Rockhurst Lecture Explores Contemporary Latino Poetry

Brenda Cárdenas, assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will present “New Directions in Contemporary Latino/a Poetry" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 21, in Mabee Theater, Sedgwick Hall, at Rockhurst University.

Cárdenas writes in a blend of English, Spanish and the indigenous languages of Nahautl and Quechua, which she says reflects her interest in “the interconnectedness and juxtaposition of differences and similarities between seemingly disparate peoples, events, places and experiences.” Cárdenas is the author of two poetry collections and her works have appeared in a number of anthologies and journals.

Born into a working-class family, the granddaughter of “mom-and-pop” shopkeepers, Cárdenas received her B.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1987 before earning her M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Cárdenas’ presentation is the Alpha Sigma Nu lecture for the Rockhurst University Visiting Scholar Lecture Series. It is free and open to the public. To register your attendance, call (816) 501-4828. Mabee Theater is located in Sedgwick Hall on the Rockhurst University campus, 54th Street and Troost Avenue.