Some events for March, 2024 (Cincinnati Area)

 Dear friends in the Queen City and surrounding places

Over the next few days, I will have the opportunity to see many of you at different, exciting engagements. Let me tell you in full:

Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 26), I will give a lecture and a poetry workshop at Earlham College College in Richmond, Indiana. I am very thankful to Professor Gabriela Falconí for the invitation; and to the Spanish and Hispanic Studies Department, The Humanities Division, The English Department, and the Center for Social Justice of Earlham College for their support and sponsorship.

The next day (Wednesday, March 27), I will have the honor of speaking at the @College of medicine of the University of Cincinnati, as part of the graduation ceremony of the Medical Spanish/Latino Health Elective (MSLHE). The MSLHE is a longitudinal elective to prepare students linguistically and culturally to work with Latino patients in the future. (More info, here: https://med.uc.edu/.../medical-spanish-latino-health...). Students finish up at the end of their third year, and tomorrow will be their graduation. I am very, very excited to be part of this.

Then, on Thursday (March 28), I will come back to UC as a panelist for an event organized by The Institute for Research in Sensing (IRiS), which is an interdisciplinary research institute focused on novel routes to innovation in sensing research and sensor technology development through purposeful integration of STEM and non-STEM perspectives, including basic and applied research, medicine, engineering, the humanities, social sciences, and fine and performing arts. On this event we will talk about Somatics, Sensing, Healing and Hope. This event is co-organized by The Well. For more info, click here: https://www.thewell.world/.../iris-alloy-discussion...

...and that's all for the week. I hope to see you at any of these wonderful opportunities. Our city and our region are changing, for the better. And I am happy to do my part.

See you soon!

Manuel Iris en la FILEY 2024

 Queridos amigos en Mérida, la de Yucatán. Ahora sí puedo decirles que nos veremos en la FILEY - Feria Internacional de la Lectura Yucatán. Voy a tener, primero, una lectura y conversación dirigida a los jóvenes, que me emociona mucho. Y luego tendre el enorme gusto de charlar con Alejandro Zambra y Carlos Velázquez acerca de sus libros más recientes.

Mi agenda será la siguiente:

Jueves 14 de marzo

Encuentro con Jóvenes

10:15 a 11:15 horas

Salón: Dzibilchaltún

Sábado 16 de marzo

El menonita zen de Carlos Velázquez

16:00 a 17:00 horas

Salón: Ek Balam, sala Felipe Carrillo Puerto

Domingo 17 de marzo

Literatura infantil de Alejandro Zambra

17:15 a 18:15 horas

Salón: Ek Balam, sala Felipe Carrillo Puerto

Espero verlos por ahí. Estoy feliz, como siempre, de volver. Un abrazo muy grande para todos, y nos vemos pronto!

Manuel Iris at the Cayden Blincoe Outloud Festival

 Today was a special day for me thanks to the sensitive, curious, (and numerous!) crowd of students and friends at Thomas More University. It is my honor being TMU’s 2024 writer-in-residence, and special guest for the Cayden Blincoe Outloud Festival. I want to specially thank professor Sarah Gerkensmeyer for her kindness and generosity, and David Klenk for the pictures. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

#makeitmore #createmore

Gracias por todo/Thank you for everything --My last post as Writer-in-residence for the CHPL

From January to December 2023, I had the honor of serving as the Writer-in-Residence for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, which has been a source of great pride for me. I am also the fist Hispanic to hold such position. Representing this network of 41 libraries in different parts of the city, in which more than 800,000 people are offered not only access to books but to many digital resources, as well as workshops, courses, classes, and even help with homework for children and adolescents, it has been a job full of satisfaction. Libraries, especially public libraries, are one of the few spaces in contemporary society that a person can inhabit without being asked to pay for any product or believing in something in particular. Libraries are, I have said before, sanctuaries of human dignity.

This is my last post in the Blog of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

Haga click aquí para leer post en español

Click here to read the post in English

Conversation with Fiona Sampson in Inside the writer's head

 As you know, I only have a few more days as Writer-in-residence for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. I wanted to close my tenure with a conversation with the British poet, my dear friend Fiona Sampson. We discuss her musical background, how poetry challenges us to read reality in a different way, the secret coherence that often arises in a poem, and many other things.

Please, come and listen to her poetic thinking, her intelligence, her wisdom. This episode is a gift to anyone who loves art, music, and poetry.

For those who don't know her, Fiona Sampson is a leading British poet and writer. Published in thirty-eight languages, she has published twenty-nine books. National honors include an MBE for services to literature, the Newdigate and Cholmondeley prizes, numerous awards from the Arts Councils of England and of Wales, Society of Authors, Poetry Book Society and Arts and Humanities Research Council, among many, many other honors...

"Los disfraces del fuego" tiene segunda edición, ahora en Ecuador

 Queridos amigos,

me alegra mucho decirles que mi libro “Los disfraces del fuego”, que fue publicado en México hace uños años y ahora está agotado, acaba de ser publicado de nuevo, ahora en versión digital, como parte de la colección “Alfabeto del mundo”, de las ediciones de Línea imaginaria y Centro Editorial La Castalia, en Ecuador. Estoy feliz porque Aleyda Quevedo Rojas y Edwin Madrid han pensado en este libro, que estará junto con los de tanta gente que admiro de tantos países de nuestra lengua. Mucho de lo mejor de nuestra poesía contemporánea está ahí, y para mí significa mucho ser parte de este catálogo. Además, el libro se presenta junto con otro de mi muy querido y admirado amigo Arturo Gutiérrez Plaza, en un par de días. La presentación de ambos será este 3 de agosto y va a transmitirse por YouTube.

No puedo decirles lo contento que estoy.

Salud, amigos!

PD

Los disfraces del fuego ganó en su momento el premio Rodulfo Figueroa en México, y fue finalista del premio internacional Ciudad de la Lira, en Ecuador. Esta segunda etapa de su vida, de distribución gratuita para todos los lectores, me emociona mucho.

Descifrar el silencio: antología poética bilingüe Español-Polaco, publicada en España

 Queridos amigos,

hago este post para contarles dos cosas que casi me cuesta trabajo creer que son verdad. La primera es que un nuevo libro mío, una antología bilingüe español-polaco titulada "Descifrar lo invisible", acaba de ser publicada en España por Ultramarina Press (Plataforma PLACA). La version polaca de los poemas ha salido de la pluma de mi muy admirada amiga, la poeta y traductora Marta Eloy Cichocka, lo cual es un lujo enorme. 

La segunda cosa que quiero contarles es que, en un par de semanas, voy a presentar el libro en Madrid y en Cracovia. Será un viaje rápido y emocionante que me tiene un poco nervioso, por supuesto. 

Será mi primera vez en España. Es un viaje que mi padre siempre quiso hacer y que murió sin haberlo realizado. Siento que viajaremos juntos. 

Amigos, si conocen a alguien en cualquiera de esas dos bellas ciudades, díganle de estos eventos. Y si están en alguna de ellas durante esas fechas, por favor, vayan a darme un abrazo. 

No puedo decirles lo contento que estoy. 

Salud!

Inside the Writer’s Head: Poetry, Music and Haiku with Jennifer Hambrick

Poet Jennifer Hambrick joined me on a new episode of "Inside the Writer's Head" ahead of the arrival of the largest and oldest gathering of haiku poets outside Japan to Cincinnati. The biennial conference Haiku North America is organized in part by Hambrick as program chair. Listen in as they discuss the lyrical power of haiku, Hambrick's musical lens of poetry, and information about Haiku North America. 

Manuel Iris at the Cincinnati Literary Club

Literary Club Poet Laureate Series

 

Manuel Iris

 

Writer-in-Residence of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County public library (2023)

Poet Laureate Emeritus of the City of Cincinnati, Ohio (2018-2020)

 

7-8 p.m. Thursday, May 4, 2023   Free and Open To The Public

 

The Literary Club, 500 E. Fourth St. Cincinnati, OH

 

Attend in-person if fully vaccinated and boosted – no reservation required

or click to attend by Zoom

or copy and paste into browser https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86081257204?pwd=RFFrSm0zMnJudlA3eWRqa01qakNOdz09

For much of the nineteenth century, Cincinnati was the center of culture and learning in Ohio and throughout the Midwest. During this period, the residents of the city often founded organizations to sponsor cultural and educational activities. The Literary Club is one such organization. It was founded on October 29, 1849.

Since its founding, the club has had no more than one hundred regular members at any given time, all of them men. Members have included many prominent Cincinnati residents, including Rutherford B. Hayes and William Howard Taft. Members present papers at club meetings, and occasionally famous writers have spoken to the club’s membership as well. Among the Literary Club’s guests have been Ralph Waldo Emerson, Booker T. Washington, Mark Twain, and Robert Frost. Cincinnati's Literary Club is the oldest such club in the United States.

We need to talk about it: Fear. A writing workshop with Writer-in-Residence Manuel Iris

 In this session, participants will write about the concept of fear, whether it's about having or overcoming fear, or exploring the consequences of fear and talking about its opposites: bravery and love. Click on the image to register in advance.

A Translation of Silence: The 2023 César Chávez Day Celebration

 About a month ago, Miami University welcomed me as a guest speaker for the Cesar Chavez Day Celebration. Today, I am thrilled to share this article by Lindsay Douglas -- UniDiversity Student Ambassador -- with her reflections on this experience.

I don't need to tell you how special this is to me.  

Click on the image to read the article.

National Poetry Month and Its Dangers, by Manuel Iris

 

Like every year, National Poetry Month arrives for all those who, in the United States, enjoy writing and reading poetry. Libraries and cultural centers are filled with books and mentions of poets, and with the poets themselves carrying out readings, conversations, lectures, or book signings. Social media is filled with well-intentioned writing challenges (a poem a day, for example) and quotes from well-known or very obscure poems. Whoever is dedicated to poetry in this country is, of course, very busy in April.

These are all public and necessary celebrations of an art that, like any other spiritual exercise, is done primarily in privacy. I mean by this that, even if one writes or thinks about poems in the company of others at a university, a literary workshop, or a writing retreat, the poetic experience is an essentially individual, intimate endeavor. That is why I want to talk briefly about some issues that poets, readers, and cultural institutions of all kinds should consider during these celebrations.

Supporting Poetry

A great way to support poetry is to pay poets for what they do, even if the amounts are just a token of appreciation. Sadly, many cultural institutions think they are doing the poet a favor when they ask her to read or talk for free. They have been kind enough to receive the artist, show her work, and hive her a space, but in reality they are the ones who receive the favor of the poet's time.

Institutions that do not offer payment for the poet's work must be, at least, aware that it is no honor for anyone to work for free, and that they are the ones who should feel indebted and grateful. That is why such institutions must, at least, take care of giving said poet all possible promotion, and treat her with respect. Every April, poets take the risk of filling themselves with unpaid work. Sometimes, of course, they have to do it. But nobody should do it too many times.

To keep reading, click here

El mes nacional de la poesía y sus peligros (Writer-In-Residence Blog)

Como cada año, el mes nacional de la poesía llega para todos aquellos a quienes, en Estados Unidos, gustan de escribir y leer poemas. Las bibliotecas y centros culturales se llenan de libros y menciones de poetas, cuando no de los poetas mismos llevando a cabo lecturas, conversaciones, conferencias, o firmas de libros. Las redes sociales se llenan de bienintencionados retos de escritura (un poema diario, por ejemplo) y de citas de poemas muy conocidos o muy oscuros. Quien se dedica a la poesía en este país está, por supuesto, muy ocupado en el mes de abril.

Todo esto son celebraciones públicas y necesarias de un arte que, como cualquier otro ejercicio espiritual, se realiza fundamentalmente en la privacidad. Quiero decir con esto que, aunque uno escriba o piense en poemas en la compañía de otros en una universidad, un taller literario, o un retiro de escritura, la experiencia poética es esencialmente individual, íntima. Por ello quiero hablar, aunque brevemente, de algunas cosas que creo que los poetas, lectores, e instituciones culturales de todo tipo deben tomar en cuenta durante el mes de abril.

Una muy buena manera de apoyar a poesía es pagarle a los poetas por las cosas que hacen, incluso si las cantidades son simbólicas. Tristemente, muchas instituciones culturales piensan que cuando un poeta se presenta gratuitamente en su recinto, han sido ellas quienes han hecho el favor de recibir al artista, de mostrar su trabajo, de darle un espacio; cuando en realidad son ellas quienes reciben el favor del tiempo del poeta.

Para seguir leyendo, haga click aqui

National Poetry Month Reading and Conversation at the Mercantile Library (Cincinnati)

On April 18, 2023, the Mercantile library hosted this wonderful poetry reading and conversation, to celebrate National Poetry Month. 

In words of my friend--and current Cincinnati Poet Laureate-- Yalie Kamara:

"Cincinnati boasts a poetry community that is diverse, alive, sensitive to the vibrations of humanity, the living world, and history. This is was so beautifully displayed in the works of poets Felicia Zamora, Kristen Renzi, and Manuel Iris who I had the pleasure of reading alongside—thank you for gracing us with your art, hearts, and minds! I am grateful too to the @themercantilelib for attending to every wonderful detail of this evening and our fabulous virtual and in-person audience whose presence was palpable, engaging, and encouragingly. It’s a very beautiful thing to have a room full of people show up for a Tuesday night poetry event and even more spectacular that they wanted to stay and chat with the poets and each other half an hour after the close of the event. Poetry lives and gives and lives in Cincinnati.  (Pictures by Amy Hunter and Felicia Zamora.)" 

I am very thankful for having been part of such a moving event. 

Manuel Iris at the Ohioana Book Festival 2023 in Columbus, Ohio

 If you are in Columbus, Ohio, today and tomorrow (April 21 and 22nd of 2023) please come to listen to some poetry and conversation with me.

Today at 7:00 pm

Poetry Reading - Manuel Iris at Streetlight Guild as part of the preparations for the Ohioana book fair.

Then, tomorrow at 4: 30 pm, I will be the final act at the Poetry Room of the 2023 Ohioana Book Festival. 

I am happy and honored by both invitations. Friends in Columbus, see you there!

2023 Cesar Chavez Day Celebration at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio)

 Last week, I had the honor of being part of the celebration of Cesar Chavez Day at  Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. 

It was a great experience not only because both events were full (I gave a writing workshop to more than 65 people, and a very well-attended lecture/poetry reading), but because I found in the audience several of my former students, coming back for more Dr. Iris’ talking after several years. That warmed my heart. Some of these pictures were taken by them.