The Writer’s Center presents an informative and inspiring symposium addressing the subject of Latine heritage in literature and popular culture, offering free creative writing workshops followed by a panel discussion. Featured writers include Lupita Aquino, Patricia Coral, and Samuel “Sami” Miranda, moderated by Ofelia Montelongo. The symposium concludes with a reception for all attendees.
All events are FREE and open to the public. Limited space, registration required. The workshops are simultaneous, so please only sign up for ONE. Scroll down to register!
The Workshops | 1:30-3:00pm
Please register for ONE workshop using the form below. Workshop registration includes admission to the panel discussion and reception.
Social Media for Writers
Mixed Genre
Workshop Leader: Lupita Aquino
BookTok! Bookstagram! Literary social media spaces o my! In this workshop participants will have the chance to learn more about online social media communities that exist and the best way to engage with these communities as well as participate in them as either a reader or author looking to promote their work.Vidas en Movimiento: A Multi-genre Workshop
Mixed Genre
Workshop Leader: Patricia Coral
In this generative and multi-genre workshop we’ll engage with the work of Latinx writers and artists that explore concepts of space, place, time, and movement. We’ll use research-based strategies and exercises to connect with our creativity and generate new writing in the literary genre of our choice. At the end of the workshop, participants will have several short drafts that they could work on or incorporate into longer projects. All experience levels are welcome.Group Poetry
Workshop Leader: Samuel Miranda
This workshop will have participants write individual poems in response to a prompt, then break into groups in order to find similarities and differences in their responses, then create a poem that represents the group. Participants are then asked to think about how they would perform the poem, and as a group, deliver the poem to the other groups.
Please register for ONE workshop using the form below. Workshop registration includes admission to the panel discussion and reception.
The Panel | 3:15-4:15pm
To attend the panel and reception, please register for one of the workshops listed above.
Our workshop leaders are joined by moderator Ofelia Montelongo for a discussion on the current situation and future of the Latine Literary Community. Reception to follow.. Reception to follow.
The Participants
Lupita Aquino—better known as Lupita Reads—is a passionate literary enthusiast amplifying and highlighting books through Instagram and TikTok. When she’s not reading, you can catch her occasionally writing about books for Today.com, She Reads dot com, and for her substack, where she spotlights Latine authors and their books on a weekly basis. She lives in the greater Washington DC area and enjoys visiting libraries and local bookstores with her family on the weekend.
Patricia Coral is a bilingual Puerto Rican writer and the Director of Events at Politics and Prose Bookstore. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from American University, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of FOLIO. Patricia writes fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, but frequently her words find their home in-between. She is a recipient of The Myra Sklarew Award and her work has been featured in Fireside Fiction, Literal Magazine, Houston Public Media, and Grace and Gravity, among others. Her memoir, Women Surrounded by Water, is forthcoming in 2024. Find more at patriciacoral.com.
Samuel “Sami” Miranda grew up in the South Bronx and resides in Washington, DC. He is a visual artist, poet, and teacher. He is the author of Protection from Erasure, published by Jaded Ibis Press, Departure, a chapbook published by Central Square Press, and We Is, published by Zozobra Publishing. He has read his work throughout the DC area, as well as cities around the country and Madrid. His poetry is also included in “La Manplesa” a documentary film about the 1991 uprisings in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of DC and was used as part of the DC episode for John Leguizamo’s show, “Leguizamo Does America.” He co-directed and co-produced a film about bass player Pepe Gonzalez which uses a conversation between Pepe’s music and his poetry as the foundation and was included in the DC DoxFilm Festival. He is currently working on collaborative projects with musicians, filmmakers and visual artists, including a short documentary film about the DC poetry scene in the 90s. Samuel’s artwork has been exhibited internationally in Puerto Rico and Madrid, as well as New York and Washington, DC. Most recently, Samuel’s artwork has been included in the Smithsonian’s new Molina Family Latino Gallery inaugural exhibition ¡Presente! His artwork has been included in University and private collections. Samuel is the Board Chair at the American Poetry Museum where he oversees monthly poetry readings that bring jazz and poetry into conversation and curates visual arts exhibits.
Ofelia Montelongo is a bilingual writer from Mexico. She has an MBA in Strategic Leadership & an MA in Latin American Literature. Her work has been published in The Rumpus, Latino Book Review, Los Acentos Review, and elsewhere. She currently teaches at the University of Maryland and she is a PEN/Faulkner writer in residence, a Macondista & a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow. ofeliamontelongo.com
If you need an accommodation for this event, please contact us at access@writer.org. We will attempt to fulfill all requests, but advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility services.
Please register for ONE workshop using the form below.Workshop registration includes admission to the panel discussion and reception.
If a workshop is full, you can join the waitlist by sending an email to amy.freeman@writer.org specifying the workshop you’re interested in attending.
Source:: https://writer.org/event/latine-tall/
Later Event: June 1