Monica de la Torre Poetry Reading at UMFA (SLC: Sept 2)

Free Poetry Reading at the UMFA with Acclaimed New York City Poet
Mónica de la Torre



Salt Lake City – The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is pleased to host renowned New York City-based poet, Mónica de la Torre, for a free public poetry reading on Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 3:30 pm. Co-sponsored by the University of Utah Department of English and Creative Writing Program, the reading will take place in the UMFA’s Katherine W. and Ezekiel R. Dumke, Jr. Auditorium. This program is presented in conjunction with the UMFA’s current exhibition, Las Artes de México from the Gilcrease Museum of Art, on view through September 26, 2010.

A NYFA 2009 fellow in poetry and senior editor of BOMB Magazine, Mónica de la Torre is well known for her poetry and conceptual art books. A bilingual author and poet, Torre has written several acclaimed poetry books, including Talk Shows (Switchback, 2007); Acúfenos (Taller Ditoria, 2006); and Public Domain (Roof Books, 2008). She is co-author of the artist book, Appendices, Illustrations & Notes; co-editor of the anthology, Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry (Copper Canyon Press, 2002); and co-editor of the anthology of post-Latino writing, Malditos latinos, malditos sudacas: Poesía hispanoamericana Made in USA, published recently in Mexico City. She translated the poetry books, Poems by Gerardo Deniz (Lost Roads) and Mauve Sea-Orchids by Lila Zemborain (Belladonna Books).

"Mónica's poetry -- informed by her work as a scholar of Latin American political movements and literary avant-gardes, as well as her interest in music and the visual art -- offers important insights into how identities are constructed at the intersection of intimate, internal, affective states and anonymously mediated social institutions,” says Craig Dworkin, a professor of English at the University of Utah. “The complexities of the persona constructed on-line, for instance, under the name that you share with strangers, via information that may or may not be accurate, up-to-date, or under your control but that none-the-less defines who ‘you’ are to those who search for your name.”

Las Artes de México is an exhibition that explores more than 3,500 years of Mexican art and culture, from the ancient work of the Mayans and Aztecs through the twentieth century. The exhibition includes a broad array of artifacts such as woven fabrics, masks, and religious objects from Mesoamerica, as well as paintings by modernist masters like Rufino Tamayo, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Diego Rivera.

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The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is located in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building on the University of Utah campus at 410 Campus Center Drive. General admission is adults $7, seniors and youth $5, children under 6 free, U of U students/staff/faculty free, UMFA Members free. Free admission offered the first Wednesday and third Saturday of each month. Museum hours are Tue – Fri 10 am – 5 pm, Wed 10 am – 8 pm, Weekends 11 am – 5 pm; closed Mondays and Holidays. For more information call (801) 581-7332 or visit www.umfa.utah.edu.