Doing arts programming can be—is messy. I’m
referring, in this instance, to curating and creating spaces, platforms—pick your term—for
writers to share their work in community spaces.
At
last year’s AWP conference in Portland, something unfortunate unfolded, where
off-site events are concerned. Two membership organizations with similar
missions held off-site readings that directly competed with one another.
This
year, for San Antonio, Letras Latinas attempted to bring these two orgs together
to put on an event in collaboration with one another—specifically, a One Poem
Festival, under the auspices of these two orgs: CantoMundo and Macondo; and
Letras Latinas.
The
aim was to curate 20 reading slots:
7
for CandoMundo
7
for Macondo
6
for Letras Latinas
Each
org was given autonomy to curate their slots as they saw fit, presumably, among their membership. Letras
Latinas, which is not a membership organization, assigned itself the task of
reaching out to Latinx poets who were neither CantoMundo nor Macondo fellows,
but who had, in the past, been involved in a Letras Latinas event or initiative.
Its
six slots went to poets with ties to the following communities:
Puerto
Rican
Queer
(2)
Honduran
Argentine
Mexican/Chicanx
Colombian
When
all three orgs brought their rosters together and this information was passed
on to our poster designer, our failure, in my view, was not pausing and looking at our roster of 20 readers and asking the question:
What
community is missing?
And then re-vising our efforts accordingly. We all have blind spots.
It
may be (though this is not an excuse) that Letras Latinas did not ask this
question, where Afro-Latinx poets, is concerned, because Letras Latinas has been mindful on this score in the past; and our national first book
prize for Latinx poetry is currently being
judged and screened by three Afro-Latinx poets.
BUT:
by not asking the question, Letras Latinas dropped the ball.
We apologize and pledge to do better in the future.
by not asking the question, Letras Latinas dropped the ball.
We apologize and pledge to do better in the future.
That
said, Letras Latinas’ revised roster of 6 poets, for the upcoming One Poem
Festival in San Antonio next Thursday, does now include an Afro-Latinx poet.
We still hold out hope that the full roster will include more.
