April 12, 2004

Multicultural Poetry To Be
Focus Of Two-Day Conference

On Thursday and Friday, April 22-23, the Institute of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies and the Department of English will host a major literary event, "Ariel's Wake: Poetry, Diasporas, and American Literature."

The schedule includes poetry readings, book signings, and a scholarly forum on the present and future of American identity and the American literary canon.

This year's conference joins the celebration of National Poetry Month by bringing award-winning poets and scholars to explore multicultural creative production. Poets who will read from and discuss their work are:

Martín Espada (Alabanza: New And Selected Poems; A Mayan Astronomer In Hell's Kitchen);
Julio Marzán (Puerta De Tierra; Translations Without Originals: Poems);
Marge Piercy (Colors Passing Through Us; The Art Of Blessing The Day: Poems With A Jewish Theme; Sleeping With Cats);
Marilyn Chin (Rhapsody In Plain Yellow; The Phoenix Gone, The Terrace Empty); and
Khaled Mattawa (Zodiac Of Echoes; Isma'ilia Eclipse)

The invited scholars are:
Roberto Márquez (Latin American Revolutionary Poetry; Patria O Muerte: The Great Zoo And Other Poems);
Robert Tilton (George Washington: The Man Behind the Myths; Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative);
Veronica Makowsky (Susan Glaspell's Century of American Women; Caroline Gordon: A Biography);
Jerry Philips;
Doug Anderson (The Moon Reflected Fire; Blues For Unemployed Secret Police); and
Lisa Sánchez González (Boricua Literature: A Literary History of the Puerto Rican Diaspora).

All events are free and open to the public, and will take place in the Konover Auditorium at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.

Thursday, April 22
7-9:30 p.m. Marge Piercy and Marilyn Chin: readings and book signing

Friday, April 23,
10 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Scholars forum

2-3:45 p.m. Martín Espada, Julio Marzán, Khaled Mattawa: readings and book signing