IU students and Bloomington community members will have the opportunity to interact with United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera at ¡Poesía Now!, a day-long event Friday in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
Herrera will join the greater Bloomington community in a reading of his own work and a question and answer session. He will also assist in writing workshops through the event, which is free, but ticketed.
“We invited Mr. Herrera to Bloomington to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and to experience the power of his poetry,” said John Nieto-Phillips, associate professor of history and Latino studies. “As the first Latino to be named the U.S. Poet Laureate, he raises our collective voice and gives visibility to our lives.”
IU graduate students will have the opportunity to have lunch with Herrera. Following the luncheon, Herrera will engage with students from high school to graduate school as they write and read poetry.
“For many students, putting words and feelings to paper involves courage,” Nieto-Phillips said. “We want to take a step forward together and encourage students to find their individual voices while also learning from one another.”
Herrera was appointed the 21st U.S. poet laureate in 2015. Herrera is the first Latino to have the title since the poet laureate selection process began in 1986.
In addition to serving as a U.S. poetry authority, Herrera remains an activist for youth and migrant issues. Many of Herrera’s works involves issues within the Hispanic community.
“It was his work as a community activist and social organizer that helped us imagine this event as bringing together campus and community,” Assistant Professor of English Alberto Varon said.
Nieto-Phillips said the event is designed to bring the community together for poetry and the celebration of Latino culture within Bloomington.
“His work and his message is also about building bridges and not walls,” Nieto-Phillips said. “It’s about how poetry can create community.”
The event is sponsored by a variety of IU organizations and departments including the Latino studies program, the English department and La Casa Latino Cultural Center.
“As much as the event provides a moment to celebrate the national recognition of Latino culture, we also saw this as an opportunity to celebrate our own accomplishments here in Bloomington, to celebrate the long-standing and tightly knit local Latino community,” Varon said. “IU’s Latino studies program is a robust, vibrant and growing academic program, and this was a great opportunity to highlight the mutually supportive relationship between campus and community.”
