The University of Arizona Press
March 26, 2026
The University of Arizona podcast features an interview with Manuel Iris, author of The Whole Earth Is a Garden of Monsters / Toda la Tierra Es Un Jardín de Monstruos. This book is Winner of the 2025 Ambroggio Prize of the Academy of American Poets. Manuel Iris is is a Mexican-born American poet who has served as poet laureate of Cincinnati, Ohio, writer-in-residence at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and writer-in-residence at Thomas More University. Iris is the author of five poetry collections, published in several countries.
When asked about how he decided to pair one Renaissance character with a contemporary Mexican character, Iris replied, “I have always been intrigued by Bosch’s paintings, especially The Garden of Earthly Delights. This painting was a contemporary of The Mona Lisa, but Bosch’s painting seems to be centuries ahead, in the future, like a contemporary of Dalí, as a surrealist. It’s even crazier than the surrealists. I first wanted to write about Hieronymus Bosch, but then I wanted a way to bring all those creative struggles and epiphanies to our reality. I am a believer that every human being is a representation of all humanity.”
Listen to the full podcast here, on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
About the book:
This award-winning bilingual collection intertwines the lives of a Renaissance painter and a modern migrant worker, offering a fresh perspective on art and migration. In this highly imaginative work, the lives of the northern Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516) and an imagined contemporary migrant worker named Juan Coyoc, later known as Juan Domínguez, run in parallel as they mirror each other across languages, time, and continents.
By comparing and at times intertwining these two poetic narratives, the book explores themes of art, migration, narco-violence, family, spirituality, and the idea that every human being represents all humanity at any moment in history. Both Hieronymus Bosch and Juan Domínguez become relatable and intimate figures, part of our own story.
