The Shared Language of Poetry: Mexico and the United States

The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese of the University of Maryland, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Center for Latin American Studies of Georgetown University, and the Mexican Cultural Institute of the Embassy of Mexico in the United States have the pleasure of inviting you to the symposium: The Shared Language of Poetry. Two countries; fourteen poets; and eight sessions await you!

Hear about the current situation for poetry publishers; the leading role of poetry in the humanities; and the new approaches of this literary discipline brought about by changes in the literary world. Learn about the role of translation as a vehicle for poetic form and intercultural dialogue. Consider the Body Poetic as the subject of desire, chronic illness, aging, and physical disabilities; approach the remapping of Indigenous Poetics that challenge linguistic, geographic, and aesthetic borders, and enjoy two poetic readings.

Please note there are different dates, venues, and times for each panel.

No need to register for each individual panel. Just choose the day when you want to attend.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11
At the Mexican Cultural Institute
2829 16th St., NW Washington, D.C. 20009

10.00 AM – 1.00 PM | Round Table Discussion
In conversation with Gwen Kirkpatrick, Georgetown University and Saúl Sosnowski, UMD

Discussion Question: With the advent of the internet and digital information systems, larger for profit as well as not-for-profit editors have been forced to expand the scope of their publication platforms. At the same time, small online presses have emerged to take advantage of the limited overhead necessary to publish online. Have such changes democratized the publication of poetry, or simply rechanneled already existing hegemonic structures within more traditional editorial channels? What possibilities are open or foreclosed with such unprecedented technological changes?

Participants: Hernán Bravo Varela, Sara Uribe, Tanya Huntington, Sara Borjas, Natalie Scenters-Zapico, Forrest Gander, Judith Santopietro

1.00 – 2.00 PM | Break

2.00 – 5.00 PM | Round Table Discussion

In conversation with Ryan Long, UMD, and Linda Voris, American University

Discussion Question: Throughout the centuries-long history of western university systems, poetry has acted as a figurehead for the humanities. In what ways can poetry today safeguard and sustain disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture?

Participants: Natalia Toledo, Balam Rodrigo, Pura López Colomé, Coral Bracho, Alberto Ruy Sánchez, Inés Hernández Ávila, Francisco Segovia

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12
At the Mexican Cultural Institute
2829 16th St., NW Washington, D.C. 20009

9.30 – 11.00 AM | PANEL I: Revisions and Directions: Poetic Breadth in the 21st Century

The 21st century has brought unprecedented changes to the ways literature is written, read, disseminated, and preserved. In what ways have these systemic changes that have altered the actual materiality of our literary world and experience procured new approaches to poetry?

Moderator: Ana Patricia Rodríguez
UMD Participants: Hernán Bravo Varela, Sara Borjas, Natalie Scenters-Zapico

11.30 AM | Break

11.30 AM – 1.30 PM | PANEL II: The Art of Translation in a Global World

While advanced capitalism, the ease of transportation and the advent of digital information, and the internet have increased global human communication, our global linguistic diversity has decreased. At the same time, translation has often been viewed with suspicion as a genre that forecloses the possibilities of meaning, presents a limited understanding of other cultures, and ultimately threatens the possibility of fully comprehending the other. This panel will delve into the reasons why today, translation is as essential as ever as a vehicle for poetic form, the safeguarding of global linguistic diversity, and intercultural dialogues.

Moderator: Anna Deeny Morales
Georgetown University Participants: Tanya Huntington, Pura López Colomé, Forrest Gander, Francisco Segovia

2.30 – 4.00 PM | PANEL III: The Body Poetic: Representing and Defying

Affect In this panel we will consider the body as a form of sentient knowledge that distinguishes itself from the mind and its possible representations in poetry. We will address the body not only as an object, but a subject of desire, chronic illness, and the havoc it wreaks, aging, and physical disabilities. Ultimately, we will consider diverse forms of physical and kinesthetic knowing along with verse as a means to elicit empathy for the human condition.

Moderator: Juan Carlos Quintero-Herencia
UMD Participants: Coral Bracho, Alberto Ruy Sánchez, Sara Uribe

4.00 PM | Break

4.30 – 6.30 PM | PANEL IV Indigenous Poetics: Linguistic and Geographic Re-mappings

This panel explores how contemporary Indigenous writers in Mexico and the US Southwest creatively engage with and respond to the legacies of European colonization and recent shifts in the political, social, economic, and cultural transformations of their communities. Commenting on the transnational politics and aesthetic practices that inform their work, the participating poets will address how their poetic expression foreground Indigenous ontologies that challenge the linguistic, geographic, and aesthetic borders often imposed on Indigenous literatures.

Moderator: Manuel Cuéllar
George Washington University Participants: Natalia Toledo Paz, Balam Rodrigo, Judith Santopietro, Inés Hernández-Ávila

6.30 – 7.00 PM Closing Remarks

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13

10.00 AM – 1.00 PM | Georgetown University Copley Formal Lounge, Copley Hall 37th and O Streets, NW Washington, DC 20057

Bilingual Poetic Readings: Anna Deeny, coordinator Balam Rodrigo Pura López Colomé Alberto Ruy Sánchez Natalie Scenters-Zapico Inés Hernández-Ávila

3.00 – 6.00 PM | University of Maryland. Stamp Student Union, Prince George’s Room, 3972 Campus Drive. College Park, MD 20742

Bilingual Poetic Readings: Tanya Huntington, coordinator Natalia Toledo Paz Sara Uribe Coral Bracho Sara Borjas Judith Santopietro Francisco Segovia