Letras Latinas + Best American Poetry Blog

Letras Latinas and Best American Poetry Blog 
launch Poetry Coalition series

   Keeping Faith Alive, 

acrylic and oil on canvas, 2008-2009, Poli Marichal

Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies (ILS), in partnership with Best American Poetry Blog (BAPB), is pleased to launch a series of ten poems that engage with this year’s Poetry Coalition theme: “Where My Dreaming and My Loving Live: Poetry & the Body.”  The poems will post throughout the month of March.

BAPB contributor Emma Trelles curated both the poets and the poems. “It’s my hope these 10 poems continue to amplify the power and essential presence of Latinas and diverse women of all ages in the arts and in our communities. Publishing poems by women is another way of valuing us, of saying, Your voices have meaning. We are listening,” said Trelles upon launching the series at midnight on February 28.

"&When We Woke" by Aracelis Girmay inaugurates the series:

http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2018/02/where-my-dreaming-and-my-loving-live-poetry-the-body-aracelis-girmay.html

“Where My Dreaming and My Loving Live: Poetry &the Body” is the second annual offering of the Poetry Coalition—more than twenty organizations dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and communities, as well as the important contributions poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds. Programs around this year’s theme will unfold in ten cities nationwide, as well as on the web.

The ten poets who will make up the series are:

Aracelis Girmay

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/aracelis-girmay

Ellen Bass

http://www.ellenbass.com/

Joshua Jennifer Espinoza

http://www.maskmagazine.com/the-alien-issue/work/joshua-jen-espinoza

Barbara Jane Reyes

http://www.barbarajanereyes.com/

Achy Obejas

https://achyobejas.com/

Jennifer Elise Foerster

http://www.jenniferfoerster.com/

Sandra McPherson

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sandra-mcpherson

Iliana Rocha

https://ilianarocha.org/

Lory Bedikian

http://losangelesreview.org/book-review-book-lamenting-lory-bedikian/

Pat Mora

http://www.patmora.com/  

*

Emma Trelles is the daughter of Cuban immigrants and the author of Tropicalia (University of Notre Dame Press), winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize and a recommended read by The Rumpus. Her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, Best of the Net, The Miami Rail, The Los Angeles Review, Zócalo Public Square, Poet Lore, SWWIM, the Miami Herald, and elsewhere. She teaches at Santa Barbara City College and programs the Mission Poetry Series.

Letras Latinas strives to enhance the visibility, appreciation and study of Latinx literature both on and off the campus of the University of Notre Dame—with an emphasis on programs that support newer voices, foster a sense of community among writers, and place Latinx writers in community spaces.

For more information about the Poetry Coalition visit:

https://www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/poetry-coalition