Interview with Thomas Hallock, author of “The Epic of Florida”
Thomas Hallock is a professor of English at the University of South Florida, where he is also part of the Florida Studies program. He is a specialist in American literature and his newest book goes back to some of the earliest American literature. He was kind enough to chat with us about The Epic of Florida: Selected Poems by Juan de Castellanos, Bartolomé de Flores, and Alonso Gregorio de Escobedo (Penn State University Press, 2026). The Epic of Florida is out this May, 2026.
Your book is about the poetry of Juan de Castellanos, Bartolomé de Flores, and Alonso Gregorio de Escobedo. How did you become interested in this topic?
Years ago, during the 500 year commemoration of Ponce de Leon's invasion of Florida, I gave a presentation sponsored by Florida Humanities on gaps in our culture. I pointed out that someone should put together a collection of poems. So I figured, why don't I do it?!
Was there a lot of colonial poetry among the Spanish? Are there any particular poets or poems from other parts of the Americas that readers might look up?
There is a HUGE literature of colonial Spanish poetry. Two poets whom I would recommend, for very different reasons, are Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and La Araucana, by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga. In a famous scene from Cervantes, Don Quixote goes on a rampage and starts purging books—one volume that survives is La Araucana.
What do you hope this book will accomplish? What is your dream for it once it goes out into the world?
My hope is that people recognize that there was a multilingual literature of the United States, long before there was a United States. We have always been a nation in translation.
I’m sure readers will learn many different things from this book. What will they learn about historical Florida? And what will they learn about poetry?
The poetry is very useful in helping to understand how Florida fit within the Spanish imagination of empire. So one sees the verse alongside the Crusades, wars against Islam, and forced conversion (of Muslim people and Jews) going on at this time.
Something I’ve noticed in a lot of my reading is how much people appreciated and memorized poetry in the past. I’m a WWI historian and many soldiers had poems memorized and also wrote poetry during the war. What do you think people today would get out of reading and memorizing and writing more poetry? (Sometimes I try to get my students to memorize poetry.)
That is embarrassing for me to ask, because I have so few poems memorized. It's not for lack of trying. But Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," for instance, was a recitation piece. A return to recitation, and memorization, would probably do a lot for advancing traditional forms and rhyme in verse.
It seems like when we talk about the United States, the long history of European presence in Florida is often forgotten. People talk about Plymouth and Jamestown, but they leave out St. Augustine, etc. How would keeping Florida’s history in the narrative of the country’s origins change or enrich our understanding of the United States?
What's important about Juan de Castellano's poem about Ponce de Leon, which is in the volume that's coming out, is how he connects Florida and Puerto Rico. Absolutely, the invasion of mainland United States starts off Florida. My colleagues in history departments remind me to be very leery of "firstings," however. (Denise Bossy and Andrew Frank have written compellingly on this subject.) The oldest continuously occupied city in North America is Cholula, Mexico ... or the Hopi Mesas of present-day Arizona ... or Onondaga (also known as Syracuse, NY). Now that aside, I think more attention to Florida in the national narrative shows that the history of what would become the United States is intimately tied to the history of Latin America. We have never not been a Latino/a/x nation.
What was your process like for this book? How long did it take and what made it possible?
The book took ten years. I translated the poems, but to my surprise, it wasn't enough to just put words down on the page. The poems require a lot of contextualization, and that was really hard. Also, trying to make sixteenth century Spanish verse forms sound good to a contemporary Anglophone reader? That was a challenge ....
You’re part of the Florida Studies program at USF, how would you describe that program and what do you think makes it especially worthwhile?
Florida Studies is a fantastic program on the St. Petersburg campus at USF that looks at the state through a variety of angles. Founded around 2004 by Professors Gary Mormino and Ray Arsenault, the program fuses history, environmental studies, and whatever else faculty might throw at the students. It's been a Big Daddy Garlits scholarly thrill ride.
I’m also curious about your book A Road Course in Early American Literature, can you tell me a little more about that book and where your passion for literature comes from?
The Road Course in American Literature came from the attempt to write literary criticism apart from the usual academic way. I used a lot of story and dug into my personal life. I'm not sure if the book really succeeds, but I hope it is an "essay" (from the French word, "to try") in the truest sense.
I have a couple more present-day and more personal Florida questions. First, what is your Florida story? Did you grow up here or move here—how did you end up in Florida?
I moved to Florida in 2001 with my partner and colleague, Julie Armstrong. My favorite Florida story is adopting our son in 2010. Born in Clearwater, he is what truly roots me in this state.
What are some things that you think make Florida different from other states?
We have currents swirling around us in three directions. (Four if you count the aquifer, which I do.) The Loop Current off the Gulf; the Gulf Stream off the Atlantic; and the Havana straits off the south. No wonder we get turned around!
What are some things you think people often get wrong about Florida?
They miss the variety of habitats. People think "palm trees" rather than pine forests. Developers build golf courses and tract housing over scrub. St. Augustine grass in gopher tortoise habitat. The failure to recognize the beauty of Florida ecosystems breaks my heart. There are few places I would rather be than a well-managed pine flatwood.
What is your favorite Publix sub?
Definite bias here. Coming from the New York City metropolitan area, I often say that the only way one can truly appreciate Pub Subs is to have never been to a New York deli. Now the fried chicken, that's a whole 'nother story.
You can find the book here.
Interview conducted by Elizabeth Stice
