Thursday, September 7th, 7:00 p.m.
First Unitarian Church
160 N. 3rd Street, San José
For tickets visit: Eventbrite
The 9th Annual San José Poetry Festival presents Lorna Dee Cervantes, Matt Sedillo, Rachelle Escamilla and Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo.
This is Day One of our four-day festival! Check out the complete list of events that are part of the 9th Annual San José Poetry Festival! Our festival pass will get you into all live events and online events. This event is free to all youth aged 19 and under and to those with a festival pass . $20 for general public and $15 for PCSJ Members. Admission may be purchased at the door. For tickets visit: bit.ly/pcsjtix
Lorna Dee Cervantes is a Chicana poet from San José, California now based in Seattle, Washington. She is best known for her first poetry collection, the bilingual, Emplumada, which won the American Book Award. She has received many honors and awards. Her most recently published book April on Olympia (Marsh Hawk Press) is available from SPDbooks.org. http://www.lornadeecervantes.com
Matt Sedillo was born in El Sereno, California in 1981. His highly acclaimed poetry is written from the vantage point of a second generation Chicano born in an era of diminishing opportunities & a crumbling economy. His poetry has been published widely and he has presented his poetry in universities and locations worldwide. Published by FlowerSong Press, founder of Martillo Press. http://www.mattsedillo.com
Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo is a visual artist, poet, and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work addresses themes of identity, transformation, and empowerment. Her work is influenced mainly by her Indigenous Mesoamerican ancestry, Mexika (Aztec) artwork and philosophy, Mexican culture, Raza history, and her experiences as an Indigenous Chicana Mexican woman. https://www.ejmontelongo.com/
Rachelle Escamilla is a Chicana poet from the Central Coast of California. Rachelle's award winning first book of poetry, IMAGINARY ANIMAL (Willow Books, 2015/ 2022), is now available as a 2nd edition with a foreword written by Chicano poet Manuel Paul López. Escamilla is the founder of a number of creative writing and poetry programs in the US and China; was the producer and host of the longest running poetry radio show in the US; and was a visiting scholar at the Library of Congress, Hispanic Division where her poetry was recorded for Palabra the library's audio archive and her article, Searching for my Family, about her grandfather's testimony to Congress in 1969 about the working conditions for migrant workers was published by the Library of Congress. Rachelle teaches Contemporary Chincanx/Latinx poetry and Creative Writing Workshops, manages Social Media and Marketing for Philip Glass Days and Nights Festival and works as a model and actress. https://www.poetita.org/
San José Poetry Festival 2023 is presented by Poetry Center San José and is sponsored in part by: Festival and Cultural Affairs grants from the City of San José; a grant from SVCreates, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant; support from the offices of San José City Council Members David Cohen (D4) and Peter Ortiz (D5); Literary Arts Emergency Fund supported by the Mellon Foundation; and with support from Anne & Mark's Art Party, Applied Materials Foundation, Brandenburg Family Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. We thank Four Points by Sheraton for hotel accommodations. We would like to acknowledge and offer our deepest gratitude to past and current venues worthy of your support: Art Boutiki, Books Inc., Caravan Lounge, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, First Unitarian Church of San José, History/San José, MACLA, Mama Kin, Recycle Bookstore, Tabard Theatre, Willow Glen Public Library and Works/San José. Please support these spaces however you can. And we thank all our volunteers whose time and effort make this festival possible.