Poets from the new anthology book “En El Cinturón Del Viento” came to Madison to give impassioned readings of their works for the community.
“En El Cinturón Del Viento” is an anthology poetry book written completely in Spanish. It was released last month after Marlene De La Cruz-Guzmán worked with 29 poets, including herself, across the Midwest for a first-of-its-kind collection of works composed. “En El Cinturón Del Viento” presents a unique, rarely seen in the United States book that allows poets to express themselves richly through cultural heritage that can only be done through Spanish. Common themes throughout the book involve upbringing, heritage, and history.
For many of the poets, who come from either Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan or Ohio, it was their first time meeting each other and seeing the book in its finished result.
“I think it’s always refreshing to know what Latinos are doing in the rest of the country. Sometimes we live a little isolated,” said Fernando Olszanski, one of the poets featured in the book. “We have the chance to read our poetry, to meet each other, to know what everybody is doing, and that helps us to grow. I think initiatives like this one are necessary because they are living a part of our identity in this book.”
Being in connection with each other is good for writers to bond, said Manuel Fernandez. He calls writing “a solitary activity,” so to have those with similar interests and language work on a single project helps create a network of like-minded individuals.
The reading was a bit intimidating, some of the poets said in an interview with Madison365, but it felt good to be in a room with each other to experience the results of “En El Cinturón Del Viento.”
“It was intimidating seeing so many good writers here, but having this anthology series that wasn’t a specific topic, it was very interesting to see what other people are writing about, like their perspectives, because your writing can tell a lot about you,” said Jose Martinez.
The work is a start to opening pathways to something greater, Olszanski said. One of the key aspects De La Cruz-Guzmán wanted to accomplish with the anthology series is to bring more opportunities — especially in contemporary Latinx poetry and writing.
That opportunity opened Martinez’s eyes. He describes himself as an amateur. Martinez is a neuroscientist who likes to write. He didn’t particularly believe that he had anything polished enough to be published. Still, after he received an email to collaborate on the book, he pressed on to submit two pieces — “Vienes” and “Anatomía de un crimen.”
For others, like Claudia Cisneros Méndez, an Emmy Award-winning journalist who only recently started writing poetry, she couldn’t believe her work would be featured so soon.
“I never imagined that at this point, very early in my poetry path, I would be in an anthology, and they made it possible,” Cisneros Méndez said. “I always thought that to be in an anthology you had to be like a super famous poet and all that.”
Being in “En El Cinturón Del Viento” inspires her to keep writing poetry.
“I guess, you know how sometimes we are. That we think what we do is useless. So when they invited me, and they let me put my poetry there, I’m like, ‘Okay, maybe it’s not that useless and maybe some people can relate to it,’” Cisneros Méndez said.
De La Cruz-Guzmán hopes to have another similar anthology series sometime in the future. The first one created the avenue, the network and word of mouth for others to know the opportunity is out there, but she wants to take a break before she dives into another entry.
“En El Cinturón Del Viento” is currently available to purchase via Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development’s (LOUD) website or via email at [email protected].
