Latino Poetry Celebration

Saturday, October 5

12 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Poetry Discussion

12 p.m. – 1 p.m.

Dr. Kevin Meehan and Dr. Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés will address several themes found in the Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology edited by Rigoberto González. Themes to be discussed include family, community, and our connections to inherited speech and music. Two of the poets that will be discussed include Poet Laureate and 2023 MacArthur Fellow awardee and Pedro Pietri, co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. This will be followed by a Q&A period.

Musical performance based on Latinx Poets  

1 p.m. - 2 pm.

Kevin Meehan, Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés, and Jorge Milanés will perform a musical program of pieces inspired by Latinx poets such as Pedro Pietri, Nicolás Guillén, and more.   Rodríguez Milanés will also perform original poems along with musical accompaniment.

Dr. Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés is a Professor of English, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Central Florida. She is the author of Everyday Chica, winner of the 2010 Longleaf Press Poetry Award and Marielitos, Balseros and Other Exiles. Dr. Kevin Meehan is a Professor of English and Director of the Haitian Studies Project, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Central Florida. Jorge Milanés is a percussionist and vocalist and also affiliated with UCF via the Department of Housing & Residence Life.

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. For additional information, please visit www.latinopoetry.org.