Palabra Pura's May Delights y MUCHO MÁS

Adrian Castro

Come and savor el sabor de Palabra Pura this month! And for those who don't know about this cutting edge poetry joint, dear readers, peruse this.

Time: Doors open at 8:00 PM, Reading begins at 8:30 PM Cost: Free admission. 21 and over show. Location: California Clipper, 1002 N. California, Chicago

Adrian Castro is a poet, performer, and interdisciplinary artist. Born in Miami, a place which has provided fertile ground for the rhythmic Afro-Latino style in which he writes and performs. Articulating the search for a cohesive Afro-Caribbean-American identity, Castro honors myth on one hand and history on the other. He addresses the migratory experience from Africa to the Caribbean to North America, and the eventual clash of cultures.

Castro creates a circular motion of theme, tone, subject matter, style, and cultural history, giving rise to a fresh illuminating archetypal poetry. These themes reach their climax in their declamacion – the call-and-response rhythm of performance with a whole lot of tun-tun ka-ka pulse. He is the author of Cantos to Blood & Honey, (Coffee House Press, 1997), Wise Fish: Tales in 6/8 Time, ( Coffee House Press, 2005), and has been published in many literary anthologies. He is the recipient of the State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, NewForms Florida, the Eric Mathieu King award from the Academy of American Poets, NALAC Arts Fellowship, and several commissions from Miami Light Project and the Miami Art Museum.

He has performed with many dancers and actors including Chuck Davis and African American Dance Ensemble, Heidi Duckler and Collage Dance, and Keith Antar Mason and the Hittite Empire. The New York Times Book Review recently selected Wise Fish as an editor’s choice saying, “Sinuous, syncopated verses about the Caribbean melting pot.” And “…even a cursory glance suggests his poems—which seem to be trying to dance off the page…would truly come alive on the stage. “Wise Fish is a serious and seriously enjoyable contribution to our flourishing Latino literature.” Adrian Castro is also a Babalawo and herbalist.

Febronio Zataraín was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, and studied sociology at the University of Guadalajara. In 1989 he emigrated to Chicago. Since 1992 he has been involved in launching and collaborating on a number of literary workshops and cultural magazines including , Fe de erratas. These various efforts finally crystallized in Contratiempo, a literary magazine that first appeared in May, 2003, and today is one of the prominent Spanish-language magazines in the U.S. Febronio has published the following books: Faltas a la moral, Editorial Moción, 1991 (stories and scripts). Desesperada intencón y otros escritos, Editorial Universidad de Guadalajara, 1994 (poems). Y nos vinimos de mojados (in collaboration with Raúl Dorantes), 2007, Editorial UACM (essays and chronicles).

His work has been included in the following anthologies: Voces en el viento, edited by John Barry, Editorial Esperante, 1999. En el ojo del viento, John Barry, 2004. Poesía viva de Jalisco, edited by Raúl Bañuelos, Dante Medina, and Jorge Souza, 2004, Secretaría de Cultura de Jalisco.

More News From De la Torre Gallery -- Chicago

New Mural Commission!
Columbia Explorer Elementary

DeLaTorre will be creating a mural that will be 168” X 288” and will have three layers and images relating to hope and the ability to rise above faceless crowds and imagine the endless possibilities through the arts and education. Unveiling TBA.

1200 West 35th Street - 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60608

Tel: 773-927-7030

or e-mail us at:
luis@delatorrearts.com
or
dpando@delatorrearts.com

Y MÁS En Chicago

Lisa Alvarado