Meet our Grantee-Partner: Letras Latinas
Mission: Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS), strives to enhance the visibility, appreciation and study of Latinx literature both on and off the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Letras Latinas puts an emphasis on programs that support newer voices, foster a sense of community among writers, and place Latinx writers in community spaces.
When Francisco Aragón joined the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) in 2003, there was no literary component. To address the gap, he established the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize for authors who had published their first book. He also relocated his California-based Momotombo Press, a chapbook press with the mission of publishing works by Latinx writers who had not published a full-length book in any genre. Shortly thereafter, with funding from the NEA, Aragón and his colleagues started “POETAS Y PINTORES: Artists Conversing with Verse.” This multidisciplinary initiative asked Latinx visual artists to create art inspired by the poems of Latinx poets. These three initiatives formed the ground floor of what was established as “Letras Latinas” in 2004.
Warp and Weft series promotion. Photo courtesy of Letras Latinas.
After receiving a $40,000 Equity in Verse grant in fall 2022, Letras Latinas set out to transform and relaunch its blog, which offers insight and commentary on contemporary letters, especially poetry. The revamped “Letras Latinas Blog 2” (LLB2) publishes reviews, interviews, brief essays, and roundtable discussions. Emerging Puerto Rican poet critic Brittany Torres Riveras’s column, “A House of Our Own,” featuring book reviews and interviews with poets, premiered its second season on LLB2 in February 2023. Alfredo Aguilar and Laura Villareal launched a new column, “Warp & Weft,” with stunning reviews of Cenizas by Cynthia Guardado and Golden Ax by Rio Cortez.
Letras Latinas also produces a video series called “Curated Conversation(s): A Latinx Poetry Show.” The second season creates a transatlantic bridge between Latinx poets from the UK and US through intimate conversations hosted on YouTube. Additionally, it was able to film six video trailers to raise awareness of the Letras Latinas Oral History Project, a video archive of over sixty interviews with poets.
Letras Latinas hosts several poetry events throughout the year. “Latinx Poetics: A One Day Gathering” took place on campus in April 2023 and highlighted the publication of Latinx Poetics: Essays on the Art of Poetry by the University of New Mexico Press.The Equity in Verse grant allowed Letras Latinas to provide respectable honoraria to Sheryl Luna, Adela Najarro, and ire’ne lara silva, the poets who read and participated in a moderated discussion at the event. In June 2023, Letras Latinas celebrated the launch of an electronic literature folio it published at the Los Angeles Review with an event showcasing the work of Los Angeles area Latinx poets.
2024 will mark Letras Latinas’s 20th anniversary. Reflecting on its history, Aragón is proud that Letras Latinas provides emerging Latinx writers with events for sharing their work, venues for publishing their poems, platforms for hosting book reviews and interviews, and financial support. Letras Latinas has also established itself as a leader in promoting diversity and inclusivity for the Latinx writer community. A partnership with Apogee Journal for disabled Latinx poets, “Atlas: Skin/Bone/Blood – Bodymaps in Brown and Black,” is a recent example. Letras Latinas is also working on the Afro-Latinx Poetry Now folio at Chiricú Journal.
Staff are mapping out a constellation of events throughout the anniversary year, including an on-campus celebration featuring current U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. Aragón shared that the Equity in Verse grant has allowed Letras Latinas to carry out the projects outlined in their proposal well beyond initial expectations, and staff look forward to a successful 20th anniversary year of celebrating their achievements.