Please join us for a poetry reading celebrating the publication of I Offer My Heart as a Target/Ofrezco mi corazón como una diana by Johanny Vázquez Paz. She will be joined in conversation by local playwright Yolanda Nieves.
JOHANNY VÁZQUEZ PAZ is the author of Sagrada familia (winner of the International Latino Book Award, 2015), Querido voyeur, and Streetwise Poems/Poemas callejeros. She won first prize in the poetry category at the Consenso Short Story and Poetry Contest of Northeastern Illinois University, and second prize in the short story category. She coedited the anthology Between the Heart and the Land/Entre el corazón y la tierra: Latina Poets in the Midwest and her work has been included in the anthologies City of the Big Shoulders, Ejército de rosas, En la 18 a la 1, and The City Visible: Chicago Poetry for the New Century, among others. She currently teaches at Harold Washington College in Chicago, Illinois. I Offer My Heart as a Target/Ofrezco mi corazón como una diana is her latest collection of poetry.
YOLANDA NIEVES is one of Chicago’s most prominent second generation Puerto Rican playwrights. Born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, Nieves is a poet, playwright, director, educator, actress, and creative director of The Vida Bella Ensemble. Featured on Vocalo, WGN TV News, and NPR, Yolanda is the winner of the highly regarded American Educational Research Association’s 2010 Arts-Based Dissertation of the Year Award for the performance-text, The Brown Girls’ Chronicles: Puerto Rican Women & Resilience. As a poet, Yolanda has two books of poetry to her credit: Dove Over Clouds (2008), and The Spoken Body (2010) both published by Plainview Press.
Our store is wheelchair accessible, however--there is a narrow hallway and sharp 90-degree turn on the way to our bathrooms. Seating is first-come, first-served, but we are happy to reserve seats for people with disabilities. We have LED lighting that can be adjusted with dimmers. Please call the store at 773-769-9299 the day of the event if you need a reserved seat or have additional questions.
