Meet Huascar Medina

What's your Kansas story?

I am a transplant from Texas. I rode on a Greyhound bus for 20 hours from San Antonio, Texas, to Topeka, Kansas. My mother lived in Holton, KS. I went from a sleepless city to a quiet town. Topeka became the city I call home after 2003.  I’ve been in Kansas half my life. I may not have been born here, but I grew into my being in Kansas. To this day, I am asked where I am from. I tell them I am originally from Texas but I am a Kansan now. To some people it doesn’t make sense, but I believe it through and through. I am a special kind of Kansan. I am a Helianthus. I planted a seed here. My roots took hold here. I grew here. And I blossomed here. I am a Sunflower now and that’s a beautiful thing. 

Describe what you do now. What inspires you about what you do?

I am a poet. I advocate for poetry and poets. Poetry has shielded me in the harshest of times and freed me in the most limiting of situations. When I didn’t have the words to capture my sentiments, I found them in poems by other poets. Poems are a balm for the soul. I found healing through words. I am inspired by other poets. Hearing them share their truths openly and bravely is awe-inspiring. I think we all could use a little more awe in our daily lives and a bit of healing. This is why I advocate for poetry in our daily lives.  

What do you wish people understood about Kansas?

Kansas has an abundance of talent and skills. We are proud of being Kansans. Kansans work hard without the need for attention or validation. We put in the work that needs to be done because it has to be done. This at times has been viewed as self-effacing or meek. That is incorrect. We have integrity. The capacity to do what’s right when no one is watching. 

Lightning Round

Would you ever agree to be on a TV or radio game show? If so, which one and why?

I’d want to be on Jeopardy. It would be the most entertaining loss of my life. 

What is your favorite book and why? 

A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I read it every year from age 14 into my 20s. Gene taught me that we are forced to fight some wars far away from the battlefield whether we want to be soldiers or not. 

Name your top movie picks. 

• Meet Joe Black
• The Science of Sleep
• The Aviator
• Lars and the Real Girl
• The Squid and the Whale
• Fantastic Mr. Fox

About Huascar Medina

Huascar Medina was the 2019-2021 Poet Laureate of Kansas. He is a poet, writer, and performer. He currently works as a freelance copywriter and as the Literary Editor for seveneightfive magazine publishing stories that spotlight literary and artistic events in northeast Kansas. His poems can be found in his collection How to Hang the Moon published by Spartan Press and his book of poetry Un Mango Grows in Kansas. He is the winner of ARTSConnect’s 2018 Arty Award for Literary Art.