On March 12, Maria’s Poetas Collective and DePaul University held a concert event featuring spoken word, poetry, music and comedy. The event, titled Latina Lesbian Lives-Our Lived Experiences, featured writers, poets and storytellers ranging from senior citizens to current DePaul University students. The event was held in the Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore Ave., on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus.
As the title suggests, the readings and performances embraced the Latina lesbian experience from every conceivable angle, whether it be lust, first love, long term love, growing older, growing up and growing to love one’s self. The multitude of readings and performances finished with a question-and-answer segment with the audience at the close of the event.
The event got off to a warm start with DePaul Professors Lourdes Torres and Heather Montes Ireland welcoming the near capacity crowd and introducing Norma Seledon.
There was a drumming performance and acknowledgement of native lands by Claudia Villa Cova and Paloma Rosales, which set the tone for a very relaxed and engaging night of poetry and spoken word.
Elisa Corona performed a lyrical “Quien Soy,” followed by Jenille Ramos’ reading of “See Me” by Emily King. Martha Cartagena broke up the house with a saucy reading of her “A Promise to a Crone,” which celebrated aging and self-love in a roundabout way.
DePaul students Isabella Salinas (reading her poem “Loving Her”) and Nel Afenya (reading her poem “Mine; My Femme is not Invisible”) added a youthful accent to the program that fit in extremely well.
Vetty Lopez’s “Mexican” spoke to the difficulty of navigating growing up surrounded by people who have no clue that queerness is not a phase. Seledon (who read her “Mujer Limpia Soy), Claudia Villacova (who read her “It’s Been a Long Long Time”) and Maria Calderon (who read her “A Letter to my Lesbian Self”) added writings from a wiser perspective.
Surprise special guest and noted comedian Gwen La Roka gave the proceedings a surprise jolt of energy with her stories of growing up queer and Catholic with a family she avoided talking about her sexuality with. Despite having a girlfriend on the down-low, she was stunned that her father knew what was going on all along. Erika with a “K” closed out the performances with an upfront reading of “My Community, Te Celebro.”
