April is National Poetry Month. Named ‘Cruel April’ after T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land,” the month celebrates new beginnings and the art of poetry.
This year, the 21st United States Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera, will visit Syracuse for the first time to read his work at Point of Contact annual poetry reading series.
Herrera is a Mexican-American artist known for his bilingual work. An active artist for over five decades, he has published over 30 books in various genres like poetry, short stories and young adult novels. In 2015, Herrera was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate, a position chosen by the Library of Congress. Serving a two-year tenure, he was the first Latino to hold this position and served as a consultant to the Library of Congress and their poetry collections.
Coming to Syracuse is exciting, Herrera said, and he’s interested in exploring the city.
“Poetry is emotional,” Herrera said. “Workshops many times have to be formal and it’s hard, but I want to play, flow and experiment. I want to have fun and I want to explore, that’s the beauty of poetry.”
During his visit, Herrera will lead a poetry reading and two writing workshops at La Casita Cultural Center on 109 Otisco St. The poetry reading will take place on April 4 at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. The workshops will take place on April 3 and April 5.
Bringing Herrera to the city has been years in the making, said Teresita Paniagua, executive director of the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community at Syracuse University.
“Back in 2015, we had reached out to Juan and we were in the process of inviting him to Cruel April,” Paniagua said. “I remember that I wrote to him and I sent him pictures of two murals that our students had created based on some of his books. Those murals are still up in La Casita today. When they named him Poet Laureate, everything changed. We’re really happy that we were now able to coordinate this and that Juan is collaborating with us.”
Another four artists will also participate in the month-long event.
Dashel Hernández Guirado is a contemporary Cuban artist who came to the United States in 2016 to complete a masters degree in public administration at Syracuse University.
Hernández describes himself as a “painter who writes” and has worked in the arts since he was a young boy in Cuba, focusing on visual arts, painting and writing. Hernández, now based in Miami, Florida, will come to Syracuse on April 11 for a poetry reading at the Warehouse Building on 350 W. Fayette St.
“Connecting with people and presenting to an audience enhances the art,” Hernández said. “You can read someone’s work, but nothing compares to sharing the space, breathing the same air and listening to the artist’s voice in person.”
Both Herrera and Hernández will be featured in a poetry collection book alongside other artists. Titled Corresponding Voices, Vol. 15 the book is published by Point of Contact every year and features original works in both Spanish and English. Priced at $10, the book will be available at every poetry reading and later will be available in Point of Contact’s online store.
To see more information on the Cruel April poetry series, including the other artists who will be featured and when each session will be, visit Point of Contact’s website.
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa during a Cruel April reading in 2016.Point of Contact