PINTURA:PALABRA: DC Residencies conclude

Letras Latinas, the literary initiative of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, is pleased to announce Alexandra Lytton Regalado as the third and final recipient of the PINTURA:PALABRA DC Residencies. These one-week stints, for three Latina writers, took place in 2015 (Laurie Ann Guerrero), 2016 (Gina Franco) and conclude in 2017. Regalado will be in residence from June 12 to June 19.

   

Alexandra Lytton Regalado’s poems and short stories have appeared in Gulf Coast, Narrative, Notre Dame Review, OCHO, Puerto del Sol and elsewhere. Her poem, "La Mano," was one of the ten poems featured at Best American Poetry Blog in March of 2017, as part of the Poetry Coalition’s inaugural initiative, “Because We Come from Everything: Poetry & Migration.” She is the winner of the St. Lawrence Book Prize and the Coniston Poetry Prize. Her poetry collection, Matria, (Black Lawrence Press) is slated for release in spring of 2017. To learn more, visit her website.

Alexandra Lytton Regalado’s reaction to being selected:

"As a mother, publisher, editor, translator, and art advocate I spend a huge chunk of my day promoting other people’s work—granted, they are people I love—but for me to have an entire week to focus on my own projects is such a gift. It's a Godsend because it comes at a perfect time. My first book of poems, Matria, launches in May (Black Lawrence Press) and this residency will allow me to sink my teeth into my next writing project. I work closely with emerging and established Salvadoran artists and writers (who live in their birth country and abroad) and I’m interested in developing transnational collaborative projects that combine writing with painting, photography, film, performance, and installation art. More than just providing pleasure, art plays a key role in challenging the way the world is represented because it urges us to question interpretations and perspectives. In El Salvador, a country overrun by violence, street crime, and corruption, where all avenues of societal change are stalled or completely collapsed, and for Salvadorans living abroad and contending with marginalization, discrimination, and deportation, I believe art and literature can provide ways of promoting reconciliation and reconstruction. I want to research how art and writing intersect as forms of survival, resistance, protest. My agenda includes the Sylvia Plath exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Galleries for Folk and Self-Taught Art and the craft exhibit at the Renwick Gallery, the National Museum of Women in the Arts; and at the top of my list are the Phillips Collection, the Hirshhorn Museum, and other contemporary art spaces. Finally, I'm infinitely grateful to Letras Latinas at Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, and to the residency's benefactors, Molly Singer and Martha Aragon Velez."

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Publication partners for the first two residents are ORIGINS  and The Los Angeles Review, respectively. That work is forthcoming. Our thanks to Dini Karasik and Blas Falconer for saying Yes. Letras Latinas has yet to identify and enter into an agreement with the publication for our third and final resident.

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Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the Institute for Latino Studies, strives to enhance the visibility, appreciation and study of Latino literature both on and off the campus of the University of Notre Dame, with an emphasis on programs that support newer voices, foster connections between writers, and impact local communities.

 Letras Latinas

would like to thank

Molly Singer

&

Martha Aragon Velez

whose generosity make

the PINTURA:PALABRA

DC Residencies

possible

AWP: New Kids On The Block/Contemporary Salvadoran Poetry

Marcelo Hernandez at the podium

Carmen Gimenez Smith recently asked me--on Facebook, of course--"How was your AWP?" Increasingly, these past few years, I find myself choosing to visit with individuals in place of attending panels. But I did get to the one on Latino identity and was totally seduced by Daniel Borzutzky's talk, which managed to be both hilarious and acutely insightful.

But if forced to hone, the highlights of this year's conference were two. The first: watching and listening to Lauro Vazquez, Marcelo Hernandez, and Nayelly Barrios give their presentations at the panel, "New Kids On The Block." But also listening to the words of Lauren Espinoza (who had to miss the conference), as spoken by Nayelly. This was the first time Lauro, Marcelo, and Nayelly had ever presented at an AWP panel and it was a pleasure to behold. The panel had to do with a new initiative whose aim is to create a space of support, what we're calling a public square, for those Latino writers who decide to pursue graduate degrees in creative writing. It was heartening to see so many friendly faces and allies in the audience.

Nayelly Barrios at the podium

As for the shadow conference---that is, the off-site events---the launch of the anthology, Theatre Under My Skin was another highlight. A few years ago, Emma Trelles introduced me to (at an AWP conference of course) Alexandra Lytton Regalado, who was on the ground floor of starting Kalina, a publishing project in El Salvador. This recently released anthology is their latest title. Here's the cover:

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And here are a couple of pics from the anthology's off-site event:

Lucia De Sola, Tania Pleitez Vela

& Alexandra Lytton Regalado 

launching Theatre Under My Skin

Emma Trelles reading Susana Reyes