After an absence from writing of 40 plus years, Dougie Padilla returned to writing poetry when he moved his art studio to the Mississippi River valley and its natural beauty and winter isolation.
Then, in just 10 years he created and published 3 full length books of poetry, 4 chapbooks, and one art catalog. Additionally, over the last 3 years, he has done 30 plus poetry readings in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. 40 feet down centers around the natural world and Padilla’s coonhound, painting and the art world, sports, writing, love, climate change, the nastiness of contemporary politics, aging, and living a life centered on the spiritual. Dougie Padilla, 76, is a lifelong artist, poet, meditator, and arts/civil rights activist - in addition to being a carpenter/farmer/arts educator/sportswear designer, etc. In his long career, he co- founded the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, Art-A-Whirl (and NEMAA), and the Minnesota Men’s Conference (with Robert Bly). He has served on numerous non-profit boards including CreArte, Chicano Latino Art Center and Museum, the St. Anthony Main Neighborhood Organization, Mill City Food Co-op, and Franconia Sculpture Park. Since 2000 he has co-directed Grupo Soap del Corazón (with Xavier Tavera), anecdotally the longest running Latinx artists’ group in the USA.
What reviewers are saying about Dougie Padilla’s poetry:
New York University’s The Latinx Project, a national online center for Latinx culture and academics has recently honored Northfield, Minnesota, poet and artist Dougie Padilla's book, 40 feet down, in its annual “La Treintena” (“The Thirty”) list of the 30 best Latinx books of Poetry for 2025
https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/la-treintena-2025
On diggin’ on django: “What a pleasure to read your poems – they are just right. And that’s not easy” - Gary Snyder, Pulitzer Prize winning poet and author
On 40 feet down: “These poems are absolutely wonderful to read, ripping along suffused with well digested lit references and cany wisdom which NOBODY ever thought would be said of Dougie Padilla Bad Boy” – Jim Lenfestey, poet and author
On pepin diary: “Such a clear, direct, honest voice. Such an authentic sense of place – in time, land, life…Alive, welcoming and very welcome” – Mary Abbe, art journalist and reporter
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