We are celebrating National Poetry Month w ith Richard Blanco!
\nSelected by President Obama as the fifth inaug ural poet in U.S. history\, Richard Blanco is the first Latino\, immigrant \, and gay person to serve in such a role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile p arents and raised in Miami\, the negotiation of cultural identity characte rizes his four collections of poetry: How To Love a Country\, City of a Hu ndred Fires\, which received the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize from the Univ ersity of Pittsburgh Press\; Directions to The Beach of the Dead\, recipie nt of the Beyond Margins Award from the PEN American Center\; and Looking for The Gulf Motel\, recipient of the Paterson Poetry Prize and the Thom G unn Award. He has also authored the memoirs For All of Us\, One Today: An Inaugural Poet&rsquo\;s Journey and The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Chi ldhood\, winner of a Lambda Literary Award. His inaugural poem &ldquo\;One Today&rdquo\; was published as a children&rsquo\;s book\, in collaboratio n with renowned illustrator Dav Pilkey. Boundaries\, a collaboration with photographer Jacob Hessler\, challenges the physical and psychological div iding lines that shadow the United States. And his latest book of poems\, How to Love a Country\, both interrogates the American narrative\, past an d present\, and celebrates the still unkept promise of its ideals. Blanco has written occasional poems for the re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Cub a\, Freedom to Marry\, the Tech Awards of Silicon Valley\, and the Boston Strong benefit concert following the Boston Marathon bombings. He is a Woo drow Wilson Fellow and has received numerous honorary doctorates. He has t aught at Georgetown University\, American University\, and Wesleyan Univer sity. He serves as the first Education Ambassador for The Academy of Ameri can Poets.
\nThe National Endowment for the Arts Big Read\, a partne rship with Arts Midwest\, broadens our understanding of our world\, our co mmunities\, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Showcasi ng a diverse range of contemporary titles that reflect many different voic es and perspectives\, the NEA Big Read aims to inspire conversation and di scovery.
\nBroward Public Library Foundation is a proud sponsor of t his program.
\nFounded in 1982\, the Broward Public Library Foundati on serves as the fundraising arm for the Broward County Library system\, w hich has the distinction of being one of the 10 largest public library sys tems in the United States and the largest in the state of Florida. Each ye ar\, more than nine million walk-in customers visit the system's 39 locati ons and countless others access a wealth of free resources using digital e -technology.
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