The Jewish History Museum will co-sponsor a poetry reading on Wednesday, Feb. 27 in Spanish, English and Ladino with acclaimed Mexican poet Myriam Moscona. Joining her on stage will be the translators of her book, “Tela de Sevoya” (“Onioncloth”), Jen Hofer and John Pluecker. They are co-founders of Antena, a collective dedicated to language justice and language experimentation.
Born in Mexico City, Moscona is a poet and journalist of Bulgarian-Sephardic descent. She has authored nine books. “Tela de Sevoya,” published by Les Figues Press, features a narrator who travels from Mexico to Bulgaria, searching for traces of her Sephardic heritage. Her journey becomes an autobiographical and imagined exploration of childhood, diaspora, and her family language, Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, the language spoken by the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain in
the Inquisition.
Hofer is a translator, poet, social justice interpreter, and teacher. She has published 10 books in translation and three books of poetry. Pluecker is a language worker who writes, translates, organizes, interprets and creates. His book of poetry and image, “Ford Over,” was released in 2016 from Noemi Press.
“Tela de Sevoya” was awarded one of Mexico’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Premio Xavier Villaurrutia, whose previous winners include Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, and Mario Bellatin.
The poetry reading, which is free, is at 7 p.m. at the museum, 564 S. Stone Ave., followed by discussion. It is co-sponsored by the Consulado de Mexico and the University of Arizona Poetry Center. For more information, contact the museum at 670-9073.
The Poetry Center will also host a reading the following evening, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.poetry.arizona.edu.
