The Center for the Book, in collaboration with New Hampshire Humanities and the University of New Hampshire, and thanks to a grant from the Library of America, invites you to join us in a celebration of Latino Poetry here in the Granite state. Our celebration will center around the book Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, edited by Rigoberto González, 2024. In early 2025 public libraries around the state will be hosting events on various themes, all being local conversations about Latino Poetry. Each of these conversations will focus on a particular theme and will center on the poems in Latino Poetry: the Library of America Anthology. Copies of the book will be loaned to each library for use in their program thanks to the support of New Hampshire Humanities and Gibson's Bookstore.  Links to each of the hosting libraries and a full schedule of events is at https://www.nhsl.dncr.nh.gov/latino-poetry.

Moultonborough Public Library will host a conversation on the theme of Earth, Landscape, & Myth. Latino poetry emphasizes multiple relationships to the earth, invoking everything from ancestral myths, to profound and reverent attentiveness to landscape, to urgent eco-consciousness. What might Latino poetry have to offer or teach us at a time of deep concern about our environmental future?

To participate, pick up a copy of the book in advance and join us at the Moultonborough Public Library for a conversation on March 4 at 6pm.

Featured Poems related to the theme "Earth, Landscape, & Myth" that will be discussed include:

“Tortilla Smoke: A Genesis” by Natalie Diaz

“Sonata of the Luminous Lagoon” by Vincent Toro

“La Ciguapa” by Elizabeth Acevedo

Participants are also invited to read an essay by Vincent Toro related to the poetry and theme. Read the essay at https://www.latinopoetry.org/essays/earth-landscape-myth.

 

More about the event

For nearly five centuries, the rich tapestry of Latino poetry has been woven from a wealth of languages and cultures. With distinctive rhythms, lyricism, and candor, and nuanced understandings of place, history, and origin, Latino poets have brought dazzling insight to what it means to make a home in America.

Recognition of the beauty and power of this tradition has grown in recent years, with Latino poets receiving two national and twelve state Poet Laureateships, two Pulitzer Prizes, and three National Book Awards. At the same time, the perennial questions confronted by Latino poets—of exile and belonging, language and identity, struggle and solidarity, and labor and landscape—have become ever more urgent.

What does Latino poetry reveal about America? How might it help us imagine a more just, joyful, and capacious future? Places We Call Home seeks to foster nationwide conversation on this vital literature through a groundbreaking new anthology edited by Rigoberto González, events around the country, an online media archive, and a wealth of library resources meant to spur in-depth reflection and discussion on key figures and themes.

This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.

Desde hace cinco siglos, una gran variedad de lenguas y culturas se vienen entretejiendo para formar ese colorido tapiz que es la poesía latina en Estados Unidos. Los poetas latinos nos han permitido ver a Estados Unidos como un hogar a través de originales ritmos, gran lirismo y candor; nos han brindado sugerentes visiones de lo que llamamos “lugar,”  “historia” y “origen.”

En años recientes, la poesía latina viene adquiriendo el reconocimiento que se merece por su belleza y su añeja tradición. Evidencia de ello es el hecho de que varios poetas latinos han sido merecedores de dos galardones a nivel nacional y doce a nivel estatal, dos premios Pulitzer y tres Premios Nacionales del Libro. Asimismo, las preguntas existenciales y los retos sociales que enfrentan estos poetas— el exilio y la pertenencia, el lenguaje y la identidad, la lucha y la solidaridad, la labor y la tierra—se vuelven cada vez más urgentes.

¿Qué nos revela la poesía latina sobre los Estados Unidos ? ¿De qué manera nos ayuda a imaginar un futuro más justo, jubiloso, y esperanzador ? Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar) busca fomentar una conversación de impacto nacional sobre la poesía latina a través de una nueva antología sin precedentes, eventos por todo el país, un archivo multimedia,  y una gran cantidad de recursos bibliotecarios destinados a inspirar discusiones e interpretaciones de fondo sobre figuras y temas imprescindibles.

Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar) es una gran iniciativa pública en el campo de las humanidades, que se proyecta para el 2024 – 2025. Es dirigida por Library of América con el generoso apoyo del Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades y Emerson Collective.