The Metropolitan State University of Denver, Chicana/o Studies Department invites the community to the 12th Annual Lalo Delgado Poetry Festival on April 4th, from 9am to 2pm. at the St. Cajetans Center, on the Auraria Campus, Denver.
This year’s theme: “Raices Y Alas: Looking Back and Moving Forward ~ Roots and Wings: Looking Back and Moving Forward” will center on social action through poetry. Delgado is remembered as Colorado’s social justice poet and considered the National Grandfather of Chicano Poetry. Delgado received a hand-signed Civil Rights Award from Rosa Parks, Scholar/Elder of the Civil Rights Movement who worked with Dolores Huerta and César Chávez to support thousands of migrant farm workers in the Unites States.
The 2019 Lalo Delgado Poetry Festival will feature nationally recognized poet: Ariana Brown, is a poet from San Antonio, Texas, with a B.A. in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies. She is the recipient of two Academy of American Poets Prizes and a 2014 collegiate national poetry slam champion. Ariana, who has been dubbed a “part-time curandera,” is primarily interested in using poetry to validate Black girl rage, in all its miraculous forms.
Lalo’s Poetry Festival also welcomes Denver’s own Eden Nicole, born and raised in Denver, Colorado; Eden merges her inspirations from her three sons, along with her Indigenous roots and environmental activism to create her spoken word. Eden has various works published through Café Cultura, Red Rising Magazine in Canada and has been showcased for the “Cuatro: A Series of Artist Interactions with the Denver Art Museum in 2017, amongst many other events throughout the Denver Metro area. Through Groupo Tlaloc Danza Azteca, Medicine Heart Dancers, and the Indigenous Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ communities, she is teaching her sons the traditions of their people; while also perusing her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and Hydrology. The festival opening at 9am begins with a blessing ceremony by Aztec Troupe Huitzilopochtli, followed by a free continental breakfast and lunch. The event is free and open to the public. Sponsors include Metropolitan State University (MSU) Presidents Office of Institutional Diversity: Chicana/o Studies, GITA, Student Activities and CU Denver Latinx Services.
For more information, please contact Christina M. Sigala at selim@msudenver.edu.
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