The Good Books, Andrés N. Ordorica: ‘I have held onto The Wind in the Willows since I was a child, it’s a magical reading experience’

Andrés N. Ordorica on love, poetry and how James Baldwin continues to inspire him. 

The first book I remember reading:

I don’t quite think it was the first book I read, but definitely one that has stayed with me from a young age: The Wind in the Willows. When I was quite young, my parents gifted me a beautifully illustrated version that I have held onto. It made for a magical reading experience.

A book I recommend to everyone:

Lately, it has been the gorgeous debut novel Some Strange Music Draws Me In by Griffin Hansbury. But my all-time favourite novel is The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. A poetry collection that deserves immense praise is England’s Green by Zaffar Kunial. Honestly, everyone should get up, march to their local library and read more poetry, especially Kunial’s!

The best book I have read in this year:

I was blown away by Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Poetic, political, expansive and deeply explorative of how grief can continue to haunt you years after losing a loved one.

The book I am most looking forward to:

Katie Goh’s debut memoir Foreign Fruit, and the forthcoming debut novels by two incredible poets, Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt, and Muckle Flugga by Michael Pedersen.

A book I didn’t finish:

I am only sharing because this author is hugely successful and my not finishing literally will have no bearing on her life, but I just could not get into Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. On paper, it should have been my cup of tea but after 100 pages we weren’t connecting. But to every friend who recommend it, thank you.

An author that has inspired me:

I am immensely inspired by the writing and activism of James Baldwin. He has been a torchlight for me this past year and a half watching grave horrors occur throughout the world, from war to climate destruction and corporate greed. How he held his politics and his writing in tandem has shaped my relationship to craft and activism. In terms of poetry, Edwin Morgan continues to influence and shape my work to great effect.

The book I am reading now:

At this very moment, I am halfway through Shon Faye’s Love in Exile. Erudite, generous, funny, and incredibly observed, how Faye writes about her relationship to love, sexuality and gender is a masterclass. I love to write about love, but reading about love through such a thoughtful non-fiction lens has been immensely revelatory. 

Andrés N. Ordorica is queer Latinx writer based in Edinburgh who creates characters who are from neither here nor there (ni de aquí, ni de allá). He is the author of the poetry collections, At Least This I Know and Holy Boys, and the novel, How We Named The Stars. Holy Boys (Polygon) is out now.

Read more of The Good Books here.

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