Joaquín Zihuatanejo presents 'Occupy Whiteness'

Third Place Books welcomes two-time World Poetry Slam Champion Joaquín Zihuatanejo to our Ravenna store for a conversation about his book . This collection of erasure poems shaped out of the work of long-form literary works by white men is an act of rebellion reclaiming space for Brown voices. This event is free and open to the public.

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This event is free to attend. Registration is recommended in advance.

Occupy Whiteness is a collection of hybrid erasure poems from inaugural Dallas Poet Laureate and multi-world slam competition winner Joaquín Zihuatanejo.

Starting from long-form works of literature by straight, white men, Joaquín Zihuatanejo occupies their pages, erasing words and sections, leaving only his poetry behind -- the white space that remains becoming colonized Brown verse.

Occupy Whiteness is an act of rebellion that reclaims spaces and highlights a history of erasure of Brown life.

An unflinching look at the present day, the collection is haunted and blessed by the image of ancestors who braved the river and desert to travel into border states for the opportunity of freedom. These are poems meant to agitate and create unease, to make the reader realize that neither their author nor the immigrant children he describes are Other. Through poems and interspersed photography from the border, Zihuatanejo poignantly depicts this equally beautiful and brutal place we call home.

Joaquín Zihuatanejo is the proud descendant of migrant field workers. Joaquín was the Inaugural Poet Laureate for the city of Dallas and was presented with a Laureate Fellowship Prize of $50,000 by the Academy of American Poets in honor of the outstanding work he has done in his city working with youth poets. The second sentence of this bio is not greater than the first. The second sentence would not be possible without the first. Joaquín is a two-time World Poetry Slam Champion. His readings and performances have been called by critics, "a display of verbal fireworks that leave audiences breathless and on the edge of their seats." He received his MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts where he studied under master American poets Natalie Diaz, Sherwin Bitsui, and Joan Naviyuk Kane. among others. His collection, Arsonist, won the Anhinga-Robert Dana Prize for Poetry as selected by Eduardo C. Corral. Joaquín's work has been published by Southwestern American Literature, Huizache, Poetry in Motion, Poets.org and many other literary journals and websites. His work has been featured on NBC, HBO, and NPR in Historias and The National Teachers' Initiative. Joaquín has two passions in his life, his partner Aída and poetry, always in that order.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

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