This was the press release:
CAVE CANEM & LETRAS LATINAS poets read in the DC Area
American Poetry Museum & The Writer’s Center Host September Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 26, 2010)—Cave Canem, North America’s “home for Black poetry,” and Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame, will partner with American Poetry Museum (APM) and The Writer’s Center to present back-to-back poetry readings on September 16 and 17 in Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, MD, respectively. The series is curated by Francisco Aragón, who directs Letras Latinas, and Kyle Dargan, a professor at American University and winner of the 2003 Cave Canem Poetry Prize.
On September 16, 7 pm, poets Brenda Cárdenas and Paul Martínez Pompa will be joined by DC-based poets R. Dwayne Betts and Ines P. Rivera Prosdocimi for a reading and colloquium at the Sumner School, 1201 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C. as part of the American Poetry Museum’s Intersections series. Suggested donation is $5.
On September 17, 7:30 pm, Cárdenas and Pompa team up with Cave Canem poets Teri Cross Davis and Gregory Pardlo for a reading at The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD. The event is free and open to the public.
The readings are part of a larger initiative between Cave Canem and Letras Latinas that aims to enhance dialogue and awareness between the Latino and African American poetry communities. The events build on a relationship initiated when Brenda Cárdenas participated as Visiting Writer at Cave Canem’s 2010 writing retreat at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, where she read her work, gave a talk on craft with Guest Poet Sapphire, and interacted with participants throughout a week filled with workshops, readings and conversation.
Here are some photos---all courtesy of Dan Vera
September 16:
before the reading
Fred Joiner of American Poetry Museum
Camille Rankine of Cave Canem
R. Dwayne Betts
Francisco Aragón of Letras Latinas
Brenda Cárdenas
Ines P. Rivera Prosdocimi
Paul Martínez Pompa
Post-reading discussion moderated by Fred Joiner
Post-reading discussion (II)
Guillermo Rivera offers some remarks
***
September 17:
Sunil Freeman of The Writer's Center
Francisco Aragón of Letras Latinas
Paul Martínez Pompa
Paul Martínez Pompa
Camille Rankine of Cave Canem
Teri Cross Davis
Teri Cross Davis
El Público
The Public
Brenda Cárdenas
Brenda Cárdenas
Kyle Dargan, co-curator of these readings;
and the rest of the team
***
These readings were made possible, in part,
by the generosity of the Weissberg Foundation
