Similarly exploring marginalized voices within the context of poetry, visiting authors Dan Vera and Jennifer Bartlett join Northwest Vista College assistant professor Natalia Treviño to inaugurate Gemini Ink @ Tacoland, a new series launching in tandem with the mini-conference “Like Oak Trees: How Writing Transforms Community.” Born in South Texas to Cuban parents and now based in Washington D.C., Vera won the first ever Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize for 2013’s Speaking Wiri Wiri — a collection that weaves language, taste and culture into a witty tapestry inhabited by everyone from Captain Kirk to Carmen Miranda. Currently at work on a biography of late poet Larry Eigner (1927-1996), Brooklyn-based Bartlett draws from her own experiences with cerebral palsy to challenge stereotypes and champion the disabled through her works, the most recent being the deeply personal collection Autobiography/Anti-Autobiography. Promising to defy any preconceived notions one might have of a literary function, the nonprofit’s outdoor reading comes complete with signature Gemini cocktails (crafted from cucumber vodka, mint, lime and agave) and an open mic to follow.
Gloria Trevi, the groundbreaking Mexican pop singer-songwriter, electrified Freeman Coliseum on Saturday, bringing feminist lyrics, scintillating dance moves and an array of…