Latinx Poetics: An Evening of Jazz and Poetry

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino Washington, DC

About the event:

April is National Poetry Month and National Museum of the American Latino invites you to celebrate! Experience performances by the students of Gallaudet University. Enjoy readings by National Humanities Medal Recipient, Richard Blanco and author, Ruben Quesada, in an onstage conversation with ire’ne lara silva and féi hernandez. Then unwind in the Jazz Lounge with refreshments, signature cocktails and the musical stylings of the Pepe Gonzalez Jazz Quartet featuring performances by Sami Miranda, and Darrel Alejandro Holnes. Hasta la noche!

More event information: https://latino.si.edu/events/latinx-poetics-evening-jazz-and-poetry

Cover of Latinx Poetics: Essays on the art of Poetry, edited by Ruben QuesadaAbout the book:

Latinx Poetics: Essays on the Art of Poetry collects personal and academic writing from Latino, Latin American, Latinx, and Luso poets about the nature of poetry and its practice. At the heart of this anthology lies the intersection of history, language, and the human experience. The collection explores the ways in which a people’s history and language are vital to the development of a poet’s imagination and insists that the meaning and value of poetry are necessary to understand the history and future of a people. The Latinx community is not a monolith, and accordingly the poets assembled here vary in style, language, and nationality. The pieces selected expose the depth of existing verse and scholarship by poets and scholars including Brenda Cárdenas, Daniel Borzutzky, Orlando Menes, and over a dozen more.

The essays not only expand the poetic landscape but extend Latinx and Latin American linguistic and geographical boundaries. Writers, educators, and students will find awareness, purpose, and inspiration in this one-of-a-kind anthology.

About the author:

Ruben Quesada is a poet, translator, and editor. He is the author of Revelations and Next Extinct Mammal and the translator of a collection of selected poems by Luis Cernuda titled Exiled from the Throne of Night. He has served as an editor and coordinator for The RumpusKenyon ReviewAGNIPleiades, and the National Book Critics Circle board. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.