from The Guild: "Bring the love to Palabra Pura"

"A little more than one week ago, the election of Barak Obama changed history, and the images from Grant Park rewrote the world's perception of Chicago. Instead of rioting protestors, there were strangers standing arm in arm in awe. Instead of police batons, there were American flags waving with a new gusto. Instead of screams, there was singing and laughter and tears of joy. We knew this was in our hearts here in Chicago. We saw the first signs of it at the Immigration March. Sure, we have our differences. We're not going to lie about it. But when we understand the moment is bigger and more important than our differences, we know how to come together.

The Guild Complex has been working to bring people together through stories and poetry for nearly 20 years. (Yes, we celebrate 20 years in 2009). When we learn each other's stories and hear each other's poetry, we take one step closer in our understanding. One of our greatest successes has been our bilingual poetry series, Palabra Pura. The last reading for 2008 will be tonight. Come down to Pilsen and keep the Chicago love flowing.

PALABRA PURA
TONIGHT, Wednesday, November 12
7:30 pm, Free admission, All ages
Decima Musa, 1901 S. Loomis (Pilsen), Chicago

Come have dinner before the show. We'll be there.

Juan J. Morales was born in the U.S. to an Ecuadorian mother and a Puerto Rican father. He grew up hearing family stories that inspired much of the poems in Friday and the Year that Followed, his first collection of poetry, which was published by Bedbug Press. His poetry has appeared in Many Mountains Moving, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, PALABRA (forthcoming), Poet Lore, War, Literature, & the Arts, and other journals. He is the Director of Creative Writing and an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University-Pueblo.

Liliana Bilbao was born in La Paz, Bolivia. A poet and teacher, she received her M.A. in Spanish Literature from Loyola University in Chicago. She published Offerings a book of poems in 2007. The Kiss of the Skin, a collection of black and white photographs combined with poems is in process of being published as well as a collection of postcards of Bolivia’s soul. Liliana is the coordinator of a literary tertulia, and teaches recitation of poetry. Students trained by her won first prize in their cluster, in a city wide contest of recitation of poetry in Spanish sponsored by the Department of Language of the Chicago Board of Education. In addition she devotes her time to creative writing, painting, and photography.

Have a great week,
The Guild"