Flor y Canto en el Barrio: A Celebration of Latino Poetry
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL JULY 24—26, 2008
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Join Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, Litquake and the San Francisco Public Library for the second installment of our
San Francisco International Poetry Festival entitled
Flor y Canto en el Barrio: A Celebration of Latino Poetry. The festival will take place July 24-26, 2008 at various venues in the Mission District of San Francisco. All events are free and open to the public.
Translated to mean “Flower and Song in the Neighborhood,” the unique festival brings young, unpublished poets alongside authors such as two-time winner of the American Book Award, Alejandro Murguía, and San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman for poetry readings, workshops, and a special exchange of culture and history.
Curated by Alejandro Murguía, the festival will feature poets Lorna Dee Cervantes, Tomas Riley, Leticia Hernandez, Alfredo Arteaga, Roberto Vargas, Marc Piñate and many more. Murguía is the author of This War Called Love (American Book Award, 2003) and Southern Front (American Book Award, 1992).
“Flor y Canto is about the pursuit of peace through the celebration of poetry, art, culture, and friendship,” said Murguía. “We want to bring together people from all walks of life to be part of this extraordinary event.”
Flor y Canto en el Barrio: A Celebration of Latino Poetry is presented in conjunction with the San Francisco International Poetry Festival. While the International Poetry Festival is a biennial event, in the interim years, Friends of the Library present smaller language poetry festivals, such as this year’s Latino Poetry Festival.
The first Latino poetry festival west of the Mississippi was held in 1973 at the University of Southern California, but it was not until 2006 that San Francisco first hosted this event.
“It started out as a small gathering with a few poetry readings in the Mission District,” said Murguía, “This year’s event will include several additional poetry readings, music, workshops, and other activities. It will still embrace the festival’s core purpose of poetry as a bridge of culture and community.”
The Festival will begin on
Thursday, July 24 with a kick-off party at 6:00pm in Balmy Alley (24th St. between Harrison and Folsom) and a Lit Crawl of both established and emerging poets. The Lit Crawl will take place at over six different venues on 24th Street (between Mission and Bryant). Poetry readings and workshops for various ages and interests will continue throughout Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26.
CALENDAR:
Thursday, July 24
6:00 p.m.
Festival kick-off party in Balmy Alley (24th St. between Harrison & Folsom) followed by a Lit Crawl with young poets. Each location will have a different theme. Check out Poets at local cafes in the Mission.
Click here for the poetry crawl map!“Other Voices/Many Americas”Café La Boheme 3318 24th Street
(415) 643-0481
“La Nueva Flor”Philz Coffee 3101 24th St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-9155
“El Corazon de la Misión”Sundance Coffee 3000 24th St
(415) 824-1706
“Breaking Borders”Accion Latina (El Tecolote Headquarters) 2958 24th Street
(415) 648-1045
“Fuerza: From Sor Juana to the Mission”L’s Café 2871 24th St
“Brave New Mundo – Cutting Edge of the 21st Century”Galería de la Raza 2857 24th St. @ Bryant
415.826.8009
Friday, July 25
2:00 p.m.
“The Word From The Street”Tomas Riley of Youth Speaks hosts teen reading at the Mission Branch Library (300 Bartlett St. at 24th St.)
7:00 p.m.
“Nuestra America I”Main Reading featuring six poets at the Mission Cultural Center.
Featured Poets:
Milta Ortiz
Tomas Riley
Jack Hirschman
Alejandro Murguía
Lorna Dee Cervantes
Saturday, July, 26
2:00 p.m.
“The Word Made Perfect: The Art and Craft of Translation”
Translation reading/workshop at the Mission Branch Library (300 Bartlett St. at 24th St.)
Panel:
Judith Ayn Bernhard
Jack Hirschman
Steven Kessler
Barbara Paschke
Katharine Silver
7:00 p.m.
“Nuestra America II”Main Reading featuring six poets at the Mission Cultural Center
Featured Poets:
Alfredo Arteaga
Leticia Hernández
Nina Serrano & Mamacoatl
Roberto Vargas
Daisy Zamora
José Montoya
a special thanks to all our sponsors:
