A special panel for poetry month with Lupita Aquino.
Join us for a captivating panel to celebrate National Poetry Month featuring three remarkable poets and their latest works. Samuel Miranda's "Protection from Erasure," Rigoberto González's "To the Boy Who Was Night," and José Olivarez's groundbreaking collection “Promises of Gold”, all delve into themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of love. Don't miss this insightful discussion on poetry's power to illuminate the human experience across cultures and generations.
Rigoberto González is the author of twenty books of poetry and prose, including What Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth: A Memoir of Brotherhood, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Autobiography. His most recent publication is To the Boy Who Was Night: Poems Selected and New. His awards include Lannan, Guggenheim, NEA, NYFA, and USA Rolón fellowships, the PEN/ Voelcker Award, the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets, and the Shelley Memorial Prize from the Poetry Society of America. A former critic-at-large for the LA Times and contributing editor for Poets & Writers Magazine, he is the series editor for the Camino del Sol Latinx Literary Series at the University of Arizona Press. Currently, he’s Distinguished Professor of English and the director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Rutgers-Newark, the State University of New Jersey.
Samuel "Sami" Miranda grew up in the South Bronx and resides in Washington, DC. He is a visual artist, poet, and teacher. He is the author of Protection from Erasure, published by Jaded Ibis Press, Departure, a chapbook published by Central Square Press, and We Is, published by Zozobra Publishing. He is currently working on collaborative projects with musicians, visual artists and filmmakers. Samuel's artwork has been exhibited internationally in Puerto Rico and Madrid, as well as New York and Washington, DC. Most recently, Samuel's artwork has been included in the Smithsonian's new Molina Family Latino Gallery inaugural exhibition ¡Presente! His artwork has been included in university and private collections. Films he co-produced and co-directed, "Hiding Place", "Desert Poems" and "Spanish Joe Remembers" have been included in film festivals in DC, Berlin, the Netherlands, Madrid, Houston, Bethesda, Seattle and Milwaukee.
José Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants, and the author of two collections of poems, including, most recently, Promises of Gold—which was long listed for the 2023 National Book Awards. His debut book of poems, Citizen Illegal, was a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and a winner of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize. Along with Felicia Rose Chavez and Willie Perdomo, he co-edited the poetry anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT. Alongside Antonio Salazar, he published the hybrid book, Por Siempre in 2023.
Lupita Aquino—better known as @Lupita.Reads on Instagram and TikTok, passionately spreads her love for books online. Alongside her vibrant online presence, she has contributed insightful book coverage to outlets such as TODAY.com, Aster(ix) Literary Journal, She Reads, The Washington Independent Review of Books, and many more. Notably, Lupita has served as a judge for the 2023 Louise Meriwether First Prize for the Feminist Press and was on the Selection Committee for the Aspen Words Literary Prize in 2021. When not immersed in books, she enjoys exploring local bookstores and libraries with her wife and son.
AGE GROUP: | Seniors | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Poetry Month | Author Talk |
