Down These Mean Streets Poetry Reading: May 12

Hiram Maristany, Hydrant: In the Air, 1963

(full credit below)

 

Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies—in partnership with the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM)—is pleased to present, “Down These Mean Streets Poetry Reading,” featuring Martín Espada, Naomi Ayala, and Samuel Miranda. The event takes place this Friday, May 12 at 6:30 PM at the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium at SAAM in Washington, D.C. The reading coincides with the opening of, “Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in UrbanPhotography,” a SAAM exhibition that runs through August 6.

The poets will be responding to specific pieces in the exhibit, including pieces by the late Frank Espada, father of Martín Espada. Other photographers whose work has inspired some of the poems to be shared that evening include, Manuel Acevedo, Perla de Leon, Hiram Maristany, and Winston Vargas.

Frank Espada, Untitled, 1981

(Three boys, Sheldon Cafe, Hartford, Connecticut)
(full credit below) 

This collaboration between Letras Latinas and the Smithsonian American Art Museum is an outgrowth of a previous one: “PINTURA:PALABRA, a project in ekphrasis.” 

“A number of years ago, I approached and pitched to E. Carmen Ramos a project to be carried out in tandem with, Our America: the Latino Presence in American Art, the wonderful exhibition she put together at SAAM. Several months ago she reached out and asked if Letras Latinas would be interested in collaborating again, this time with the “Down These Mean Streets” exhibit. Letras Latinas is pleased to have curated the participation of Naomi Ayala and Samuel Miranda for this event,” said Francisco Aragón, Letras Latinas director. “As for Martín, we are pleased to be collaborating with him again: a number of years ago he served as the final judge for the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize--one of two national book prizes that Letras Latinas oversees,” Aragón added.

For those who can’t get to the event in person, or those not in the Washington, D.C. area, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has arranged for a live webcast:

The poets:

photo credit: David González

Martín Espada is an award-winning poet, essayist, and attorney who has dedicated much of his career to the pursuit of social justice and Latino rights. His critically acclaimed poetry celebrates—and laments—the immigrant and working class experience. Espada will read poems inspired by his father, Frank Espada, whose photographs are featured in Down These Mean Streets. Espada will be joined by DC-based poets Naomi Ayala and Samuel Miranda:

photo credit: E. Ethelbert Miller

 Naomi Ayala is the author of three books of poetry—Wild Animals on the Moon (Curbstone Press), This Side of Early (Curbstone Imprint: Northwestern University Press), and Calling Home: Praise Songs and Incantations (Bilingual Review Press). She is also the translator of Luis Alberto Ambroggio’s book The Wind’s Archeology/La arqueología del viento, which won an International Latino Book Award for Best Nonfiction Book Translation. She lives in Washington, DC, where she teaches poetry and memoir to English-language learners at the Carlos Rosario School as founding teacher of the Write Who You Are Program.

photo credit: Thomas Sayers Ellis

Samuel Miranda grew up in the South Bronx and has made his home in Washington, DC. He is a visual artist, poet and teacher who uses his craft to highlight the value of everyday people and places.  His work has been heavily influenced by Puerto Rican culture and family history, as well as his interactions with the people in his city, his students, and people he encounters in his travels.  His poetry has been published in anthologies and journals and he has performed his work at venues such as the Smithsonian Museum of African Art and the Kennedy Center.  His art has been exhibited throughout the DC metropolitan area.

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Full photo credits:

Hiram Maristany, Hydrant: In the Air, 1963, gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center © 1963, Hiram Maristany

Frank Espada, Untitled (Three boys, Sheldon Cafe, Hartford, Connecticut), 1981, gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino   

February 28, 2011: Washington, D.C. (photo credits: Dan Vera)

Francisco Aragón

"Thank you Joe. And thank you all for being here. As Joe mentioned, I direct Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. I do so from an office here in the district, and crucial to our work are partnerships. I’m grateful, therefore, to be collaborating tonight with the Poetry Society of America and the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series here at the Folger Shakespeare Library. But Letras Latinas programs in Washington would not be possible without the generosity of the Weissberg Foundation. So I’d like to offer my gratitude to them, as well.

Years ago in a bookstore in San Francisco, I picked up a journal called New American Writing. In the table of contents, I read a name I’d never seen before, the name of our first reader this evening: J. Michael Martínez. His poem, titled “Xicano” (spelled with an X), was a revelation. It deployed strategies often associated with the more innovative or experimental tendencies in American poetry. The poet-critic Rigoberto González, in referring to his first volume, writes: “Martinez’s book is nothing short of a breakthrough for Chicano poetics.”

A native of Colorado, Martínez is also an essayist and librettist. In addition to New American Writing, his work has appeared in various publications, including Crab Orchard Review, Mandorla and The Denver Post. A recipient of the 2006 Five Fingers Review Poetry Prize, Martínez has received residencies from CantoMundo, the Ragdale Foundation, and the Vermont Studio Center. Heredities, his debut book, was winner of the Academy of American Poets’ Walt Whitman Award, and published by Lousiana State University Press. He holds an MFA from George Mason University and is currently a PhD candidate in English at University of Colorado at Boulder.

J. Michael Martínez

My work with Letras Latinas allows me to interact with writers from the U.S. One bonus of moving to Washington in 2007 was being able to work more closely with our second reader this evening, Naomi Ayala, whose work I’ve admired for years. She has read at Notre Dame and she’s read in Palabra Pura, the series I've curated in Chicago. It’s a particular pleasure, therefore, to be introducing her tonight. A native of Puerto Rico, Ayala is the author of Wild Animals on the Moon and This Side of Early, both with Curbstone Press. Of this latter volume, distinguished poet Naomi Shihab Nye writes: “Haunting secrets scuttle along beneath the rafters of every day—she hears them in the mystery of animals and culture and time, connection and disconnection, sings their resonant song.”  Naomi Ayala distinguishes herself as a poet who writes and publishes in English and Spanish. A resident of  Washington, she is also a community activist who, until recently, served as the founding Executive Director of 826DC. Naomi is on the board of directors of DC Advocates for the Arts, she teaches at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, and she teaches at the Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMASS-Boston.

Naomi Ayala

Our third and final reader tonight also embodies what it means to be a conscientious citizen in the literary community. Not only have a I been fan of Valerie Martínez’ work for over a decade, I’ve been able to count on her support for Letras Latinas in various ways. Valerie has served, for example, as a final judge of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize, which supports the publication of a first book. In addition to a poet, Valerie is a translator, teacher, playwright, librettist, and collaborative artist. She is the author of six books, including Absence, Luminescent, winner of the Larry Levis prize, Word to World and, more recently, Each and Her, of which the poet Joy Harjo writes: “Each word in Valerie Martínez’s elegant lament is planted with urgent purpose. Each word is watered with grief.” Her poems have appeared widely, including in Best American Poetry, the Washington Post, and the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Everywhere series. She’s read her work all around the country, including at the National Book Festival here in Washington on the mall. She’s the Executive Director of Littleglobe, Inc., an artist-run non-profit that collaborates with communities on art and community dialogue. Valerie holds an MFA from the University of Arizona and was the Poet Laureate of Santa Fe, New Mexico from 2008 to 2010.

Valerie Martínez

Please join me in welcoming our poets, beginning with J. Michael Martinez."

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Introducing the discussion

The discussion

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Letras Latinas programs in Washington, D.C.
 are made possible, in part,
thanks to the Weissberg Foundation

O.B. Hardison Poetry Series featuring Naomi Ayala, Valerie Martinez & J. Michael Martínez

SPOTLIGHT SERIES: LATINO/A POETS
Naomi Ayala, Valerie Martinez, and J. Michael Martínez
Folger Elizabethan Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE | Washington, DC
Monday, Feb 28 at 7:30pm

In a reading that showcases the range in contemporary Latino poetics, three voices converge for one night of poesia with an introduction and conversation moderated by poet and Letras Latinas director Francisco Aragón.

Co-sponsored by Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Poetry Society of America, and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Admission is $15 / $12 for PSA Members

Buy Tickets | Official Website

This Weekend in DC: The Poetics of Labor

JOHN OLIVARES ESPINOZA is the author of, The Date Fruit Elegies, the inaugural collection in Canto Cosas, a new poetry book series at Bilingual Press. In 2009, The Date Fruit Elegies was a finalist for the Northern California Book Award in poetry. Espinoza was born and raised in Indio, California to Mexican parents. He holds degrees in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside (B.A.) and Arizona State University (M.F.A.), where he spent time writing about his experience working as a gardener with his brother and father in nearby resorts. John and his wife live in San Jose, California, where he teaches at the National Hispanic University.

 

NAOMI AYALA’s book, Wild Animals on the Moon (Curbstone Press, 1997) was selected by the New York City Public Library as a Best Book for the Teen Age.  Her newest book of poems, This Side of Early, was released by Curbstone in March, 2009.  A Native of Puerto Rico, Ayala resides in Washington, DC, where she serves as the Executive Director of the Capitol Letters Writing Center.  Until recently, she was Senior Writer and Editor for a communications company that specializes in public health education.  Ayala also teaches at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD and is the recipient of numerous awards for her work. Her third book of poems is slated for publication by Bilingual Press.

 

NAOMI AYALA & JOHN OLIVARES ESPINOZA

Letras Latinas interrupts its coverage of 

the 2009 Guadalajara International Book Fair

to bring you a special announcement.

Please forward this post to anyone 

in the Washington, D.C. area: