Unwriting Borders: Latinx Poets in the US Virtual Live Event
Woodland Pattern had its first ever virtual live Zoom poetry reading event on April 4th, 2020. I have attended several Woodland Pattern events in person in the past, as well as participated in one of their 24-hour poetry reading events. This event is part of an ongoing series focusing on Latinx poets. I am currently enrolled in a Latinx literature course, so I was immediately intrigued with tonight’s line up of poets and topics.
I found it interesting how this is Woodland Patterns first online poetry reading and performance event. After COVID-19 passes, I think it will be fascinating to see how many organizations continue to provide online resources and events such as this one. Obviously, going to an in-person even is the most engaging and beneficial, but for some people due to health conditions, location, or family situations cannot always attend what they want. For me, any online platform seems like a good alternative option as oppose to not participating in an event like this at all.
The zoom presentation went smoother then expected. The poets were able to share their screens with the viewers, which was a great capability. At the peak of the performance there was 36 individuals watching the featured artists. As a viewer, I had the option to have my camera on during the event, but when one clicked on the zoom link, the individual microphone and camera were turned off automatically. I chose not to have my camera on, as did about half of the audience members.
José Felipe Alvergue is a poet and a prose writer, and I found this especially exciting because I am thinking of trying to get into writing more prose in general, along with my poetry. The individual introducing Alvergue said his work is, “heavy and episodic, focusing on building anticipation”. His work is also about, “the disjointed and fragmented land that is marginalized and removed by bodies of white reality”. After hearing a few of his pieces, I can agree with that statement.
When Alvergue was reading his prose pieces, we had accompanied images that corresponded with the words he was saying. As a viewer, I could tell he had done a lot of research on the topics he writes about, and that he is passionate about them. In the beginning of his presentation he commented on the fact that he could recognize some of the names of the people in the Zoom call, and that in reality they were only a 3-5-minute car ride from each other, yet here we all were, online. That was an interesting moment.
One of the things that Alvergue said during one of his prose readings stuck out to me, “between the 19th and early 20th centuries states declaring themselves ‘too impoverished to maintain prisons and prisoners’ would release convict labor to railway and contract mining companies or large plantations, the practice became prevalent following the civil war”. Alvergue uses this information as a setup to his prose and main points he is trying to get across as an artist. And he does it in a really good way, I think. He goes on to talk about how children’s hands have built America and its commerce. After this he explains that children aren’t meant to build these things, and their bodies aren’t capable to understand what they are doing, or what the end goal is. He states, “all of the research that is the physical world of a childs body, this is all a lost opportunity for a new language, for educating parenthood, all unknown scenery”. His ideas are thought provoking, and all of the viewers who had their cameras turned on, were taking notes, like I was, or nodding their heads, or maintaining eye contact, even if no one was looking back at them. Overall it was a cool new experience in the poetry and prose world that I got to experience. I hope more organizations choose to keep having these events during the pandemic we are currently living through.
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