JANUARY:
FLORICANTO ISSUE of Beltway Poetry Quarterly
Letras Latinas/ Red Hen
Poetry Prize winner Dan Vera’s poem “If You Want To Purify America’s Textbooks
of Ethnic Studies,” is one of the twenty-six poems you’ll read in this winter
issue of Beltway Poetry Quarterly, an
issue that aims to profile what was the February 4, 2011, event called
“Floricanto in DC: A Multicultural Response to SB1070”—in reference to
Arizona’s anti-immigrant law.
Emma Trelles interviews Emily Pérez
Andrés Montoya Poetry
Prize winner and author of Tropicalia (University
of Notre Dame Press) interviews Rio Grande Valley native, critic and poet Emily
Pérez. In this interview Emma Trelles profiles Pérez chapbook Backyard Migration Route (Finishing Line
Pres). Here is an excerpt from the poem “Heritage:”
It bore no return address, no
vaccination
tags. It smelled somewhat
like
imposters, or improbability.
It
grew pale in the flashlight’s beam
and
would not say its name.
We
soaped and scrubbed, but
it
would not come clean. We requested
that
it wear a robe or hat, that it fold
its
hands upon its lap, feet under its seat.
And
where to keep it?
Latino/a Poetry Now: 3 Poets Discuss their Art
Installment one of Latino/a
Poetry Now kicked off with rich and poignant conversation moderated
by Maria Melendez between poets Eduardo C. Corral, Rosa Alcalá and Aracelis
Girmay on the Poetry Society of America’s “3poets
discuss their art” roundtable in anticipation of the kick-off
reading at Harvard University.
Here is an excerpt from
Maria Melendez moving afterward:
“It seems that Whitman's
claim—I am large, and contain multitudes—applies to the poets here, whether it
be that the individual person contains multitudinous stories, histories,
relationships and experiences, or that the individual exists at the point of
multitudinous connections between his own and others' (real and imagined)
stories, histories, relationships and experiences.”
FEBRUARY
Daniel Borzutzky @ ND
Chicago-based
Chilean-American poet and translator, Daniel
Borzutzky—a palabra pura reader featured at the guild literary
complex—kicked-off the 45th edition of the Notre Dame Literary Festival.
Daniel Borzutzky is the
author of The Book of Interfering Bodies
(Nightboat, 2011); The Ecstasy of
Capitulation (BlazeVox, 2007) and Arbitrary
Tales (Ravenna Press, 2005). His translations include Jaime Luis Huenún’s Port Trakl in 2008 and Raúl Zurita’s Song for his Dissapeared Love in 2010
and both published by Notre Dame’s very own Action Books.
MARCH
Portrait of Generosity: Manuel Paul López
CantoMundo fellow and
author of Death of a Mexican and Other
Poems (Bear Star Press, 2006), Manuel
Paul López was not only profiled for being awarded a San Diego Foundation
Creative Catalyst Fund Individual Artist Fellowship but also for his generosity
in contributing to the Andrés
Montoya Poetry Prize Initiative, a biennial Letras Latinas initiative which
supports the publication of a first book by a Latino or Latina poet; and the
publication of a posthumous book of poetry by Andrés Montoya, edited and
introduced by Chicano writer, Daniel Chacón.
APRIL
On Monday the 16th we had
the honor of introducing the winner of the fourth edition of the Andrés Montoya
Poetry Prize, Emma Trelles,
who read alongside judge, Silvia Curbelo at McKenna Hall, the building housing the
Institute for Latino Studies here at Notre Dame. Click below for a gallery and
account of this milestone event:
Letras Latinas is pleased to announce: 2 prizes
Letras Latinas gives a
shout-out to the finalists and judges (Francisco X Alarcón and Ricardo Orlando
Menes) who submitted to the 2012 edition of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize and
the first edition of the Letras Latinas/ Red Hen Poetry Prize and of course to
the winners Laurie Ann Guerrero (Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize) and Dan Vera and
William Archila (Letras Latinas/ Red Hen Poetry Prize).
MAY
Ms Gimenez-Smith Goes to Washington
CantoMundo fellow Carmen
Gimenez-Smith visited Washington D.C. to read for the NPR initiative “NewsPoet”
and to read from her four published books (three poetry, one prose) for a
Letras Latinas initiative: recording U.S.-based, Letras Latinas-affiliated
writers for the “Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape.”
JUNE
LETRAS LATINAS is pleased to announce…
Sara Campos is a fiction writer of Guatemalan descent. Her fiction,
nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in a number of publications, including St. Ann’s Review, Rio Grande Review, and
San Francisco Chronicle. In June she
was announced the 2012 recipient of the Letras Latinas Residency Fellowship.
She was thus in residence at the Anderson Center in Red Wing Minnesota in July and a received a $1000
stipend. This annual distinction is part of an ongoing partnership between Letras
Latinas and the Anderson Center.
JULY
An Interview with Melinda Palacio
Letras
Latinas had to pleasure of hosting Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize finalist Adela
Najarros interview with novelist Melinda Palacio author Ocotillo Dreams for
which she was awarded the Mariposa Award for the Best First Book at the 14th
Annual Latino Book Awards 2012.
An Interview with Javier O. Huerta
Letras
Latinas profiles Javier O. Huerta’s America
Copia: An Immigrant Epic (Arte Público Press). “I am going to the grocery store.” That was the line
poet Javier O. Huerta was asked to write during his citizenship interview
process. That simple line, years later, would become American Copia: An
Immigrant Epic, Huerta’s second collection of poems. Using a vignette form, a
play, and even text messages, Huerta weaves together a poetic narrative that
breaks the illusion that we live in a land of bountiful substance. Here, a mere
trip to the grocery store unveils the political, cultural and economic nuances
hidden away between the aisles of our supermarkets.
Xánath Caraza: A Book Review, An Interview
Letras Latinas reviews and
interviews Xánath Caraza author of the bilingual chapbook Corazón Pintado (TL Press). In
her bilingual chapbook Corazón Pintado (TL
Press, 2012) traveler, educator and short story writer, Xánath Caraza, conjures
up a collection of ekphrastic poems which summon both the indigenous and
African roots of Mexico and which take the reader through a trip of visual and
rhythmic narratives which descend “in
to the heart of things” and celebrate art works by visual artists Israel
Nazario, José Jesus Chán Guzmán and Thomas Weso. Click below for an interview
and book review profiling Caraza’s work.
AUGUST
Mi testimonio es así…
First year CantoMundo
fellows reflect on CantoMundo. In introducing—for the second time now—these
brief testimonios by first year
CantoMundo fellows, I keep going back to CantoMundo’s mission statement:
“Through workshops, symposia, and public readings, CantoMundo provides a space
for the creation, documentation, and critical analysis of Latino/a poetry.” And
I again keep going back to the word “collaboration,” this word more than any
other word captures for me the spirit of CantoMundo 2012. Collaboration for me
implies a creative friction, a flint of the imagination that can light the
fireplace of what has truly become a home for Latino/a poetics.
“Letras Latinas Presents:” 2012/2013
Letras Latinas announces
its “season” for the academic year 2012/2013. What “Letras Latinas Presents” is
in essence is a roster of events and partnerships with literary allies around
the nation that together form a Letras Latinas “season.” With the exception of
Latino/a Poetry Now, which is a multi-year “season” of sorts, as
well as a partnership, this list of events mark a Letras Latinas season. For a
full list of events click below:
SEPTEMBER
Letras Latinas welcomes Lynda Letona
During the month of
September Letras Latinas had the honor and pleasure of meeting and welcoming Lynda Letona
to the Institute for Latino Studies family at the campus of Notre Dame. Raised
in Guatemala and California, Lynda Letona is a poetry candidate in Notre Dame’s
M.F.A. program in creative writing. Below is a link to an interview for Letras
Latinas which Lynda graciously agreed to.
OCTOBER
Fred Arroyo @ ND
Sponsored by Letras
Latinas, the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the José E.
Fernández Hispanic Studies Caribbean Initiative, and the Creative Writing
Program, “Western Avenue: Fred Arroyo reads from his fiction,” was—with
standing-room only—nothing short than a success.
Fred Arroyo, assistant
professor of English at the University of South Dakota, is the author of The Region of Lost Names: A Novel
(University of Arizona Press). A recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from
the Indiana Arts Commission, he has published fiction, poetry, and essays in
various literary journals (Crab Orchard Review, Pinyon,
Washington Square, North Dakota Quarterly). In October Letras Latinas
had the pleasure of hosting Fred for a reading from his newest collection of
short stories, Western Avenue and Other
Fictions (University of Arizona Press). Click below for a re-cap and
gallery of the event.
Latino/a Poetry Now: installment 3: Saint Paul
Rigoberto González,
Xochiquetzal Candelaria and Lorena Duarte kick-off the third installment of
Latino/a Poetry Now at Macalester College in Saint Paul Minnesota. This
particular installment of Latino/a Poetry Now not only marked a half-way
milestone in this multi-year national reading series but also raised the bar as
far as integrating the work of these poets with the academic curriculum at
Macalester College—the on-site partner for Latino/a Poetry Now. Click below for
an account and gallery of the event.
NOVEMEBER
Letras Latinas Roundtable: Nayelly Barrios and Lucas
de Lima
This Letras Latinas roundtable
(modeled after the Latino/a Poetry Now roundtables featured over the Poetry
Society of America) was born from a gesture in keeping with Letras Latinas’
mission of collaborating with individuals in projects that seek to indentify
and support emerging Latino/a writers, in this case we present you with a
roundtable interview featuring Nayelly Barrios and Lucas de Lima, in
conversation with myself (Lauro Vazquez) as moderator.
DECEMBER
An Interview with Carmen Calatayud….
Letras Latinas interviews Carmen Calatayud author of
In the Company of Spirits (Press 53). In
the Company of Spirits is Carmen’s debut collection of poems and in it we
find a voice that weaves a poetry of testimonio which is—as one could
expect—both personal and political but which also blurs the line between the
world of the sacred and the spiritual.
No comments:
Post a Comment