Verbal Blend to Premiere Poetry for the People Scholar Series

Verbal Blend, a spoken-word poetry program out of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, will premiere Poetry for the People Scholar Series Thursday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. in 304ABC Schine Student Center, featuring Gloria Velásquez. Velásquez will discuss and perform poems from “I Used to be a Superwoman.”

Gloria Velásquez

Velásquez is an internationally acclaimed author who holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University in Latin American and Chicano Literatures. She is a poet, author and scholar and was active in the Chicana and Vietnam War movements.

Velásquez authored two collections of poetry, “I Used to Be a Superwoman” (1994) and “Xicana on the Run” (2005). She is the creator of the popular Roosevelt High School Series: “Juanita Fights the School Board” (1994), “Maya’s Divided World” (1995), “Tommy Stands Alone” (1995), “Rina’s Family Secret” (1998), “Ankiza” (2000), “Teen Angel” (2003), “Tyrone’s Betrayal” (2006) and “Rudy’s Memory Walk” (2009). Velásquez’s poetry and fiction have appeared in journals and anthologies throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe.

“The Poetry for the People Scholar Series give students additional ways to re-think models for out-of-classroom engagement through research in poetry and spoken word,” says Cedric Bolton, coordinator of student engagement in the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Poetry for the People Scholar Series is sponsored by Verbal Blend. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information contact Bolton at ctbolton@syr.edu or 315-443-9676.