Letras Latinas, the literary program of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies ( ILS ), has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts ( NEA ) to fund the final stop of “The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry ON TOUR .”
Named after the award-winning anthology edited by Letras Latinas director Francisco Aragn, the tour has traveled to six cities in the past two years and concludes Oct. 29 (Thursday) at Poet’s House in New York. The tour began in Palm Beach, Fla., and has traveled to Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, Berkeley, Calif.,and Kansas City, Mo.
“Our tour partner, the Guild Complex of Chicago, submitted the grant request,” Aragn said. “And the fact that the NEA approved it is testimony to how well the tour has gone. I think it also helped that the anthology was awarded an International Latino Book Award last year.”
In addition to the Guild Complex, the tour has received support from the National Association of Latino Art and Culture and private donors.
The NEA grant also is helping fund Palabra Pura, a bilingual poetry reading series in Chicago, which also is a joint venture between Letras Latinas and the Guild Complex. Both the tour and the series feature the work of U.S.-based Latino and Latina poets.
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA strives to foster, preserve and promote excellence in the arts, to bring art to all Americans, and to provide leadership in arts education.
Letras Latinas seeks to enhance the visibility, appreciation and study of Latino literature, both on and off the Notre Dame campus, with a focus on projects that identify and support emerging Latino writers.
Contact: Francisco Aragn, faragon@nd.edu
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on October 12, 2009.