Roll Call, or: PALABRA PURA: a look back

What remains probably my favorite Spike Lee film--Do The Right Thing--has this wonderful sequence during which a DJ lets loose a litany of names. The names are of African Americans, living and dead, who have enriched our lives, whether in the field of the arts, or other disciplines. I remember being particularly moved as I sat in that theater 20 years ago in 1989 listening to the voice utter those names...

As the Guild Complex and PALABRA PURA enter into a transition year of sorts, this is a good moment, I think, to recall some names: those poets who have graced a Palabra Pura stage. Included in this literary litany are the poets who took part in the "One Poem Festival" last February during the AWP conference, and the poets who read in the Chicago stop of the Wind Shift tour. Consider this, then, a way of expressing our appreciation to these poets who, by definition, have become Palabra Pura alums and, we hope, Palabra Pura ambassadors.

One final note: our mission is primarily to showcase emerging voices from around the country and Chicago. As the list will bear out, though, we occasionally feature more established voices, typically in partnership with the Poetry Foundation, but the focus remains newer voices. They are presented in the order in which they appeared.

PALABRA PURA: 2006 - 2009
Paul Martinez Pompa
Jorge Frisancho
Orlando Ricardo Menes

Beatriz Badikian

Maria Melendez

Carlos Cumpian

Lidia Torres

Johanny Vázquez Paz

Brenda Cárdenas

David Hernandez

Sheryl Luna

Leon Leiva Gallardo

Tato Laviera

Francisco Aragón

Olivia Maciel

Richard Blanco

Achy Obejas

Jorge Sánchez

Ada Limón

Cynthia Cruz

Juana Goergen

Carl Marcum

Fernando Olszanski

Ray Gonzalez

Yolanda Nieves

Victor Hernández Cruz

Lisa Alvarado

Gregorio Gomez

Sandy Florian

Raul Niño

Suzanne Frischkorn

Coya Paz

Urayoán Noel

Peter Ramos

Bernardo Navia

Manuel Paul Lopez

Eduardo Arocho

Ariel Robello

Juan Manuel Sanchez

Tim Z. Hernandez

Stephanie Gentry-Fernandez

Aracelis Girmay

Olga Ulloa

Lorna Dee Cervantes

Rigoberto González

Adrian Castro

Emanuel Xavier

Irasema González

Tomás Riley

Xenia Ruiz

Frances Treviño

Tony Del Valle

Juan J. Morales

Liliano Bilbao

John Murillo

Rafael Franco Steeves
*

"One Poem Festival"

Lisa Alvarado

Carlos Cumpian

Silvia Curbelo

Gina Franco

Gabe Gomez

Irasema González

Maurice Kilwein Guevara

Gabriela Jauregui

Olivia Maciel

Carl Marcum

Valerie Martínez

Orlando Ricardo Menes

Achy Obejas

Daniel A. Olivas

Johanny Vázquez Paz

Paul Martinez Pompa

Linda Rodríguez

Jacob Saenz

Jorge Sánchez

Juan Manuel Sanchez
*

Joanne Diaz

Dawn Herrera-Terry

Dan Vera

Carmen Alicia Murguia
*

"The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry ON TOUR"

Rosa Alcalá

Carolina Monsivais

Kevin González
*

Emma Trelles

Jacob Saenz

Maria Melendez

Luis Humberto Valadez

Juan Felipe Herrera

Dolores Dorantes

Laura Solórzano

Jen Hofer (translator)

Rita María Martínez

Luis Tubens