANCE OF LANDSCAPE WITHOUT IT BLINDING YOU.

COLD LIKE HEAT WARMS OUR FINGERTIPS, IF ONLY BY CONTRAST, IN THOSE PLACES WHERE EMBODIMENT CANCELS THE ANSWER THAT DIDN'T COME THE WALL THAT SHOULD HAVE HAD A DOOR IN IT'S HISTORY OF STONE.

IF YOU EXPLAIN EVERYTHING IN RELATION TO EVERYTHING ELSE, YOU MISS WHAT DISAPPEARS BETWEEN BECOMING DUST, THEN RISING LIKE A PHOENIX IN YOUR HANDS.

WHAT TOUCHES YOU AND WHAT ESCAPES ON ULTRAVIOLET BEAMS OR CARESSES YOUR BROW WITH GENTLE MUSIC AND COOL HANDS IS ONLY ON LOAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.

AFTER THAT, IT'S NO LONGER YOUR PROBLEM TO SOLVE, FROM FIRST GULP OF AIR TO LAST VOICE HEARD.

ALL THAT BUSYNESS THAT KEEPS US FROM THE WORK THAT MATTERS."

>>LORENE: AH, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU I ALWAYS LOVE A CRITIC OF POETRY THAT SAID, "A POET SHOULD NOT MEAN BUT BE," AND THAT IS JUST IN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL, RARIFIED WORLD, THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT WITH US.

>>MARGARET: YOU ARE WELCOME.

>>LORENE: YOU CAME TO NEW MEXICO AT AGE 10 AND NEW MEXICO IS REALLY, WELL JUST VERY SUPPORTIVE, YOU LOVE NEW MEXICO.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT NEW MEXICO AND THEN I WANT US TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER PLACES THAT YOU LIVED AND WHAT YOU LEARNED WHILE YOU WERE THERE.

>>MARGARET: WELL, I GREW UP HERE IN NEW MEXICO.

I WAS BORN IN NEW YORK CITY, MY PARENTS TOOK MY BROTHER AND SISTER AND ME WEST IN 1947, I WAS JUST TEN YEARS OLD, LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PLACE TO LIVE.

THEY ACTUALLY LOVED SANTA FE, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THEY WERE ENCHANTED BY THE CITY, BUT I GUESS MY FATHER FELT THAT HE HAD A BETTER CHANCE OF GETTING WORK IN ALBUQUERQUE, WHICH WAS A LARGER CITY AND WE MOVED TO ALBUQUERQUE IN THAT YEAR.

SO, I GREW UP HERE UNTIL I WAS ABOUT 18 AT WHICH POINT, I WENT BACK TO NEW YORK FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND THEN TO LATIN AMERICA WHERE I LIVED AS YOU NOTED FOR ALMOST A QUARTER OF A CENTURY.

BUT NEW MEXICO IS MY HOME, IT IS MY HOME PLACE, THE LAND ESPECIALLY.

THE LANDSCAPE IS VERY CENTRAL TO MY WORK, AS A MATTER OF FACT, MY WIFE AND I JUST CAME BACK LAST WEEK FROM A ROAD TRIP, A WEEK LONG ROAD TRIP ON THE COLORADO PLATEAU, WHICH IS KIND OF AN EXTENSION OF THIS WONDERFUL NEW MEXICO LAND UP INTO ARIZONA TO UTAH.

AND SOMETHING THAT YOU MENTIONED AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE INTERVIEW CAUGHT MY ATTENTION BECAUSE, OF COURSE, ON THIS TRIP WE REVELED IN THE LANDSCAPE, BUT WE ALSO FELT UNBEARABLY SADDENED BY THE LACK OF WATER, THE DROUGHT, THAT IS EVIDENT EVERY PLACE.

I REMEMBER WE STOOD ON THE BRIDGE OVER LAKE POWELL, THE DAM, AND YOU KNOW THE WATER LEVEL IS JUST, I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT SO LOW.

SO THAT RAISES QUESTIONS FOR US ABOUT THE FUTURE OF PHOENIX, OF LAS VEGAS, AND YOU KNOW, WILL THESE CITIES HAVE WATER IN ANOTHER DECADE.

AND YET PEOPLE SEEM TO KEEP USING WATER, KEEP USING RESOURCES WITHOUT ANY THOUGHT TO WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE EARTH.

SO THAT WAS CONCERNING BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE LANDSCAPE WAS RENEWING AND WONDERFUL AND YOU KNOW FILLED ME WITH NEW THINGS TO WRITE.

>>LORENE: SO LET'S LOOK AT SOME OF YOUR OTHER LANDSCAPES.

IN THE 60S, YOU MARRIED A MEXICAN POET AND MOVED TO MEXICO.

DID THAT MEAN YOU HAD TO GIVE UP YOUR US CITIZENSHIP BECAUSE THAT CAME TO CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR YOU WHEN YOU WERE MOVING BACK, RIGHT?

>>MARGARET: WELL, IT IS ACTUALLY NOT QUITE THE WAY YOU DESCRIBE IT, I DIDN'T MARRY HIM AND MOVE TO MEXICO.

I MOVED TO MEXICO AND THEN LATER MET HIM AND MARRIED HIM.

I MOVED TO MEXICO WITH MY 10-MONTH-OLD SON, MY OLDEST OF FOUR CHILDREN, WHO WAS BORN IN NEW YORK CITY.

WE MOVED TO MEXICO CITY AT THE END OF 1961 AND SHORTLY, THEREAFTER, I MET AND MARRIED SERGIO MONDRAGON, A MEXICAN POET AND WE LAUNCHED TOGETHER A VERY IMPORTANT MAGAZINE, LITERARY MAGAZINE, A LITERARY QUARTERLY, THAT RAN FOR EIGHT YEARS OUT OF MEXICO CITY AND PUBLISHED SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING WORK OF THAT ERA.

DURING THAT TIME, I WAS ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, WE HAD TWO MORE CHILDREN AND AT ONE POINT IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR MY HUSBAND TO FIND WORK, SO I WAS WORKING, AND IT WAS EASY TO BECOME A MEXICAN CITIZEN, NOBODY FORCED ME TO DO THAT.

BUT BE MARRIED TO A MEXICAN CITIZEN IT WAS EASY FOR ME TO GET CITIZENSHIP IN THAT COUNTRY AND I DID THAT IN AN ATTEMPT REALLY FOR ECONOMIC REASONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET A BETTER JOB.

IN THAT PROCESS, I SHOULD NOT HAVE LOST MY US CITIZENSHIP, BUT I DID BECAUSE THE EMBASSY IN MEXICO CITY, THE US EMBASSY, WAS NOT AWARE OF THE FACT THAT THE LAW HAD CHANGED, IT HAD NOT QUITE CAUGHT UP WITH THE EMBASSY AT THAT POINT.

AND SO WHEN I CAME BACK TO THE UNITED STATES AFTER ALMOST A QUARTER CENTURY IN LATIN AMERICA, WHEN I CAME BACK IN 1984 AS A MEXICAN CITIZEN, I THEN HAD TO REAPPLY FOR US CITIZENSHIP AND WAS ORDERED DEPORTED BECAUSE OF THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN SOME OF MY BOOKS.

I HAD TO WAGE A FIVE-YEAR BATTLE, WHICH I EVENTUALLY WON AND WON MY CITIZENSHIP BACK.

>>LORENE: WE ARE SPEAKING TODAY WITH MARGARET RANDALL ABOUT HER LIFE AND TIMES AND HER BOOKS, BUT IT WAS QUITE A BATTLE.

YOU HAD MANY INFLUENTIAL WRITERS AND THINKERS ALL COMING TO YOUR AID AND ULTIMATELY YOU WERE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO YOUR HOME.

IN THAT QUARTER CENTURY IN LATIN AMERICA, YOU LIVED IN CUBA FOR SOME TIME AND YOU HAVE BEEN WRITING FOR A LONG TIME ABOUT WOMEN'S ISSUES.

YOU HAVE MENTIONED THAT YOU WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT A SOCIALIST WORLD, A SOCIALIST REVOLUTION, MEANT FOR WOMEN'S ISSUES, WHAT WORKED AND WHAT DIDN'T.

SO, HOW AS YOU LIVED THERE AND RAISED YOUR CHILDREN THERE, HOW DID THAT SOCIALIST REVOLUTION AFFECT WOMEN?

>>MARGARET: WELL, IT AFFECTED WOMEN VERY POSITIVELY AS WELL AS THEIR CHILDREN.

I FIRST BECAME CONSCIOUS OF WANTING TO UNDERSTAND, OF THINKING ABOUT WOMEN'S ISSUES THE LAST YEAR THAT I LIVED IN MEXICO.

THIS WAS 1968, 69, INFORMATION FROM THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES WAS TRICKLING DOWN TO MEXICO.

I BEGAN TO READ THOSE DOCUMENTS AND I WAS VERY STRUCK BY FEMINISM, IT BECAME A BIG PART OF MY LIFE, AN IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE.

SO THAT WHEN I MOVED TO CUBA AT THE END OF 1969, AS YOU SAY I WAS VERY CURIOUS, I HAD NEVER LIVED IN A SOCIALIST COUNTRY.

I HAD VISITED CUBA BY THEN TWICE FOR SHORT TRIPS, BUT I HAD NEVER LIVED IN A SOCIALIST COUNTRY.

AND SO I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT YOU KNOW WHAT SOCIALISM MEANT FOR WOMEN AND SO I EMBARKED ON A TWO YEAR PROJECT SUPPORTED BY THE CUBANS TO JUST INTERVIEW WOMEN AND LISTEN TO THEIR ACCOUNTS OF WHAT SOCIALISM MEANT TO THEIR LIVES, THE WAYS IN WHICH IT HELPED, THE WAYS IN WHICH IT MIGHT NOT HAVE HELPED.

AND WHAT I FOUND WAS THAT IT DID HELP A GREAT DEAL, WOMEN WERE BEING EDUCATED THE SAME AS MEN FOR THE FIRST TIME.

WOMEN WERE ENTERING THE LABOR FORCE IN AREAS WHERE MEN HAD PREVIOUSLY PREDOMINATED, WOMEN HAD NOT BEEN WELCOME.

SO THOSE WERE GREAT ADVANCES.

HEALTHCARE WAS FREE AND AVAILABLE TO ALL CUBANS AND SO THAT WAS A BIG HELP TO A MOTHER OF BY THAT TIME FOUR.

I HAD A FAMILY OF SIX AND, YOU KNOW, HAVING FREE AND UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE WAS EXTRAORDINARY.

FREE EDUCATION AS WELL FOR MY CHILDREN, TWO OF MY CHILDREN WENT TO THEIR UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES AT THE UNIVERSITY IN HAVANA AND MY OTHER CHILDREN LEFT THE COUNTRY BEFORE THEY WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY BUT ALSO RECEIVED GOOD PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATIONS.

SO THERE WERE MANY WAYS IN WHICH SOCIALISM DOES ADDRESS WOMEN'S ISSUES.

THERE ARE ALSO WAYS IN WHICH IT DOESN'T.

IN CUBA, I THINK AFTER MORE THAN 60 YEARS OF REVOLUTION THERE IS STILL GENDER INEQUALITY.

I THINK IT TAKES PERHAPS GENERATIONS FOR THAT TO BE ERASED IN PEOPLE'S MINDS BECAUSE IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECT, IT IS NOT ABOUT THE LAWS.

CUBA HAS VERY GOOD LAWS FOR GENDER EQUALITY, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE MISCONCEPTIONS, THE PREJUDICES CONTINUED TO EXIST IN PEOPLE'S MINDS.

SO IT IS A STRUGGLE, BUT I THINK THAT THEY ARE GETTING THERE.

>>LORENE: AND AFTER THAT YOU SPENT FOUR YEARS IN NICARAGUA AT A VERY TURBULENT POLITICAL TIME ALSO.

>>MARGARET: A VERY EXCITING POLITICAL TIME.

YES, I HAD DONE A NUMBER OF BOOKS BY THAT TIME OF ORAL HISTORY WITH WOMEN, CUBAN WOMEN, NICARAGUAN WOMEN, VIETNAMESE WOMEN.

SO I HAD SOMETHING OF A REPUTATION FOR BEING INTERESTED IN WOMEN'S ISSUES AND WRITING ABOUT THEM AND LISTENING TO WOMEN'S STORIES.

AND SO MY OLD FRIEND, ERNESTO CARDENAL, THE GREAT POET WHO DIED TWO YEARS AGO.

WE HAD BEEN FRIENDS SINCE THE 60S IN MEXICO.

HE WAS THEN NAMED NICARAGUA'S FIRST MINISTER OF CULTURE AND INVITED ME TO NICARAGUA IN THE FALL OF 1979 JUST AFTER THE SANDINISTA VICTORY TO INTERVIEW NICARAGUAN WOMEN AND DO A BOOK ABOUT THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR, IN THE RECENT WAR.

I DID THAT AND I WAS SO STRUCK BY THE POSSIBILITIES IN NICARAGUA AND ALSO BY JUST GETTING IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF A REVOLUTION AND I WENT TO CUBA, THE REVOLUTION WAS 10 YEARS OLD, SO I WASN'T REALLY IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR THERE, BUT IN NICARAGUA I WAS AND SO I MOVED TO NICARAGUA AT THE END OF 1980 AND LIVED THERE FOR FOUR YEARS DURING REALLY QUITE EXTRAORDINARY YEARS IN TERMS OF REMAKING SOCIETY.

THE SANDINISTAS WERE FILLED WITH WONDERFUL IDEAS, CREATIVE IDEAS, GREAT LAWS WERE BEING ENACTED, GREAT CHANGES WERE HAPPENING, AND SADLY, YOU KNOW, TODAY, NICARAGUA IS NOT, IT CALLS ITSELF SANDINISTA, BUT IT IS BEING RUN BY A DUO OF AUTOCRATS, A MARRIED COUPLE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE REVOLUTION AND QUITE LITERALLY DESTROYED IT.

SO IT IS VERY SAD FOR THOSE OF US WHO LIVED THERE AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS SO EXUBERANT AND, OF COURSE, IT'S SADDER STILL FOR THE NICARAGUAN PEOPLE MANY OF WHOM HAVE BEEN EXILED, IMPRISONED, TORTURED, SO IT IS A COMPLICATED AND TRAGIC SITUATION AT THE MOMENT IN NICARAGUA.

>>LORENE: SO IN THE TIME WE HAVE LEFT, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO TALK ABOUT YOUR MANY, MANY NEW BOOKS.

YOU WROTE A LOT AS AN ACT OF CREATIVE RESISTANCE AND SOME OF YOUR BOOKS OF ESSAYS, LIKE THINKING ABOUT THINKING, YOU WRITE THESE WONDERFUL PIECES ABOUT AGING AND ABOUT EVERYDAY LIFE.

AND THE PANDEMIC, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC.

YOU DID A BOOK OF POEMS, PANDEMIC POEMS, STARFISH ON THE BEACH , AND EVEN YOU DID YOUR FIRST BOOK IN SHORT STORIES, LUPE'S DREAM AND ANOTHER ONE I WANT YOU TO TALK ABOUT A BOOK CALLED, OUT OF VIOLENCE INTO POETRY .

SO WOULD YOU SHOW US WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING ON AND WHAT WE SHOULD LOOK FOR?

>>MARGARET: I WOULD BE GLAD TO.

WELL, YOU HAVE SEEN STORM CLOUDS AND I SHOULD MENTION FOR YOUR LISTENERS OR VIEWERS IN SANTA FE THAT ON THE 11TH, THIS COMING SATURDAY, AT PHOTO-EYE, AT THREE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON, WE WILL BE DOING A PRESENTATION OF THIS BOOK AND OF ANOTHER BOOK PUBLISHED BY CASA URRACA PRESS, SO THAT IS THAT ONE.

YOU MENTIONED M Y LIFE IN 100 OBJECTS , WHICH IN AND OF ITSELF IS A BEAUTIFUL OBJECT THAT BOOK, PUBLISHED BY NEW VILLAGE PRESS IN NEW YORK.

THEY HAVE JUST BROUGHT OUT THIS BOOK, WHICH IS CALLED ARTISTS IN MY LIFE , AND IT IS A COLLECTION, A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION WITH 70 FULL COLORED REPRODUCTIONS ABOUT THE VISUAL ARTISTS WHO HAVE INFLUENCED MY OWN WORK.

AND THEN NEW VILLAGE PRESS HAS ALSO JUST ISSUED OR REISSUED THIS BOOK, THIS IS A BOOK THAT I HOPE WILL BE INTERESTING TO THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN NICARAGUA.

THIS BOOK, RISKING A SOMERSAULT IN THE AIR, CONVERSATIONS WITH NICARAGUAN WRITERS , IS A BOOK THAT I DID IN 1984, BUT IT HAS BEEN OUT OF PRINT FOR MANY YEARS AND THIS IS AN UPDATED, EXPANDED VERSION OF THAT BOOK.

AND THEN YOU MENTIONED THE SHORT STORIES, THIS BOOK IS COMING OUT IN SEPTEMBER, LUPE'S DREAM AND OTHER STORIES , IT IS PUBLISHED BY WINGS PRESS IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

AND THIS IS MY ONE AND ONLY COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES, IT'S ODD I THINK THAT DURING THE PANDEMIC AT ONE POINT I JUST SUDDENLY FOUND MYSELF WRITING SHORT STORIES, WROTE MORE THAN TWO DOZEN OF THEM AND THEN AS QUICKLY AS I HAD STARTED OR AS SUDDENLY AS I HAD STARTED, I JUST STOPPED SO THAT IS A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES THAT REALLY DEALS WITH TIME, SPENDING TIME IN PLACE IN WHAT I HOPE ARE INTERESTING WAYS.

>>LORENE: AT ONE OF YOUR READINGS, A MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE ASKED YOU, DID THE PANDEMIC INSPIRE YOU AND YOUR RESPONSE WAS NO.

YOU WERE MORE INSPIRED BY GROWING OLD, SO YOUR PIECES ABOUT AGING ARE SO DEAR AND RESONATE WITH ME AND MAKE ME LAUGH AT THE AGING PROCESS AND EMBRACE IT.

CAN YOU TALK TO ME A LITTLE ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT AGING?

>>MARGARET: AS A VERY GOOD FRIEND, LORENE, A DEAR FRIEND AND POET HERE IN ALBUQUERQUE, VD PRICE, WHO REMARKED THE OTHER DAY THAT GROWING OLD IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE LEARN HOW TO DO, IT JUST DOESN'T COME NATURALLY.

AND IT'S A STEEP LEARNING CURVE I MUST ADMIT WE LOSE SO MANY ABILITIES, SO MUCH AGILITY AND SO FORTH.

BUT FOR ME, AGE AT LEAST TO THIS POINT HAS ALSO BEEN QUITE MARVELOUS.

IT HAS GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SIT WITH MYSELF, TO THINK, TO PUT, TO MAKE CONNECTIONS, TO THINK ABOUT MY LIFE, AND THE LIFE OF PEOPLE I LOVE, THE LIVES OF PEOPLE I LOVE.

SO I APPROACH AGING IN A COMPLEX WAY, I TRY TO WRITE ABOUT IT HONESTLY WITH ITS UPS AND DOWNS, BUT I ALSO WRITE ABOUT IT ADMIRINGLY.

I THINK THAT TOO MUCH EMPHASIS PERHAPS HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF AGING.

OF COURSE, THOSE ARE VERY REAL AND WE HAVE TO RESPECT THEM, BUT THERE ARE ALSO SOME WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT AGING.

YOU HAVE MORE TIME TO DO WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, YOU NO LONGER HAVE CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS THAT YOU HAD IN YOUR YOUNGER YEARS.

FOR ME, OLD AGE HAS BEEN AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE.

>>LORENE: WELL, THANK YOU FOR OPENING THAT DOOR IN SUCH A WELCOMING AND INVITING WAY BECAUSE WE DO NEED TO CHANGE HOW WE THINK ABOUT AGING AND I RECOMMEND PEOPLE READ WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY AND I WILL HAVE YOU BACK ON TO TALK ABOUT IT MORE.

I WANT TO THANK YOU, OUR GUEST TODAY IS MARGARET RANDALL, AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE.

YOUR BEAUTIFUL BIOGRAPHY, I NEVER LEFT HOME, AUTOBIOGRAPHY MEMOIR THAT IS WHAT IT IS.

I LOVED READING IT AND I ALSO WANT TO RECOMMEND, MY LIFE IN 100 OBJECTS , A VISUAL, IT'S JUST DELIGHTFUL TO SWITCH FROM THE WRITTEN WORD, LONG FORM TO THIS DELIGHTFUL POIGNANT NUGGET.

SO, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR JOINING US, I HOPE YOU WILL COME BACK SOON.

>>MARGARET: I HOPE I DO, TOO.

THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME, LORENE, THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS SHOW, WHICH IS QUITE WONDERFUL AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO COME BACK WHENEVER IT IS POSSIBLE.

>>LORENE: GREAT, WE WILL DO THAT.

AND I AM LORENE MILLS, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU OUR AUDIENCE FOR BEING WITH US TODAY ON REPORT FROM SANTA FE .

REPORT FROM SANTA FE IS MADE POSSIBLE, IN PART, BY GRANTS FROM THE NEW MEXICO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE, A BETTER NEW MEXICO THROUGH BETTER CITIES AND FROM