Coming Events

With the reading event for his poetry collection, Touch the Earth, coming up on October 16 from 4-8pm, Aswin Aguinaga came into Soldato Books & Records to discuss self-publishing for the first time, the importance of community, and addresses one of the greatest philosophical questions of our time-- what does it mean to be an awesome person?

Mia Guzzo: Could you please introduce yourself and share some of your creative background?

Aswin Aguinaga: Sure, my name is Aswin Aguinaga. I’m from Union City, New Jersey and currently living in Carlstadt. I’ve been writing since 2019 and this book is like the culmination of those early writings. I went to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, and then I went to Steven’s Institute of Technology [where] I graduated with a philosophy degree, but throughout my undergraduate education, I did a bunch of interdisciplinary courses, like ballet, guitar lessons… I’ve always liked exploring different creative outlets. 

MG: Before we get into the book more, I want to talk to you a little bit about the process of publishing. Since Touch the Earth is a self published poetry collection, could you tell me more about what that self publishing experience was like?

AA: I went the independent route because I wanted full creative control of the process. It's also easier to just get something out there in the world as opposed to going the traditional route where you're sending out manuscripts, maybe you're working with literary agents, and it's, from what I read, a long process, and I'm just quick. And, you know, I hired an editor [Angela Yuriko Smith], I hired a graphic designer [Sebastian Cudicio]  to design the cover-- it's been really fulfilling. I gave Cudicio my vision for it, and then he executed it fantastically. I'm very happy with it, like it was, it's better than my wildest imaginations, like it really came out amazing. 

I've reached out to friends, family members, and everyone's been so supportive and I think that's given me just, just more motivation to keep writing and keep producing more work, whether it's writing or anything else.

MG: Was Touch the Earth a project you had in mind when you started writing in 2019 or did everything eventually start coming together?

AA: I started writing in Vassar. It started just as journaling, and then that journaling kind of evolved into more like poetry, and so that was how I got into poetry. I just felt that it allowed me to express myself and in very unique, abstract ways, right? But then it eventually evolved into, “Oh, this is something maybe I would want to publish and just share.”

MG: Was there a specific time period or year that you started thinking, “I think this is something I want to put all together and end up sharing?”

AA: Yeah, it'd probably be 2022, 2023. I thought I needed to have this crazy manuscript, but when I looked over all of my writings since 2019, I was like, “I have something here, let me just string it together.” And then that's where I had to read all of these poems, and then try to create a sort of narrative that just captures these last few years. 

MG: How would you yourself describe this collection?

AA: It's a Metamodern exploration into the human condition. It's experimental. It's a blend of different ideas and philosophies that I've liked and problems that I've thought about that I think are worth ruminating on-- they're worth going over and challenging and exploring. 

MG: Who were some poets or philosophers that inspired you while writing this collection?

AA: That's a great question. One that comes to mind is Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher of language, who thought that the limits of our language are the limits of our world. And that idea, I found so fascinating because then we need to explore our language. I think poetry is a way to kind of challenge our set of beliefs. And Carl Jung. He was a psychoanalyst from like the 20th century [who had] major ideas about the shadow and the Anima. 

I think there's elements of that, even in this book where there's different personalities, characters,  and different voices, but really it's all one individuating self trying to grapple with these larger questions.

MG: Could you explain more of the idea about the Self that kept coming up throughout this collection?

AA: Obviously [Touch the Earth] is personal, but I want a sort of objectivity, because we are so entrenched in our day to day lives and our personal experiences. You know, sometimes we have to kind of get out of that and then see ourselves, the self, and how we interact with others and even ourselves.

That's kind of the whole point, I think, what is your relationship to yourself, and then ultimately, to the world-- hence Touch the Earth. There's a sort of spiritual aspect to the Self that I've always found really, really interesting. How we interact with it is sometimes interacting with just this other phenomenal world and, and we don't even realize it.

MG: So despite these poems being specific and varied, there are definitely universal elements all throughout. What are some of the universal themes you want readers to reflect on from this collection?

AA: That's a great question. The first theme that came to mind is compassion. It's not as explicit, but throughout the poems, there is a sense of compassion, understanding. Spiritedness. 

MG: I like spiritedness. Could you go into that one a little bit more?

AA: I think it's about challenging, experimenting, reflecting. It's about vigor, doing things with audacity. Intensity. I've personally never been someone to just kind of dip my toes into things, maybe a flaw of mine, but I like to do things earnestly, genuinely. So Touch the Earth tries to encapsulate these ideas of just being a very good, grounded, awesome person.

MG: I love that description, just being very passionate about the things around you and that are happening. That reminds me of one of my favorite pieces in this collection; in “The History of Philosophers” where, and I am paraphrasing a bit, you state how “We are a loveless bunch… yet you grab me and remind me that above it all is Love.” How does love coexist with these themes throughout this collection and why was that important to express? I feel like in philosophy, [compassion and love] are not always focused on.

AA: Yes, absolutely right. As I'm trained philosophically… I was just frustrated with how analytical and deconstructive philosophy and, in general, the sciences are. I was frustrated with that, so I want to redeem philosophy [and] bring back some sort of humanity because that's how I understand it. It's more so like the pursuit of wisdom. it's not, it's not about asking these super deep questions: like what is the meaning of life and is there anything after death? I think there's still a humanity to philosophy. 

I wanted this poetry book to sort of be my first philosophical treatise, but it is not a research paper and not a long book about the human condition. I wanted to do it my way.

MG: That idea really stuck out with me because I think with all of these disciplines, there's this sort of apathy that comes up when you're talking about humans and the things that make us human. Is that sort of what draws you to poetry as an art form-- that it allows you to blend these philosophical ideas with that humanity-oriented feel?

AA: Yes, 100%. I was like you [and] noticed a sort of trend in the way we approach philosophy and it's also not new. There's also been like other philosophers, like Albert Camus, who explored philosophy, but through literature. …I think you can very much learn about the world and yourself through literature. And, I guess, I was subconsciously exploring how poetry [and] writing my own literature effectively helped me understand and process the world and ask these larger questions. 

MG: How has writing Touch the Earth changed how you view the idea of the Self or even yourself?

AA: That's a great question, too. I think it's helped me settle into a more defined version of myself. But even that is gonna change in the future. I hope to travel more, maybe start a family. And so I know I'll look back and see [how] this was a totally different version of myself, but I needed to give it life. Most people don't even ever give themselves life, they're just kind of conditioned. They're run by these automatic voices, whether it's ideas their mom told them or whether it's ideas the school told them. It's very hard to find individuals who are themselves– like authentically themselves. 

MG: As you were saying that, I was thinking a lot about social media, as well. Touch the Earth is an investigation of the digitized world and you also mentioned some institutions, like school, that change how people think. Why was that also important for you to touch on, a meta modern world and digitized spaces?

AA: Because we can't explore the human condition. Personally, I'm interested in the human condition as it is, as I understand it now, and that's been through this digital world. And that's unique to my time. Other philosophers didn't have that, so maybe that's why they were approaching these questions more through a very rigorous, structured way, but now we have computers that automate our lives. I wanted to reclaim the world in a way and remove it from all these technological apparatuses, because at the end of the day, we're still human, and let’s not forget that.

MG: I think it was a great way to sort of talk about this digital, apathetic, sort of age that we're in, and not remembering that humanity. This is my last big philosophical question because I've been throwing a lot at you, but let's throw one more. You mentioned the human condition. What is that to you? What are you trying to convey that as being with Touch the Earth?

AA: Great question. I want to go back to that word, spiritedness. It's phenomenal. I don't think it's physical. …it's kind of oxymoronic, maybe, like the title Touch the Earth. I would love for people to be more embodied, to not be so mental. Because, funny enough, that's an issue, too. Like, I think, all this technology has made us so so mental-- we just take everything and keep it in our minds. Sometimes what we need to do is just kind of go back and go back to our bodies, go back to our relationships, and just just live. Live a very present and authentic life. 

MG: Yeah, I completely agree. That was a hard question. 

AA: I loved it, it made me [how] that's what's cool about the human condition. It's an idea that can hold a lot of other ideas. There's so many different aspects of being, to be a human.

MG: You're going to be having a reading of Touch the Earth in the Williams Center on October 16, from 4-8pm. As you're from Bergen County, why is it important for you to connect with these local venues and be a part of this artistic community?

AA: I love interacting with locals. I want to just share it with my friends, my neighbors, and start right here in my home, because that's ultimately the whole point of the book. If there's one thing you get away from it, “all right, let me live more authentically and just just reach out to people and have fun.” After all that abstractness, yeah. Just have fun. Just have fun, it's easy.

MG: Why should people read Touch the Earth?

AA: It is so different from whatever you're going to read. It's very unique and will help you reflect on your own world: like what do you want to do? I think that's also maybe like another theme throughout the book, agency, choice, willpower, action. 

Freedom to choose, choose how you want to live. Choose your life, I hope that it's one that's rooted in reality, helping others, and being an awesome person.

On October 19th 5-8pm join us for 75 Years of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts Listening Party celebrating the Music of Vince Guaraldi! We will lots of vinyl, CDs, and books! And if that wasn't enough, we talked to Charlie Brown, and he's going to let Snoopy come to the party! Bring your camera! See you on the 19th!

RSVP for the You Again event. https://partiful.com/e/oXruypNFopvPVgqmzvfs