Lit Youngstown is the grateful recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Arts Resiliency Grant that will allow us to bring three writers-in-residence to Youngstown. All events listed are free and open to the public, with additional funding from Rob Briggs & Alyssa Lenhoff Briggs.
Poet Manuel Iris will visit April 1-2. He is recent Poet Laureate of the City of Cincinnati and the author of five books of poetry in Spanish and the bilingual book The Parting Present. He holds a BA in Latin American Literature from the Autonomous University of the Yucatan (Mexico), an MA in Spanish from New Mexico State University, and a PhD in Romance Languages from the University of Cincinnati.
While he is here, he will visit classrooms at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary and Ursuline High School (private events).
Friday, April 1, he will present at the YSU Maag Library 3rd gallery, kicking off National Library Week
2:00: talk and Q&A on translation
3:00: talk and Q&A on culture, the arts and immigration
4:00: reading and book signing
At 7:00 he will read with poet Mathias Svalina at the Soap Gallery, 117 S. Champion St.
Mathias Svalina is the author of seven books, most recently The Depression, a collaboration with the photographer Jon Pack published by Civil Coping Mechanisms. He is a founding editor of the small press Octopus Books & has taught creative writing in universities, high schools, community arts spaces, prisons, & libraries. Since 2014, he has run a dream delivery service: dreamdeliveryservice.com.
Saturday, April 2, Manuel will offer workshops, and a reading and storytelling event at the The Community Literacy Workforce and Cultural Center, 436 Struthers Coitsville Rd. in Campbell.
11:00-12:00: poetry writing workshop for teens (teens only, please), register here
12:00-2:00 Hispanic heritage celebration with cuisine from local restaurants, music by the Labra Brothers, poetry and storytelling, register here
2:00-3:00 workshop on writing in translation, register here
Many thanks to our community partners the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County, The Community Literacy Workforce and Cultural Center, Thrive Mahoning Valley, Organización Cívica y Cultural Hispana Americana, Inc., Mexican Mutual Aid, the YSU Hispanic Heritage Festival, the YSU Spanish Club
