Glassless Minds Open Mic & Writing Workshop in Carlsbad, California, one of seventy-recipients of a Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home grant (glasslessminds.org)

Library of America has awarded grants to seventy-five libraries and cultural organizations in thirty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to support public programs as part of its national public humanities initiative celebrating Latino poetry.

Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home invites participants into a nationwide conversation about Latino poetry—its distinctive rhythms, candor, and lyricism; its profound engagement with pasts historical and mythic; its imaginative reckoning with the complexities of language, land, and identity; and its visions of a nation enriched by the stories of immigrants, exiles, refugees, and their descendants. The initiative is presented by Library of America with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.

In total, $90,000 was awarded in the form of $1,200 stipends. Each grantee will develop at least two free public programs to be held between September 2024 and April 2025. Inspired by the forthcoming Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology (September 2024), edited by poet and principal project advisor Rigoberto González, these events will explore the initiative’s eight core humanities themes and feature poets, scholars, and community leaders.

Grantees are eager to center the work and legacy of Latino poets. Tasha Gross, a librarian at the Pelham Public Library in Pelham, New York, whose programs will be moderated by poet Darrel Alejandro Holnes, writes: “We’re so honored that we get to be involved in this conversation about Latino poetry. . . . With this grant, I know we’ll be able to present two fantastic programs for our community.” Karla Cordero, executive director of nonprofit arts organization Glassless Minds in Carlsbad, California, echoes the sentiment, saying they’re “beyond excited and honored to be awarded the grant to host dialogue around Latinx poetry!”

A list of grantees appears below.

Arizona
CantoMundo at Virginia G. Piper Center, Arizona State University (Tempe)

Arkansas
Fayetteville Public Library (Fayetteville)

California
San Francisco Public Library (San Francisco)
Círculo de Poetas & Writers (Capitola)
Santa Barbara Public Library (Santa Barbara)
Santa Barbara City College (Santa Barbara)
Beyond Baroque (Los Angeles)
Anaheim Public Library, Sunkist Branch (Anaheim)
Glassless Minds (Carlsbad)
Blanchard Community Library (Santa Paula)

Colorado
Denver Public Library (Denver)
Colorado State University Pueblo (Pueblo)
Pueblo City County Library District (Pueblo)
Aurora Public Library- Mission Viejo Branch (Aurora)

Connecticut
Southern Connecticut State University (New Haven)
Central Connecticut State University (New Britain)

Delaware
Georgetown Public Library (Georgetown)

Florida
City of Tavares Public Library (Tavares)
Community Arts and Culture | University of Florida CAME (Tavernier)
Miami Dade College–Padron Campus (Miami)
Florida International University Libraries (Miami)

Hawaii
University of Hawai‘i at Manoa – English Department (Honolulu)

Idaho
Moscow High School (Moscow)

Illinois
Rebecca Crown Library, Dominican University (River Forest)
Gail Borden Public Library District (Elgin)
Harry S Truman College (Chicago)

Indiana
Purdue University, Department of Spanish and Portuguese (West Lafayette)
St. Joe County Public Library (South Bend)

Iowa
Eastern Iowa Community College District Libraries (Davenport)

Kansas
Humanities Kansas (Topeka)

Kentucky
Paul Sawyer Public Library (Frankfort)

Massachusetts
Jacob Edwards Library (Southbridge)
Jones Library (Amherst)
Nevins Memorial Library (Methuen)

Michigan
Adrian District Library (Adrian)
The Poetry Room (Okemos)

Minnesota
Northfield Public Library (Northfield)
Minnesota Humanities Center (Saint Paul)

Nevada
The Asylum Theatre (Las Vegas)
Nevada Humanities (Reno)
Great Basin College (Elko)

New Hampshire
Center for the Book (Concord)

New Jersey
Rutgers University, Newark (Newark)
William Paterson Univ., LLCW Dept. (Wayne)
Princeton Public Library (Princeton)

New Mexico
City of Las Cruces (Las Cruces)
Northwest New Mexico Arts Council (Farmington)

New York
NY Writers Coalition (Brooklyn)
Town of Pelham Public Library (Pelham)
Poughkeepsie Public Library District (Poughkeepsie)
SUNY Oswego’s Penfield Library in partnership with Latino and Latin American Studies (Oswego)

North Carolina
Centro Unido Latino Americano (Marion)

Oregon
Friends of the Albany Public Library (Albany)

Pennsylvania
Free Library of Philadelphia (Philadelphia)

Puerto Rico
Biblioteca Municipal e Infantil Mariana Suárez de Longo (Ponce)
Escuela Secundaria de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (San Juan)
Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (San Juan)

South Carolina
Palmetto Luna Arts (Columbia)

Texas
Teatro de Artes (Seguin)
Gulf Coast Journal (Houston)
Gemini Ink (San Antonio)
San Antonio College (San Antonio)
Abode Press (San Marcos)
Latino Book Review (Corpus Christi)

Utah
University of Utah English Department (Salt Lake City)
Artes de México en Utah (Salt Lake City)

Virginia
Prince William Public Libraries (Woodbridge)

Washington
Tieton Arts and Humanities (Tieton)
Casa Latina (Seattle)
Wenatchee Valley College (Wenatchee)
Olympia Timberland Regional Library (Olympia)

Washington D.C.
DC Public Library

West Virginia
WVU Potomac State College (West Virginia University Keyser)

Wisconsin
Midwest Mujeres Inc. (Madison)
Woodland Pattern Book Center (Milwaukee)