AWP Panel on Poetry and Politics Tomorrow

I'm at the Hilton tonight (great Priceline deal) in Atlanta. Come find me. Tonight join us in celebrating the work of local Georgia poet, Judith Cofer, one of my favorite Borinquen poets, at the off-site Con Tinta event. And, come buy my book, DRIVE: The First Quartet, or exchange. My publisher, Wings Press, just signed a big contract with a major distributor - so no more book fairs and he's not here this year. Otherwise, I don't know if anyone is carrying them. Tomorrow morning, join me, Wendy Barker, Alicia Ostriker, Kimiko Hahn and others for a panel on poetry and politics.

Saturday, March 3
9:00 - 10:45
Hilton Towers - Atlanta
Salon C
2nd Floor

S111. Does Poetry Make Nothing Happen?: Politics and the Poet. (Wendy Barker, Ralph Black, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Kimiko Hahn, Alicia Ostriker, Kevin Clark) In a time when Earth's future seems in the balance, a poet may feel only, to quote W. S. Merwin, "another priest of ornaments." Yet poets have always witnessed and warned of crises-Homer, Chaucer, Blake, Whitman, Celan, Neruda, and Ahkmatova were all political poets. Our panelists will read from their own poems, and discuss the problems they face and the strategies they employ to address their concerns.
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Con Tinta Celebration
Friday, March 2
6:30-8:00 p.m.

Mitra Restaurant
(Directions from Conference Hotel to Mitra Restaurant are below)

818 Juniper Street NE, Atlanta GA 30308
www.mitrarestaurant.com / 404-875-5515

Open Buffet * Cash Bar
Free Admission * Public is Invited

Featuring an award presentation to
Judith Ortiz Cofer

With a reading by Poets featured in
The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry
(A Camino del Sol title from the University of Arizona Press)
edited by Francisco Aragón

From: Hilton Atlanta, AWP Conference Hotel:
255 Courtland St Ne Atlanta, GA 30303-1265

To: Mitra Restaurant, Con Tinta Celebration Venue
818 Juniper St Ne Atlanta, GA 30308-1312

Driving Directions:

1. Start out going SOUTH on COURTLAND ST NE
toward HARRIS ST NE. (.3 miles)
2. Turn LEFT onto HARRIS ST NE. (0.12 miles)
3. Turn LEFT onto PIEDMONT AVE NE. (1.21 miles)
4. Turn LEFT onto 7TH ST NE. (0.09 miles)
5. Turn LEFT onto JUNIPER ST NE. (0.11 miles)
6. End at 818 Juniper St Ne Atlanta, GA 30308-1312 US

Total Estimated Time: 4 minutes; Total Distance: 1.55 miles
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CON TINTA is a coalition of cultural activists (Chicano/Latino poets and writers) who believe in affirming a positive and pro-active presence in American literature. We come together in the spirit of intellectual exchange, of creating dialogue with our communities and beyond, of recognizing our literary and social histories, and of establishing alliances with other cultural and political organizations.

E-mail: theclica[AT]hotmail.com
www.continta.org (under construction)