APPLETON, WIS. — Three poets will visit Lawrence University Monday, Oct. 19 for a reading and a discussion session. Both events will be conducted bilingually and are open to the public.
Poets Dolores Dorantes, Laura Solórzano and Jen Hofer will read from their work at 8 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center Hoffmaster Gallery. A reception and book signing will follow. Prior to the reading, the poets will conduct a question-and-answer session about Mexican poetry and translation at 4:30 p.m. in Main Hall 104.
Dorantes is the founding director of the border arts collective Compañía Frugal, an organization that publishes a poetry broadside series, distributed throughout Mexico. She has written four book-length volumes of poetry, including 2004’s “sexoPUROsexoVELOZ” and “Lola (cartas cortas)” in 2002. In her poetry, Dorantes works to break away from what she has called “the confessional poetry that prevails in Mexican Literature.”
A teacher at the Centro de Arte Audiovisual in Guadalajara, Mexico, Solórzano is the author of several collections of poetry. Her most recent works include “Boca perdida” (2005) and “lobo de labio” (2001). Solórzano also serves on the editorial board of the literary arts magazine Tragaluz.
Hofer is the editor and translator of “Sin puertas visible: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by Mexican Women,” which includes works by Dorantes and Solórzano. Hofer teaches writing and poetics at the California Institute of the Arts and works as a Spanish-language interpreter with the Los Angeles County Superior Courts.
The poetry reading is sponsored by the Mia Paul Poetry Fund, the Spanish Department and ¡VIVA!
