LETRAS LATINAS IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE.....

Letras Latinas is proud to introduce Cristian Flores Garcia

—the 2013 Letras Latinas Residency Fellow! 

Cristian Flores Garcia

Her gift jumped off the page when I read her work in The American Poetry Review a couple of years ago. I was also particularly moved by a prose piece she published in The Rumpus, titled

“The Last Poem I Loved: ‘Wild Geese’ by MaryOliver.”  It’s really worth a read.

Cristian Flores Garcia is a doughnut maker, a writer, an aspiring musician living in constant translation of languages, emotions, and ideas. She’s called Southern California Home most of her life. She has received fellowships from CantoMundo, The MacDowell Colony, and The Millay Colony as well as a Pushcart Prize. Her poems and writings have appeared in journals and websites including PALABRA: A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art, The American Poetry Review, HerKind.org, and The Rumpus.

In her own words:

"A month as the Letras Latinas Residency Fellow at The Anderson Center will be a gift of time and space to experiment and not lose the not-yet-written poems, and the yet-to-be-revised ones, that are part of my manuscript, Diary of a Brickeater. The collection explores the hardships and heartbreaks of an undocumented child who reaches adulthood while constantly navigating her Invisibility. The fellowship will grant generous time to be with words without the need to worry about the daily life worries that at times drown ideas." 

A favorite parts of my job is being able to make that phone call to make what I call my “residency pitch.” In other words, the person we have in mind has to be able to commit to be in residence for the full month, and so sometimes our recipient has to take a little time to consult with family and employers before confirming that he/she can accept. So far, we’ve been really lucky in that all our fellows have been able to say Yes.

And now, my friends....Letras Latinas needs to raise $500 to fulfill its commitment to send Cristian to Red Wing, MN. So one way to look at the three-day book sale at the Scapegoat Press table these next three days at AWP Boston is this:  by purchasing Glow of Our Sweat (and enjoying Eduardo C. Corral’s broadside of his poem, “Pear”), you are assisting Cristian Flores Garcia. Letras Latinas is a conduit of sorts, but who you are really helping is her. It’s our way of putting a face and a story to a specific Letras Latinas program.

If you are in Boston this week, please come by the book fair table Y6 and say Hello. The bookfair will be free and open to the public on Saturday.

AND...if you are not in Boston, but are reading this, and would like to help Cristian out, I'm easy to reach:  faragon@nd.edu

--FA