Emma Trelles reading "The Inventor" at Plaza Letras Latinas in the 2024 Kansas City AWP bookfair
I’ve worked with Letras Latinas quite a bit over the last 15 years, collaborating on a number of projects that range from teaching ekphrastic workshops, publishing folios for the Poetry Coalition, featuring Latine poets as the curator of the Mission Poetry Series, and more. One of my favorite collabs was at last year’s AWP in Kansas City, where Alex Lytton Regalado and I pitched in at the Letras booth by decorating it with gallardetes de papel picado and sorpresas; we also gave away original, handmade broadsides of our poems to whomever stopped by. We hung out and talked with many old friends and made new ones too, learning about what they had been up to or where the best place was to score some stellar Thai food for lunch. The whole experience glowed with communities and the humans who make them. That’s really my favorite part about working with Letras — the people I’ve met and learned from and continue to connect with in all kinds of ways. It’s really been a gift, and I’m grateful for it.
— Emma Trelles
More photos from Plaza Letras Latinas
Photo taken by Laura Villareal |
Row One (left to right): Ae Hee Lee, Grisel Acosta, Brenda Cárnedas at the booth for book signings.
Row Two (left to right): Kristen Milleres Young hosting office hours. Claudia Castro Luna providing lotería divination. Vincent Toro asking Amanda Galvan Hyunh a Latinx trivia question.
Row Three (left to right): Eduardo C. Corral stopped for a photo with Xavier Cavazos. Juan J. Morales signing books. Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo and Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera signing books.
Row Four: Felicia Zamora and Oliver Baez Bendorf signing books. Michelle Otero and Anel Flores signing books at the booth together.