FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2013
San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía Gives His Inaugural Address
The Parallel Literary Histories of San Francisco: Poetry in Times of Hope and Resistance
San Francisco Public Library is honored to present San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía, who will give his inaugural address as the City’s Sixth Poet Laureate on January 27, 2013, 1-3 p.m. at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St., Koret Auditorium. The title of his address is The Parallel Literary Histories of San Francisco: Poetry in Times of Hope and Resistance.
Murguía will speak about the intersection of Latino and San Francisco literary history, particularly the influence of each on the other. He will also talk about how poetry has helped raise awareness about Latin America and Latin Americans here in San Francisco, and the role that poetry has had in shaping the community’s approach to struggle, resistance and community. Interspersed with his comments, he will read selected poems he has written, as well as read from poems he has translated.
“In the 1970s and to the present, the contributions of Latino poetic voices to the history and poetic-literary movements of San Francisco cannot be underestimated,” Murguía said. “Latino poets have enriched and enhanced the poetry of San Francisco with their bilingual writings, their political perspectives and their approach—to quote the Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton—that poetry like bread is for everyone. At the same time the people of San Francisco … have been and continue to be a source of solidarity without which this most recent flowering of Latino poetic voices could not have bloomed so brilliantly.”
Schedule
1 p.m. – Inaugural Address, San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium
Opening Ceremony: Jorge Molina, Shaman of the Mission
Native American Invocation: Dr. José Cuellar, Professor Emeritus, San Francisco State University
Welcome: San Francisco City Librarian Luis Herrera
Introduction: Byron Spooner, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and Poet Roberto Vargas
Inaugural Address: Alejandro Murguía
2 p.m. Reception – San Francisco Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room
Entertainment by La Familia Pena-Govea
This event is presented by San Francisco Public Library and Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. There will be a book sale by Readers Bookstore. All programs at the Library are free.
MEDIA CONTACT: Michelle Jeffers
(415) 557-4282; (415) 608-1593