F164. Are We Latino? The Hazards of Representation

Room 305, Western New England MFA Annex, Level 3
Friday, February 28, 2014
10:30 am to 11:45 am

 

More and more, Latino literature is being canonized, often in celebration of the multicultural Americas. What happens, though, when writers who claim to be Latino don’t write directly about their heritage? We might be told we aren’t “really Latino” by peers, professors, and our own people. This panel starts a new dialogue about the poetics of identity politics in the academy and beyond. In the process, we share approaches to writing and teaching that question the “proper” embodiment of identity.


Participants

Moderator:

Daniel Borzutzky's most recent book is The Book of Interfering Bodies. His translations include books of poetry by Raúl Zurita and Jaime Luis Huenún's Port Trakl. He teaches at Wright College in Chicago. His is the recipient of grants from the NEA and the PEN Foundation.

Carmen Giménez Smith is the editor of Beyond the Field: New Latin@ Writing and, most recently, the poetry collections Milk and Filth and Goodbye, Flicker. She teaches in the MFA program at New Mexico State University, edits Puerto del Sol, and is publisher of Noemi Press.

Paul Martinez Pompa is the author of Pepper Spray and My Kill Adore Him, which was selected for the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize in 2008.

Sandy Florian is the author of five full-length books and serves as editor for Evental Aesthetics. Her most recent book, Boxing the Compass, is published by Noemi Press in collaboration with Letras Latinas.

Rodrigo Toscano is the author of six books of poetry, including Deck of Deeds, and Collapsible Poetics Theater (a 2007 National Poetry Series Selection). His writing has appeared in the anthologies, Against Expression, Diasporic Avant Gardes, and Best American Poetry.

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