“Writing: A Life” hosts poets Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Urayoán Noel

A photo of the entrance to LVC, which will soon welcome Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Urayoán Noel.

Paige Dalto ’24, staff writer

Writing: A Life, LVC’s interactive reading series, is hosting two Puerto Rican poets, Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Urayoán Noel, for their upcoming event.

Delgado is a poet, translator and book artist and is widely known as one of Puerto Rico’s leading poets of her generation. In 2016, she founded an editorial studio called La Impresora that she runs alongside poet Amanda Hernández. Delgado’s work focuses primarily on ecofeminism and land art with an emphasis on places and territories.

Noel is a poet, critic, translator and performer who teaches at New York University as well as Stetson University’s MFA of the Americas. His most recent poetry book, Transversal, was a New York Public Library Book of the Year. Noel’s work has been exhibited in the Museum of the City of New York and at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico.

Dr. MC Hyland, an assistant professor of English at LVC and friend of the visiting poets, stated that the two poets “will be reading poetry in both English and Spanish, particularly from Delgado’s forthcoming bilingual book Adjacent Islands / Islas adyacentes, which Noel translated, and which will be out in December.”

November is Puerto Rican Heritage Month, and these skilled writers will be on campus in the midst of this important celebration of culture and history. 

“Delgado will read in Spanish with English translation by Noel while Noel’s own poems tend to play with and move back and forth between English and Spanish in exciting ways,” stated Hyland.

Dr. Holly Wendt, director of Creative Writing at LVC, said that this “experience of the work of translation, across languages and locations, to our campus community is something I hope will both resonate with audience members who have experience working with and across multiple languages, as many members of the LVC community do, and will educate and enlighten single-language speakers and learners.”

This reading event will allow students to listen to and appreciate art regardless of language or location. Delgado and Noel will be reading from their works as well as attending several creative writing and Spanish classes during their visit.

“This is a chance to celebrate the work of Puerto Rican artists, the innovation and skill demonstrated in Delgado and Noel’s writing,” Wendt said, encouraging the student body to take advantage of this opportunity. 

The reading will take place in Leedy Theater at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15. Delgado and Noel’s visit to creative writing and Spanish classes will also occur on Nov. 15 in CHA 101. Students interested in attending the reading via Zoom may register here, and those attending in person are strongly recommended to wear a mask for accessibility purposes.