Delirios del Trabajador

La gente trabajará para vivir,
en lugar de vivir para trabajar...

Eduardo Galeano
El derecho al delirio

Homenaje a Ernesto Cardenal - 18 de abril de 2009

Todas las fotos por Elías Carmona menos la de Juana Goergen por Luis Soto y Cardenal con la pared de ladrillo por Benjamín Anaya.

Interview with the Chicago Public Radio

I was interviewed by Catalina María Johnson for the segment Poetry Series Addresses Issues of Latino Community. The story was aired Wednesday, April 22, 2009 on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.

To listen to the whole interview click on the title of this post.

Meeting La Cisneros

It was great to meet Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street, last week at a luncheon in the Mexican Museum. Here are some pictures of that special moment:

She signed my copy of La casa de Mango Street

I gave her a copy of Poemas callejeros

Sandra and the woman that inspired "Minerva" .

This is a picture of a picture of Sandra Cisneros' parents.

Book Discussions of The House on Mango Street

I will be hosting the following book discussions of The House on Mango Street at the following libraries:

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

West Lawn Public Library
4020 W. 63rd Steet
7:00 P.M.

**************

Saturday, April 25, 2009
South Chicago Public Library
9055 S. Houston
1:00 P.M.

SECRETOS DE TÚ Y YO

Esta será mi venganza:
Que un día llegue a tus manos
el libro de un poeta famoso
y leas estas líneas
que el autor escribió para ti
y tú no lo sepas.
Ernesto Cardenal

Nadie sabe lo que tú y yo sabemos
nadie lo sospecha ni lo cree posible
somos reyes del engaño ocultando secretos
dos farsantes exitosos sin castigo.

Nadie más que tú y yo conocemos
esta historia clandestina de prólogo a fin
somos escritores compartiendo anónimos
dos seudónimos omitidos sin erratas.

Nadie más que yo siente el silencio
estrangulando con mentiras el aire
soy el dedo que atrapa la verdad en la boca
la palabra que fallece sin siguiera tú saberlo.


por JVP

Homenaje a Ernesto Cardenal, Sábado 18 de abril

No dejen de venir este sábado a este tributo que un grupo de poetas de Chicago le ofrecerá a Ernesto Cardenal y al público presente. Cada uno de los poetas escribió poemas inspirados en los poemas de Cardenal y se los presentará esa noche junto al Ballet dominicano Ballet Roto. Será una gran noche de poesía, baile, música y amor a este gran ser humano.

I am very excited to be participating in a very special tribute event to Ernesto Cardenal this Saturday, April 18, 2009. Here are the details of the event:

TRIBUTE TO ERNESTO CARDENAL EVENT

Saturday, April 18, 2009

7:30 pm Dance and Poetry Night: Ernesto Cardenal, Chicago Poets and Ballet Roto
(Mostly in Spanish)

Participants:

ERNESTO CARDENAL

Ballet Roto from Rep. Dominicana: Mercedes Morales and Víctor Ramírez

From Chicago the poets:

Jorge García, Rafael Franco, Jorge Frisancho, Jesús Guerrero, Juana Iris
Goergen, León Leiva Gallardo, Olivia Maciel, Zulema Moret, Marcela Muñoz, Elizabeth
Narváez, Johanny Vázquez Paz, Santiago Weksler, Febronio Zatarain

Post-show hors d'ouvres reception to celebrate Contratiempo and Diálogo Magazines Anniversary. Cash bar.

$15 General Public
$10 Students with ID
FREE FOR NEIU STUDENTS
Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, 777 N. Green Street, Chicago, IL 60622

Ernesto Cardenal will also be at DePaul University Friday, April 17, 2009.

Here's more information about Cardenal:

Pablo Neruda 2009 Award winner FATHER ERNESTO CARDENAL MARTINEZ is one of the most celebrated poets in Latin America and an important Liberation Theologist. Politically and poetically, his work offers a key to understanding contemporary literature and the cultural life of Nicaragua and Latin America. Cardenal was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1965 and was Minister of Culture in Nicaragua until 1987. He has been an advocate for justice and self-determination in Latin America, and in his literary work, poetry and art are intimately linked to politics, He is the founder of Solentiname, a community where popular art and poetry flourished under his leadership in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived for more than 10 years. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, among them the Peace Price of the German Book Trade in 1980, the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award en Sherborn, MA en 1990 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005.

Palabra Pura: Wednesday, April 15 with Dan Vera & Carmen Alicia Murguía

This Wednesday the Guild Complex Palabra Pura brings Dan Vera and Carmen Alicia Murguia. Don't miss this exciting evening and bring your poems for the open mic.

No dejen de venir este miércoles a Palabra Pura. Como siempre, estaré allí como maestra de ceremonia. Traigan sus poemas para el micrófono abierto.

Date:Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - 7:30pm

Time: Reading begins at 7:30PM.
Cost: Free admission.
Location: Décima Musa, 1901 S. Loomis, Chicago, IL

Dan Vera is the author of The Space Between Our Danger and Delight (Beothuk Books, 2008), his first full length collection of poems. His work has appeared in various print and online publications. He is also the Managing Editor of the gay culture journal White Crane, founder of Brookland Area Writers & Artists, and co-publisher of VRZHU Poetry Press. He makes his home in Washington D.C. with his partner Peter Montgomery and their operatic dog, Roofus. For more information, visit DanVera.com

Dan Vera es el autor de The Space Between our Danger and Delight (Beothuk Books, 2008) su primera coleccion extensa de poemas. Sus obras han aparecido en varias publicaciones impresas y en la red. El tambien es el gerente editorial de la publicacion de la cultura gay White Crane, es el fundador de Brookland Area Writers & Artists y ha publicado VRZHU Poetry Press. Reside en Washington D C con su pareja Peter Montgomery y su perro operatico, Rufus. Por mas informacion visite: http://danvera.com/

Carmen Alicia Murguía, a Milwaukee native, is a 1991 graduate of Minnesota's Loft Literary Center's "Writers of Color" program. Under the mentorship of novelist Sandra Benitez and Jewelle Gomez, Carmen has self-published The Voices Inside: Mi Alma, Mi Cuerpo y Mi Espiritu, and The New Carmen! iLa Nueva Bizet! (in this opera our heroine lives!) and can be found at http://lulu.com. A recipient of Milwaukee County Arts Board Art Futures Award, Carmen's poems "Border Crossing" and "When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Mariachi" appear in the unprecedented anthology Between the Heart and the Land: Latina Poets in the Midwest (MARCH/Abrazo Press, 2003).

Canción por si la soledad te enferma el alma

TE REGALO UNA ROSA

Te regalo una rosa. Una rosa del color rosado tenue de mis pezones. Una simple rosa que no es flor sino piel trémula rizada en las esquinas. Un capullo hecho de pedazos de mi piel que no es mi piel sino mi mano, mi abrazo, el hambre en las entrañas, un suspiro en los pulmones. Toma esté botón de mi cuerpo. Ponlo en el tajo abierto de tu solapa. Amárralo apretado en el pulso de tu muñeca. Respira con tus ojos su perfume y llévalo contigo como un escapulario. En el nombre del hombre, la mujer y la rosa, bendigo estas palabras que cargas en el pecho cuando te alejas. Te regalo una rosa, rosa, rosa, tan maravillosa, como blanca nieve, como flor hermosa para que ahorques mi tallo firme con tu abrazo, y sientas las cicatrices de mis espinas rotas. Me regalo a ti sin esperar mucho. Sólo que respires mi esencia, ahora que llegó la primavera.


por JVP

Canción Para los Cuerpos Imperfectamente Perfectos

Para bailar en un viernes y dar muchas vueltas...