Los Porteños to Host Wm Stafford Reading at Milagro 1/18

A literary reading celebrating and commemorating the birthday of one of America's most important poets, William Stafford, will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 at 7 p.m. at El Centro Milagro (525 SE Stark St., Portland). The public is invited to attend this free event.

Jointly sponsored by Los Porteños and the Friends of William Stafford (FWS), the event will be hosted by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez, poet and former Board President of Miracle Theatre Group. Featured readers include Miracle Board member Ana Consuelo Matiella and Artistic Director Olga Sanchez, along with other Porteños members: Mary Meredith Drew, Catherine Evleshin, Joann Farías, Joaquín López and Octaviano Merecías-Cuevas. Friends of William Stafford Board member Don Colburn will also read.

These poets and writers will read a poem by Stafford and their own poem or short prose written in direct response to or in the spirit of Stafford's work. Following their reading, members of the audience will be invited to read a favorite Stafford poem. All are encouraged to bring a favorite Stafford poem to share.

For further information about this event, contact Cindy Williams Gutiérrez at cindy@grito-poetry.com.

William Stafford was born on January 17, 1914. A favorite professor at Lewis and Clark College, where he taught for 30 years, he remains one of America's most celebrated poets. Known for his encouragement of other writers and for his advocacy of free expression in writing and speech, Stafford is the author of more than fifty books and a recipient of the National Book Award. He died in August 1993.

The Friends of William Stafford is a nonprofit poetry-advocacy organization that, by keeping alive Stafford's gift as a teacher devoted to all types of free expression, provides ongoing education in literature, particularly in poetry, in ways that will encourage and broaden the community of readers and writers. FWS also supports and helps to underwrite a variety of literary projects and events open to the public. For its commitment to promote the reading, writing, and enjoyment of all literature, FWS received from the International Society of Philosophical Enquiry the 2001 Whiting Memorial Award for public service to the arts.

Los Porteños was founded in 2006 under the auspices of Miracle Theatre Group. The group is open to writers of all genres who self-identify as Latinos or who are writing about Latino themes. Recent readings include their annual Día de los Muertos reading at the Miracle and two bilingual readings at the 2011 Wordstock Festival.

Miracle Theatre Group has been dedicated to bringing the vibrancy of Latino theatre to the Northwest community and beyond for more than 27 years. In addition to its national tours, Miracle provides a home for Spanish and Latin American arts and culture at El Centro Milagro, where it enriches the local community with a variety of community outreach projects and educational programs designed to share the diversity of Latino culture. For more information about the Miracle Theatre Group, visit www.milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.

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