Latino Poetry presentation and discussion with Magdalena Gomez

Jacob Edwards Library

Thursday, Mar. 27, 6:00-7:30 pm

The Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to present the second part of the Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home. This program is presented as part of a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective. This evening’s event will be led by Magdalena Gómez who will read some of her poetry and with musical interludes provided by Gian Carlo Buscaglia. The audience is invited to participate in the program and read their poetry at the event, as well.

Please note the earlier start time of 6 pm. The event will close at 7:30 pm

Magdalena Gómez, Poet Laureate of Springfield, MA (2019-2022) and an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow (2021-2022) has been a cultural worker since 1976. Her memoir noir, Mi’ja, received the 2024 International Latino Book Award, in the autobiography category. In 2019 she received the Latinas 50 Plus Literature Award at Fordham University and the Latinx Excellence on the Hill Award from the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus of MA at the State House. Her solo play on iconoclastic Puerto Rican labor leader, activist, feminist and journalist Luisa Capetillo, (October 28, 1879 – April 10, 1922) is included in The Routledge Companion to Latine Theatre and Performance (2024). Ms. Gómez has been a volunteer writer for An African American Point of View for over fourteen years. She was the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Springfield’s first intergenerational Latinx theater, Teatro V!da and the youth open mic series, Ign!te the M!c – from 2006 – 2020. She also initiated and helped launch the first public LGBTQIA2S+ open mic series in Western Massachusetts at the Bing Arts Center. She is currently working on the sequel to her memoir, a new collection of poetry, and a new multi-media solo show based on her memoir. Ms. Gómez is currently a Commissioner with the Massachusetts Commission in the Status of Women for Hampden County and a Trustee with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Visit Mija Memoir or Latina Poet to learn more.

This is a participatory event and there will be an opportunity for poets in the audience to share their work too! Please feel invited to bring your poetry to read at the event.

Music by Gian Carlo Buscaglia on guitar. A recognized troubadour who travels in the New England states, as well as having established residencies in Boston and Providence.

For nearly five centuries, the rich tapestry of Latino poetry has been woven from a wealth of languages and cultures. With distinctive rhythms, lyricism, and candor, and nuanced understandings of place, history, and origin, Latino poets have brought dazzling insight to what it means to make a home in America.

Recognition of the beauty and power of this tradition has grown in recent years, with Latino poets receiving two national and twelve state Poet Laureateships, two Pulitzer Prizes, and three National Book Awards. At the same time, the perennial questions confronted by Latino poets—of exile and belonging, language and identity, struggle and solidarity, and labor and landscape—have become ever more urgent.

What does Latino poetry reveal about America? How might it help us imagine a more just, joyful, and capacious future? Places We Call Home seeks to foster nationwide conversation on this vital literature through a groundbreaking new anthology edited by Rigoberto González, events around the country, an online media archive, and a wealth of library resources meant to spur in-depth reflection and discussion on key figures and themes.

Funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective, Places We Call Home is directed by Library of America and presented in partnership with the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; the Academy of American Poets; Cave Canem; Poetry Society of America; and the National Book Foundation, among others.

Library of America is a nonprofit organization that champions our nation’s cultural heritage by publishing America’s greatest writing in authoritative new editions and providing resources for readers to explore this rich, living legacy.

Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar) es una gran iniciativa pública en el campo de las humanidades, que se proyecta para el 2024 – 2025. Es dirigida por Library of América con el generoso apoyo del Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades y Emerson Collective.
Desde hace cinco siglos, una gran variedad de lenguas y culturas se vienen entretejiendo para formar ese colorido tapiz que es la poesía latina en Estados Unidos. Los poetas latinos nos han permitido ver a Estados Unidos como un hogar a través de originales ritmos, gran lirismo y candor; nos han brindado sugerentes visiones de lo que llamamos “lugar,”  “historia” y “origen.”

En años recientes, la poesía latina viene adquiriendo el reconocimiento que se merece por su belleza y su añeja tradición. Evidencia de ello es el hecho de que varios poetas latinos han sido merecedores de dos galardones a nivel nacional y doce a nivel estatal, dos premios Pulitzer y tres Premios Nacionales del Libro. Asimismo, las preguntas existenciales y los retos sociales que enfrentan estos poetas— el exilio y la pertenencia, el lenguaje y la identidad, la lucha y la solidaridad, la labor y la tierra—se vuelven cada vez más urgentes.

¿Qué nos revela la poesía latina sobre los Estados Unidos ? ¿De qué manera nos ayuda a imaginar un futuro más justo, jubiloso, y esperanzador ? Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar) busca fomentar una conversación de impacto nacional sobre la poesía latina a través de una nueva antología sin precedentes, eventos por todo el país, un archivo multimedia,  y una gran cantidad de recursos bibliotecarios destinados a inspirar discusiones e interpretaciones de fondo sobre figuras y temas imprescindibles.

Places We Call Home es un proyecto financiado por el Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades y Emerson Collective, dirigido por Library of America. Es presentado en colaboración con the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; the Academy of American Poets; Cave Canem; Poetry Society of America; y the National Book Foundation entre otras organizaciones
Library of America es una organización no lucrativa que se dedica a enaltecer el legado cultural norteamericano a través de la publicación de obras imprescindibles en ediciones autorizadas. También procura apoyo y recursos al público lector con el fin de mantener y enriquecer la vida de esta gran herencia.