CantoMundo Fellows Reading in Austin, July 8th, 7:30pm

For immediate release

Nationally recognized Latino Poets from across the U.S. offer a free public reading in Austin, Texas.

Friday, July 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Free. Open to the public.
Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Arts Center
600 River Street Austin, TX 78701

More than 20 nationally recognized Latino poets from across the U.S. will gather in Austin, Texas, for CantoMundo, a national poetry workshop dedicated to supporting and developing Latina/o poetics.

On Friday, July 8, 2011, at 7:30 p.m., these poets will present a free poetry reading that will be open to the public at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Arts Center. A reception will follow the reading.

These participants in CantoMundo represent the best of Latina/o poetry in the United States. Some of the featured award-winning and nationally recognized poets include: Millicent Borges Acardi (New York City), Francisco Aragón (Washington D.C.), Oscar Bermeo (California), Eduardo Corral (Arizona), Carolina Ebeid (Austin, Texas), Amalia Ortíz (Texas/California), Luivette Resto (California), and ire’ne lara silva (Austin, Texas), among others.

CantoMundo provides a space where Latina/o poets can nurture and enhance their poetics; lecture and learn about aspects of Latina/o poetics currently not being discussed by the mainstream publishers and critics; and network with peer poets to enrich and further disseminate Latina/o poetry. For the complete list of CantoMundo poets, please visit www.cantomundo.org.

Biographies

Millicent Borges Accardi, a Portuguese-American poet, is the author of three books: Injuring Eternity, Woman on a Shaky Bridge (chapbook), and Only More So (forthcoming Salmon Press, Ireland). She has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, Barbara Deming (Money for Women), the Formby Foundation at Texas Tech as well as residencies at Yaddo, Jentel, Vermont Studio, Fundación Valparaíso in Mojacar, and Milkwood in Cesky Krumlov.

Francisco Aragón is the author of Puerta del Sol and Glow of Our Sweat, as well as editor of The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry. He directs Letras Latinas—the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is also the editor of “Canto Cosas,” a book series from Bilingual Press featuring new Latino and Latina poets. For more information, visit: http://franciscoaragon.net.

Born in Ecuador and raised in the Bronx, Oscar Bermeo is the author of the chapbooks Anywhere Avenue, Palimpsest, Heaven Below and To the Break of Dawn. He lives in Oakland, where he teaches creative writing to elementary school students, co-edits Doveglion Press and blogs.

Eduardo C. Corral won the 2011 Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. His first book will be published in April 2012.

Carolina Ebeid was born in West New York, NJ and now lives in Austin, TX where she is a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers and the poetry editor of the Bat City Review. Her poems appear in Agni, Poetry, West Branch, Gulf Coast, 32 Poems, Anti-, Memorious, and many other journals.

Amalia Ortíz is a performance poet and a playwright. After living in Los Angeles for almost five years, she is moving back to Texas this summer.

Luivette Resto was born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico but proudly raised in the Bronx. Her first book of poetry, Unfinished Portrait, was published in 2008 by Tia Chucha Press and was named a finalist for the 2009 Paterson Poetry Prize.

ire’ne lara silva is the author of furia, a collection of poetry, and two chapbooks: ani’mal and INDíGENA. She is the 2008 recipient of the Gloria Anzaldua Milagro Award and an inaugural CantoMundo fellow. Website: www.irenelarasilva.webs.com.

For more information about the event, contact Celeste Mendoza at cmendoza@cantomundo.org or Deborah Paredez at dparedez@cantomundo.org.

International Latino Book Awards 2011

Best Poetry Book – English
First Place, Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina and Latino Writing, Edited by Rigoberto González, University of Arizona Press

Second Place, Flamenco Hips and Red Mud Feet, Dixie Salazar, University of Arizona Press
Second Place, Glow of Our Sweat, Francisco Aragón, Scapegoat Press

Honorable Mention, Torch Song Tango Choir, Julie Sophia Paegle, University of Arizona Press
Honorable Mention, Each and Her, Valerie Martinez, University of Arizona Press
Honorable Mention, Furia, Ire’ne Lara Silva, Mouthfeel Press
Honorable Mention, Flexible Bones, Maria Melendez, University of Arizona Press