Midwest Mujeres Collective will host a poetry reading and open mic at A Room of One’s Own on Sunday, Sept. 22 after it won a grant from the Library of America’s (LOA) Latino Poetry Initiative and Anthology.
Three Wisconsin Chicana poets will read their own poetry from the Latino Poetry Initiative and Anthology’s continued anthology. Midwest Mujeres, a regional mentoring program that supports BIPOC women to help grow their businesses, is one of 75 organizations around the country that received a grant to host poetry workshops and readings.
“We are honored to receive this grant and be part of such a meaningful initiative,” said
Araceli Esparza, founder of Midwest Mujeres. “This event celebrates Chicana voices
and stories from Wisconsin, and we look forward to engaging our community in this
important conversation.”
Poets include prior Madison Poet Laureate Angie Trudell Vasquez, Dana Maya and Melanie Hernandez.
Vazquez is a multi-published poet, writer, performer and activist. She is a third-generation Mexican American from Iowa. Her poems have appeared in multiple poetry collections.
Maya is a longtime instructor, poet and essayist. She previously instructed at Madison College and served as an editor and research advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Hernandez is a multi-published poet who writes on diaspora through the Chicana lens. She is a long-time educator as a bilingual special education teacher and currently sits as the family engagement facilitator in the Oconomowoc Area School District.
Poets will read from a larger anthology series called “The Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home.” The series is centered on Latino poetry’s distinctive rhymes, candor and lyricism while focusing on the Latino diaspora. Poems in the anthology span 500 years in a mix of English and Spanish. Most poems read at the event will be in English, Esparza said.
While excited about the opportunity to be a part of the multi-century-long anthology, Esparza sees it as a paramount moment to highlight Wisconsin’s Latino communities.
“We’ve been talking so much about how important the Latino vote is, given that it’s an election year, and I think Latino poetry is so pivotal in this moment because we are more than just a vote,” Esparza said. “We are whole people. Poetry gives us that imagery, that inspiration, and that empowerment of all of who we are as a people.”
The poetry reading will be held at A Room of One’s Own, 2717 Atwood Ave., on Sept. 22 from 4-6 p.m. It is free to attend. Masks are required and will be handed out upon entering.
