The National Endowment for the Arts and the Embassy of Mexico-Instituto de México Host Three Voices, Three Visions, Bilingual Program Celebrating Mexican Poetry

April 21, 2004

		Contact: Victoria Hutter, NEA 202-682-5570 Juan Manuel Saldívar Instituto de México 202-728-1645 Matthew Brown Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation 410- 539-6656

The National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Instituto de México will host an evening of readings by three outstanding Mexico poets, José Emilio Pacheco, Pura López Colomé and Tedi López Mills. Three Voices, Three Visions takes place on Wednesday, April 28 at 6:30 pm. at the Instituto de México located at 2829 16th Street, NW in Washington, D.C.

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman and poet Dana Gioia will introduce the poets and provide commentary for this bilingual program. The evening is also supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, a regional arts organization based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Chairman Gioia said, "The poetry of Mexico is rich, vivid, magical and transformational. The Arts Endowment is pleased to partner with the Instituto de México and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to bring these exceptional poets to audiences in the nation's capital in a fitting celebration to close National Poetry Month."

(L-R) Pura López Colomé, NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, Tedi López Mills, and José Emilio Pacheco at the Instituto de México. Photo by Victoria Hutter.

José Emilio Pacheco is considered to be the most eminent poet of his generation, transmitting his metaphysical concerns in brilliant images. He is also known as a critic, novelist, short-story writer and translator.

Pura López Colomé has published five volumes of poetry and her work appears frequently in magazines and newspapers in Mexico. Among the poets that she has translated into Spanish are Seamus Heaney, William Carlos Williams, W.S., Merwin, Frank O'Hara, Robert Creeley, Louise Gl¸ck, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

Tedi López Mills is a poet, essayist, translator, and editor. From 1994 to 1999, she was Editor-in-Chief of the literary journal La Gaceta. Biographies for each of the poets are attached.

On April 28th, the poets will visit area schools to meet with students. Ms. López Mills and Ms. López Colomé will visit the SEED Public Charter School in Southeast Washington and discuss their work. On April 29th they will join Mr. Pacheco for a day with graduate students and faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Admission to the reading is free. Additional assistance for Three Voices, Three Visions is provided by the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Poets Biographies

José Emilio Pacheco, born in Mexico City in 1939, is Mexico's foremost living poet and the most eminent poet of his generation. He will be the first recipient of the Pablo Neruda Prize in Spanish and Latin American Letters, to be awarded in July 2004 in Chile. In 2003 Pacheco received the International Octavio Paz Prize for Poetry and Essay for his contributions to Latin American literature. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the Centro Mexicano de Escritores, the Guggenheim Foundation and Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and the Arts. Pacheco is also known as a critic, novelist, short-story writer and translator. He has written numerous volumes of poetry and has published translations of works by Samuel Beckett, Yevgeny Yevtuschenko, and T.S. Eliot, among others. He currently lives and works in Mexico City. Each spring semester, Pacheco teaches graduate seminars at the University of Maryland’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Pura López Colomé, born in Mexico City in 1952, spent part of her childhood and youth between Mexico City and Mérida, Yucatán, and attend high school in the United States. Since the ‘80s, she has been a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers in Mexico. Her current focus is on poetry and translation. She has published seven volumes of poetry including most recently Tragaluz de noche and Música inaudita. No Shelter, a selection of her poems translated into English by Forrest Gander, was published by Graywolf Press in 2002. Among the poets that she has translated into Spanish are Seamus Heaney, William Carlos Williams, H.D., W.S., Merwin, Frank O’Hara, Robert Creeley, Robert Hass, Louise Glück, Philip Larkin, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Georg Trakl.

Tedi López Mills, born in Mexico City in 1959, is a poet, essayist, translator, and editor. In 1998, she received the first poetry grant awarded by the Octavio Paz Foundation. From 1994 to 1999, she was Editor-in-Chief of the literary journal La Gaceta. Her poetry books include Segunda persona, (for which she received the Efraín Huerta National Literature Prize), Glosas, Horas and Luz por aire y agua. A selection of her work titled While Light is Built has just been published by Kore Press. Since 2000, Ms. López Mills has been a member of Mexico’s National System of Creators.

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