Language as Landscape
Carlos Reyes traces a journey shaped by language, landscape and a lifelong devotion to writing across continents and traditions.
Karen Checkoway
Carlos Reyes ’65 has spent decades taking poetry with him wherever he goes — from Arizona to Spain to the verdant pastures of Ireland. At age 90, Reyes has accomplished a lot: the author of over a dozen published volumes of poetry, a three-time finalist for the prestigious National Poetry Series, a poet-in-residence at Joshua Tree National Park, a frequent resident at the Fundación Valparaíso in Spain (which happens to be the only desert in Europe).
Reyes studied Spanish and Portuguese during his time at the University of Arizona, earning a master’s degree. It was here he began to properly explore the Romance languages — following what seemed to him a natural curiosity given Tucson’s proximity to Mexico and Hispanic culture. “My Cuban and Chilean professors were the ones to introduce me to Spanish-language poets such as José Martí and Pablo Neruda,” he says.
Not long after, Reyes got his first publication. “In my freshman year, the department chair helped me publish my ‘Apuntes para una biliografía de la litertura panameña/Notes for a Bibliography of Panamanian Literature.’”
A lot has changed in Tucson since Reyes was a student, but much of its artistic bones remain. The highlight of his student years, for example, was the Poetry Center (back when it was a cottage owned by Ruth Stephan on Speedway). “There, I met so many other writers and heard them read their work. That and the campus literary magazine at the time, Ananke. That also encouraged me in my own writing.”
Reyes continues to write daily. Just this year, he published “Into the Journey’s Eye, Selected Poems (2012-2024).” And there are no signs of him slowing any time soon — he has two more books already taking shape for 2026.