Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist chats with Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Alire Sáenz is a New York Times best-selling author known for his debut novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

His recent book, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, is the long-awaited sequel.

Pop Culturalist had the opportunity to speak with Benjamin Alire Sáenz about his books!

PC: Could you please introduce yourself and your book to our readers?
Benjamin: I suppose I should start with my name: Benjamin Alire Sáenz. I’m a gay Latino author who lives in El Paso, Texas, a border city that is across from Juárez, Mexico. I think a lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about the border and one is that the border is a war zone. That happens not to be true. El Paso is one of the safest cities in the United States. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I’m a poet, artist, and writer of children’s books and literary books for adults. But I’m probably best known for my novels for young adults.

PC: What is your writing process like for writing about Aristotle and Dante?
Benjamin: Well, usually, I get up early, write till one, then do some rewrites in the evening. But this book was very different. I was paralyzed by the critical success of Ari and Dante and I had never attempted to write a sequel. I couldn’t find my footing. It wasn’t the characters—the characters were easy for me to step back into. But once I started writing, it just didn’t feel right. I wandered around for about four years, and for some reason when the pandemic came around I just took off and I worked like a madman. I’d write until four in the morning then get a few hours’ sleep, then get back to it. Some nights I wouldn’t sleep at all. And then, exhausted from writing, I’d sleep all day. I was all out of sync with myself and my apartment was a disaster. I never knew what day it was—sometimes I didn’t even brush my teeth. And yet I was happy because I was writing—and I knew I had the novel. So much about my writing is instinct. And after thirty years of writing, I trust those instincts. And when I’m in the zone, nothing else exists except what I’m writing. Only a fictional world that’s coming out of my head is real. The real world disappears.  

PC: Which character was the easiest to write? Which one was the hardest and why?
Benjamin: The easiest character to write was Ari, who is telling the story. I felt I knew everything about him. I’m a lot like Ari—except Ari is more virtuous and braver than I ever was at his age. It’s funny, from the first sentence of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I knew and loved this character.

The hardest character to write was Ari’s dad. Because men like him are such a mystery to me. They love, but the way they love is often so subtle and private, and often the way they articulate their love is through a tone of voice or gesture. And when they finally speak, what they say means so much. They are deliberate and serious and they let very few people see their vulnerabilities.

They don’t really hide their emotions. They seem to be naturally careful and they seem like superior beings—but they’re actually shy and humble, and though they have strong opinions, they don’t believe what they think is all that important to anyone else. Me, I’m a talker and I love to joke around with people—and I’m an irrepressible smartass. And I tend to be spontaneous. Men like Ari’s father remain a mystery to me. Never rash, never careless. He is my exact opposite in the way he thinks and behaves in the world. Writing his character was a real challenge.

PC: What’s your best advice for authors on submission?
Benjamin: Don’t be in a hurry. I think I was thirty-seven years old when I published my first book—it was a book of poems. Become a writer. Try and perfect your craft as best you can. Never be afraid to be vulnerable. Turning yourself into a writer won’t work if you don’t have it in you. This is not something you can force your way into.

You have to ask yourself the question: Do I really have it in me to become a writer? You have to have a gift for it. How do you know you have a gift? It’s a question of knowing yourself. How well do you really know yourself? And it certainly doesn’t end there. You have to have discipline and desire—and you must have those two virtues in spades.

I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t have a plan B. And even though there were setbacks and many moments of doubt, I never let go of this dream I had. I didn’t know how to let it go. I wrote and wrote and didn’t stop writing and I never lost faith in myself. I’m so stubborn. And I always kept my eye on the writing. I learned to hear the music of the English language. I carried the sounds of words with me everywhere l went. And writing became an obsession. For me, writing is everything. Being a writer isn’t what you do—it’s who you are.

PC: What is one thing that you hope readers will take away from Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World?

Benjamin: That we all belong to each other. That we’re all connected. That life is a gift and even if we are a very small part of the universe, we still matter. There is no “I”. There is only a “we”. We exist only in relation to one another. I’d like my readers to take away the message that it is up to us to make the world a better place. We are citizens of the world and we need to take that citizenship seriously. And we have a responsibility to let people love whomever they love just as we must allow ourselves to be loved. We need to begin to understand that all the children of the world belong to us and we need to create an environment for them to thrive. Our only real wealth is in the people we love. Love is infinite. How many people can you love? As many as your heart can hold.  

PC: Do you have any upcoming projects that you can tease?
Benjamin: I’m working on a book of poems entitled In a Quieter Time That I Have Never Known. There is nothing that makes me feel so alive as when I’m working on a poem. Some people have told me that they very much admire my work as a poet. Others have told me that I’m a much better fiction writer than I am a poet. But my life as a writer is not dependent on what other people think. It’s not that I don’t care what other people think. I do. It’s just that what other people think has no bearing on how I live my life and what I should do with that life. The fact that poetry doesn’t have much of an audience isn’t all that important to me. I’m also an artist and I’m opening up a virtual art gallery at Benjaminsaenz.com, promoting progressive politics for a change. I suppose you could say that I’m always up to something. Well, you only get one life—so why not do what you love to do?  

PC: Who or what inspired you to write?
Benjamin: The world around me has always been my main inspiration—that and my Mexican American background. I have said this many times before, but I will say it again: I am proud to be the son of a people who helped make this country great, a people who have never been properly thanked for what they have given and what they continue to give. The great love and loyalty that Mexican Americans have for this country is a beautiful thing and that love remains true. I come from a people that does not have a sense of entitlement. I was born knowing that the world did not belong to me. And that humility has always inspired and continues to inspire me. My responsibility has always been to endeavor to love the world—and to love its inhabitants. That I often fail is not a good enough reason to stop trying. My writing is a large part of that endeavor.

Denise Levertov, the well-known and beloved poet who was my mentor, wrote a wonderful book of essays entitled The Poet in the World that reminded me of the poet’s commitment to remain engaged and in dialogue with the world that the poet was born into. In response to Wordsworth’s poem, “The World Is Too Much with Us,” she wrote “The World Is Not with Us Enough.” It’s a great privilege to be a writer. But with that privilege comes a responsibility—and a duty. I continue to be inspired by so many people who live their lives with courage and dignity despite the circumstances that surround them. I truly am the luckiest of men to have such a calling. The universe handed me a beautiful, if difficult, task.

To keep up with Benjamin, follow him on Instagram. Pick up your copy of Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World today.