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PERFORMING VOICES OF THE PUERTO RICAN DIASPORA, FEATURING FIVE INTERNATIONALLY-KNOWN WRITERS

NYS Writers Institute, October 26, 2012
2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Conversations with Diasporican Writers | Assembly Hall, Campus Center, Uptown Campus
5:30 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Diasporican Café:  Performing Voices of the Puerto RicanDiaspora | Campus Center Ballroom, Uptown Campus

CALENDAR LISTING:
UAlbany will host two events with major PuertoRican-American writers: Conversations with Diasporican Writers — 2:15-3:45 p.m., Assembly Hall, Campus Center, UptownCampus, and Diasporican Café:  Performing Voices of the Puerto Rican Diaspora — 5:30-7:45 p.m., Campus Center Ballroom, Uptown Campus. Featured writers will include Giannina Braschi,Magdalena Gómez, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, and Edwin Torres.The events are free andopen to the public, and are sponsored by the UAlbany Center for Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies; the Department of Latin American, Caribbean, and US Latino Studies; the College of Arts and Sciences at UAlbany; and the New York State Writers Institute.

PROFILE
In association with the 20th Anniversary Conference of the Puerto Rican Studies Association (October 24-27), which will bring scholars to UAlbany from throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the Writers Institute will cosponsor two events that will feature major Puerto Rican-American writers in a variety of genres.

Five writer-performers will discuss their work in an afternoon panel discussion and present readings/performances in the evening:

Conversations with Diasporican Writers — 2:15-3:45 p.m., Assembly Hall, Campus Center, Uptown Campus
Moderator: Tomás Urayoán Noel, University at Albany
Guest Writers: Magdalena Gómez, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, and Edwin Torres.
Diasporican Café:  Performing Voices of the Puerto Rican Diaspora —5:30-7:45 p.m., Campus Center Ballroom, Uptown Campus
Guest Writers: Giannina Braschi, Magdalena Gómez, Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, and Edwin Torres.

Giannina Braschi is the author of the collection of poetry and fiction El imperio de los sueños (1988; Empire of Dreams, 1994) and the novels Yo-Yo Boing (1998) and United States of Banana (2011).

Magdalena Gómez, poet, playwright, and actor, is the co-founder and artistic director of Teatro V!da, a performing arts collective that explores multicultural and multigenerational issues.

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is a poet, fiction writer, playwright, and performer. His publications include the story collection Uñas pintadas de azul (2009, Blue Fingernails), and the play Escándalo! (2003).

Jesús Papoleto Meléndez is one of the founders of New York’s Nuyorican Poets Café. An award-winning poet, his forthcoming book Hey Yo/Yo Soy! 40 Years of Nuyorican Street Poetry, is the first volume of his collected work.

Edwin Torres is known internationally for his experimentalist performance poetry that incorporates sound, visual theatre, and audience participation. He is the author of the poetry collection In the Function of External Circumstances (2010).

For more information on the Conference go to: http://www.puertoricanstudies.org.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.