The summer of racial reckoning that reverberated across the United States in 2020 after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd prompted cultural organizations around the country to undergo long overdue periods of self-scrutiny. “Afro-Latinx Poetry Now” is one response to this reflection—on the part of Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the Institute for Latino Studies, in partnership with the Initiative on Race and Resilience, at the University of Notre Dame.
The six sessions that make up this two-day gathering will strive to create space to center Blackness within the literary community. The visiting poets will be joined by six scholars, who will each illuminate the poets’ oeuvre, respectively, at two sessions. In addition to performing their poems at evening sessions, the poets will each deliver talks on an Afro-Latinx poet of their choosing. In all, then, the work of twelve artists will be celebrated. These in-person sessions will be live-streamed and recorded for maximum amplification.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022
Session 1:
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM EST
Darrel Alejandro Holnes on the poetry of Lorenzo Thomas
Yesenia Montilla on the poetry of Aracelis Girmay
John Murillo on the poetry of Nancy Morejón
Session 2:
3:30 PM – 4:45 PM EST
Pablo José Lopez Oro on the poetry of Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Francisco Robles on the poetry of Yesenia Montilla
John Alba Cutler on the poetry of John Murillo
Session 3:
8:00 PM – 9:15 PM EST
an evening of poetry
Welcome: Mark Sanders (Initiative on Race and Resilience)
Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Yesenia Montilla
John Murillo
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
Session 4:
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM EST
Jasminne Mendez on the poetry of Dianelly Antigua
Roberto Carlos Garcia on the poetry of Willie Perdomo
Raina J. León on the poetry of Alán Pelaez López
Session 5:
3:30 PM – 4:45 PM EST
Judith Rodríguez on the poetry of Jasminne Mendez
Marisel Moreno on the poetry of Roberto Carlos Garcia
Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez on the poetry of Raina J. León
Session 6:
8:00 PM – 9:15 PM EST
an evening of poetry
Welcome: Paloma Garcia-Lopez (Institute for Latino Studies)
Jasminne Mendez
Roberto Carlos Garcia
Raina J. León