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Latina Poetry is Focus of 脕lvarez Seminar
Presentations to showcase award-winning poet, playwright, and educator who look at how writing can sharpen self-awareness

The Mexico, the Americas, and Spain (MAS) Program at 性爱天堂 will present the 2018 脕lvarez Seminar under the theme of 鈥淟atina Poetry Across the Americas,鈥 featuring three distinctive presentations by Latina poets. Events will occur Feb. 1, March 1, and April 19 鈥 all are free and open to the public.

Denice Frohman, a poet, writer, performer, and educator, who will present聽"In Between Worlds: Poetry of Reclamation" at 6 p.m.聽Thursday, Feb. 聽1 at the Holt Center, 106 Oakmont Court. Light refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m.

Frohman鈥檚 work explores the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. She is the 2013 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, 2014 CantoMundo Fellow, and 2013 Hispanic Choice Award Winner. Her work has been featured on ESPN, in the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Refinery29, and is forthcoming in聽Nepantla: An Anthology of Queer Poets of Color. She has performed and taught at more than 200 colleges and universities; hundreds of high schools, non-profits, and cultural arts spaces; and at The White House in 2016. She has a master鈥檚 degree 聽in education and works with the Philly Youth Poetry Movement.

Amalia Ortiz, a poet and playwright, who will present excerpts from 鈥淭he Canci贸n Cannibal Cabaret鈥 at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 1 in Northrup Hall 040. Light refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m.

The work Ortiz will present is a musical and poetry experiment that is part radio play and part concept album inspired by current issues of social injustice. NBC Latino named her poetry book 聽Rant. Chant. Chisme. one of 鈥10 Great Latino Books of 2015,鈥 and it received the 2015 Writers' League of Texas Poetry Discovery Prize. She was awarded the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation Grant and a writing residency at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. She is a CantoMundo Fellow and a Hedgebrook writer in residence alumna. Ortiz received her MFA in creative writing from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Analicia Sotelo, author and poet, who will discuss 鈥淰irgin Territory: Latinidad, Femininity & Artistic Practice鈥 at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 19 at the Holt Center, 106 Oakmont Court. Light refreshments will be served at 5:30 p.m.

Sotelo 鈥08 is the author of聽Virgin, the inaugural winner of the Jake Adam York Prize, selected by Ross Gay, to be published by Milkweed Editions in February. She is also the author of the chapbook聽Nonstop Godhead, selected by Rigoberto Gonz谩lez for the 2016 Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship 30 and Under, and her poem 鈥淚鈥檓 Trying to Write a Poem About a Virgin and It鈥檚 Awful鈥 was selected for Best New Poets 2015. Sotelo is the 2016 DISQUIET International Literary Prize winner in poetry. She holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English from 性爱天堂 and an MFA in poetry from the University of Houston. She works for Writers in the Schools in Houston.

The 脕lvarez Seminar is made possible by the Carlos and Mal煤 脕lvarez Fund for MAS, Mexico, the Americas, and Spain at 性爱天堂. For more information about the 2018 脕lvarez Seminar, contact the MAS office at 210-999-8826.

Susie P. Gonzalez helped tell 性爱天堂's story as part of the University communications team.

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