Chart the First Path
The Body, Brain, and Books: Eleven Questions with Poet Laureate, Camille Hernandez
Welcome to another edition of The Body, Brain, & Books. If you enjoy reading these quick, insightful interviews brimming with wisdom and hope, please subscribe to Beyond!
Camille Hernandez is the third Poet Laureate for the City of Anaheim. Her writing explores devotion, dogma, tenderness, and the fluidity of intimacy in relationships between marginalized women. Her previous work has appeared in Health Promotion Practice, Louisville Review, and So to Speak. Her debut memoir, The Hero and the Whore, debuted as the #1 new release on Amazon’s Sociology of Abuse category. Camille has been named a semifinalist for TulipTree Publisher’s 2025 Wild Woman storytelling competition. Her upcoming chapbook Motherlands was a Finishing Line Press’ New Women Voices Chapbook finalist. You can preorder the book here. When she’s not writing, Camille enjoys collecting chunky jewelry and going camping with her family. She writes the Substack newsletter this.
What are you reading now?
I finished reading the anthology “Healing Justice Lineages,” edited by Cara Page and Erica Woodland. I’m starting the book Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship by Dana A. Williams. I’m also doing the Sealy Challenge. I just finished Blood Flex by Ajanae Dawkins and am reading through Good Dress by Brittany Rogers.
What are your most beloved books from your youth? Did you ever hide any from your parents?
When I was much younger, I enjoyed the Beatrix Potter books. When I was in middle grade, I would read the Babysitter’s Club series, Sweet Valley High series, and Daughters of the Moon series. By high school, my favorite novels were The Bluest Eye and The Handmaid’s Tale.
I didn’t feel compelled to hide books from my parents. They were proud of my obsessive reading habits. They didn’t question the content I was reading. I’m sure I could’ve smuggled smut into the house if I weren’t such a goody-goody at the time.
What’s your favorite book to reread? Any that helped you through a dark time?
Ohhh this is a dangerous question. I’m a lover girl. I love to reread books about love. I enjoy rereading books in my romance collection; indulging in well-known plotlines and character arcs is one of my preferred coping mechanisms. There are other books on love that I go back to time and time again: bell hook’s All About Love, Toni Morrison’s Sula, and an anthology entitled Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing.
My big sis, Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes (@DrChanequa on Substack) has a 40-day devotional called Sacred Self-Care filled with practical ways we can engage in self-care to remain sustained as we live under constant oppression. I re-read that book once a year. It’s like a tune-up.
What’s an article of clothing that makes you feel most like you?
My daster and my bonnet. They must be worn together for me to feel most like me.
A daster is a loose, comfortable, brightly colored dress Filipinas wear at home. I associate it with my mom and aunties. But now that I have kids, I find myself wearing them daily.
The second is a satin hair bonnet. It goes up the minute I get home from work. My kids know that when the bonnet is on, we ain’t leaving the house. A satin bonnet is a reminder that my hair is so precious and delicate that it must be wrapped in softness and satin. That messaging is countercultural to the way Black women’s hair gets villainized and belittled. My satin bonnet is a reminder that I don’t have to be hardened by the world. I can be beautiful, soft, tender.
As a civic poet, I participate in numerous public events. I wear a full face of makeup get dressed up for them. Being at home with a clean face while wearing my daster and bonnet is my ritual of gentleness.
What’s the best piece of wisdom you've encountered recently?
Our poems are smarter than us. Let them end the way they want to. Let yourself enjoy the journey of being its midwife.
Tell me about any special relationship you’ve had with an animal, domestic or wild?
We used to have a rescued shiba inu named Tahla. I thought she was the most wonderful dog in the world. She’d growl at tall white men with sunglasses, which felt like an act of solidarity. She was so stubborn. She had the mannerisms of a cat.
Tahla was with me when I gave birth to my daughter (I had a homebirth), and I remember her sitting on the floor next to my bed as I birthed the placenta. She’d lie next to our daughter’s crib to “guard her.” She’d press into my husband’s arm when he needed a little extra encouragement. She and I vibed well.
I loved Tahla so much. I had to give her another home because my husband and I felt “called” to serve as Christian missionaries. Those years we spent as Christian missionaries were difficult and traumatic years for us. What riles me up the most is that I gave up my dog for religious zeal. That was a terrible decision. If I’m ever again allowed to choose between dogma or dog, I will choose the latter.
What's one thing you are happy worked out differently than you expected?
Back in 2020ish, I expected myself to be fully immersed in the world of progressive Christian publishing. I dreamed of publishing multiple books in that industry. When I got my book deal for my debut book The Hero and the Whore, I felt like I made it into my dream career field. During the book writing process, I decided to add poetry into the book despite it not being in my proposal or contract. I didn’t know how my editors would react it – they had no clue I was adding it! Instead of stressing myself out by anticipating their response to my decision, I kept telling myself “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission.” I submitted the final manuscript to my editor without telling her about the addition. In the end, she was open to poetry but made it clear that their publishing company had no poetry editors. I was responsible for editing the poetry.
After the book release, I took a short break to re-center myself. It was during that time that I realized I no longer wanted to swim through the waters of Christian publishing. I decided to transition from progressive Christian writing to creative writing and fully immerse myself in poetry. I became Poet Laureate of Anaheim within a year. After I received this role, a member of the Anaheim Arts Council told me that my application was strong because I had a best-selling book that incorporated poetry with nonfiction. I’m delighted it worked out!
Singing in the shower or dancing in the kitchen? Or another favorite way your body expresses itself?
I prefer singing in the kitchen. Not just singing but sanging. I learned how to cook in four difficult culinary styles: my mom taught me how to make Filipino food, my grandmama and aunties taught me how to make Mississippi Delta soul food, my in-laws taught me how to make dishes specific to Jalisco, Mexico, and a former mentor taught me how to make different dishes from Southeast Asia. I cook a lot, and I sing while I cook. My body expresses herself through taste and sound.
What are your hopes for yourself?
My immediate hope is that my family and community remain safe and together amidst the constant ICE raids set on by the federal government. The federal government has become an office of domestic terrorism, especially out here in Southern California. We’re doing what we can to survive and redefine flourishing amidst the continuous intimidation and violence of ICE. As for my writing, I hope the words I publish will inspire people to dismantle institutional and interpersonal forms of violence.
Every so often, I think about how eternal life or immortal consciousness is a common characteristic of villains in TV and movies. (This is more ironic because I’m intimately acquainted with the Christian eschatology.) Sometimes these contemplations lead me to wonder if I’m the villain because I want my consciousness to remain alive in my writing (even after I die). I come from identities that were dehumanized, silenced, and nearly erased from the planet because of colonization. The work of writers with targeted identities is to reconnect to the wisdom that was hidden, lost, and disappeared by colonial violence. I hope to be a part of this lineage of writers and wisdom keepers.
What’s a kindness that changed your life?
A few years ago, my husband told me I was dreaming too small for my talent. I chose to believe him.
What’s a guiding force in your life?
Open trails lead to new possibilities. Chart the first path.
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“Our poems are smarter than us. Let them end the way they want to. Let yourself enjoy the journey of being its midwife.”!!! Yes, yes, YES!! And I would love to have a husband who says my dreams are too small and I should dream bigger!
Beautiful Q&A of a beautiful soul. So happy to get to know Camille. Love what her husband said to her. I will restack this. Having your partners suuport is such a gift; too many relationships go on without this - without love, respect, and encouragement. And not just singing, but sanging (love it - can picture this with Tahla wagging below). I looked up the meaning of Tahla: fruitful tree from heaven. Love these interviews so much. Thank you.