Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home
Division of Public Programs
September 2024 marks the beginning of Places We Call Home, a major year-long public humanities initiative centered on a groundbreaking new anthology of Latino poetry from the Library of America.
For nearly five centuries, the rich tapestry of Latino poetry has been woven from a wealth of languages and cultures—a “tremendous continental MIXTURAO,” in the words of the poet Tato Laviera.
Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, edited by the poet and critic Rigoberto González, brings together more than 180 poets whose poems bear witness to the beauty and power of this vital and expanding tradition: its profound engagement with pasts both mythical and historical, its reckoning with the complexities of language, land, and identity, and its vision of a nation enriched by the stories of immigrants, exiles, refugees, and their descendants.
An NEH grant is supporting the national public humanities initiative Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home directed by Library of America, in partnership with the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures and arts organizations, museums, and libraries nationwide.
Places We Call Home will kick off during Hispanic Heritage Month in September-October 2024 and run through National Poetry Month in April 2025, with signature events in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio/Houston, New York City, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The year-long program will also include scholar-led public conversations based around the anthology in 75 public libraries around the country, and a companion website with resources and a media archive exploring the themes and voices of 500 years of Latino poetry.
Download a Latino Poetry Reader and sign up for news about Places We Call Home events near you at the Library of America Latino Poetry website.