Letras Latinas Joins National Poetry Coalition
Offering March 2017 Programs on Migration
Letras Latinas, the literary initiative
at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, has joined
twenty-two other nonprofit poetry organizations from across the United States
to form a Poetry Coalition, which will present programs on the theme “Because
We Come From Everything: Poetry &Migration” throughout the month of March.
The theme borrows a line from U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem,
“Borderbus.”
Now, more than ever, these
organizations believe that poetry has a positive role to play in our country.
It is through reading, writing, and discussing poems that we learn about one
another on our most human level, inspiring empathy, compassion, and greater
understanding. Poetry Coalition members believe that by collaborating on programs,
they will spotlight the art form’s unique ability to spark dialogues, create
opportunities to engage in meaningful conversation, discover unexpected
connections with each other, and inspire new readers.
Poetry Coalition members special March
programs and publications will reach readers in 11 cities and nationwide.
Letras Latinas, in
collaboration with fellow coalition members CantoMundo, Kundiman, the Poetry
Foundation, and Split This Rock, as well as with Best American Poetry Blog and Notre Dame’s Creative Writing
Program, will present five programs.
1. Letras Latinas has partnered with CantoMundo,
a national organization that cultivates a community of Latina/o poets, to post,
throughout the month of March, essays, creative nonfiction, micro-reviews, and a
conversation between writers at Letras
Latinas Blog.
2. Letras Latinas has partnered with Kundiman, a national organization promoting Asian American poets and writers, and Split This Rock, an organization of poets and social justice activists based in Washington, D.C., to present a reading featuring poets Wo Chan and José B. González on March 19 at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C.
2. Letras Latinas has partnered with Kundiman, a national organization promoting Asian American poets and writers, and Split This Rock, an organization of poets and social justice activists based in Washington, D.C., to present a reading featuring poets Wo Chan and José B. González on March 19 at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C.
3. Letras Latinas has partnered with the
Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine and an independent literary
organization based in Chicago, and Kundiman, to present a reading featuring
poets Emmy Pérez, José B. González, Tarfia Faizullah, and Hieu Minh Nguyen on
March 29 at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.
4. Letras Latinas has partnered with Best American Poetry Blog to present,
throughout the month of March, poems by Latina/o poets that engage with the
theme of migration.
5. Letras Latinas has partnered with
Notre Dame’s Creative Writing Program to hold a campus event on March 30
that will feature students, faculty, staff and community members sharing
poems around the theme of migration and in support of Notre Dame’s DACA
students.
To learn more about the Poetry
Coalition and more of its March programs, please visit www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/poetry-coalition. Or, by following the hashtags #PoetryCoalition and
#WeComeFromEverything.
current Poetry Coalition members
include:
Academy of American Poets, New York, NY
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers/National Student Poets Program, New York, NY
Asian American Writers’ Workshop, New York, NY
Academy of American Poets, New York, NY
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers/National Student Poets Program, New York, NY
Asian American Writers’ Workshop, New York, NY
Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles, CA
CantoMundo, New York, NY
Cave Canem Foundation, New York, NY
Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Newark, NJ
Kundiman, New York, NY
Lambda Literary, Los Angeles, CA
Letras Latinas at Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, Notre Dame, IN
Mass Poetry, Salem, MA
O, Miami, Miami, FL
Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives at SFSU, San Francisco, CA
Poetry Foundation, Chicago, IL
The Poetry Project, New York, NY
Poetry Society of America, New York, NY
Poets House, New York, NY
Split This Rock, Washington, D.C.
University of Arizona Poetry Center, Tucson, AZ
Urban Word//National Youth Poet Laureate Program, Los Angeles, CA
Wick Poetry Center, Kent, OH
Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI
CantoMundo, New York, NY
Cave Canem Foundation, New York, NY
Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Newark, NJ
Kundiman, New York, NY
Lambda Literary, Los Angeles, CA
Letras Latinas at Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, Notre Dame, IN
Mass Poetry, Salem, MA
O, Miami, Miami, FL
Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives at SFSU, San Francisco, CA
Poetry Foundation, Chicago, IL
The Poetry Project, New York, NY
Poetry Society of America, New York, NY
Poets House, New York, NY
Split This Rock, Washington, D.C.
University of Arizona Poetry Center, Tucson, AZ
Urban Word//National Youth Poet Laureate Program, Los Angeles, CA
Wick Poetry Center, Kent, OH
Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI
About the Poetry Coalition
With support from Lannan Foundation, poetry organizations met in November 2015 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to begin discussing how they might join forces to enhance the visibility of the art form and its impact on people’s everyday lives. Contrary to the public perception that interest in poetry is waning, over the past few years, these organizations have been witnessed increases in the number of students participating in poetry recitation and spoken word events, visitors to poetry websites, individuals attending poetry readings, and young poets taking to social media to share their work. From this meeting, the Poetry Coalition has emerged. It is dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and communities, and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.
With support from Lannan Foundation, poetry organizations met in November 2015 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to begin discussing how they might join forces to enhance the visibility of the art form and its impact on people’s everyday lives. Contrary to the public perception that interest in poetry is waning, over the past few years, these organizations have been witnessed increases in the number of students participating in poetry recitation and spoken word events, visitors to poetry websites, individuals attending poetry readings, and young poets taking to social media to share their work. From this meeting, the Poetry Coalition has emerged. It is dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and communities, and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.
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