Fiscal Note
title
Presentation: Poetry Recitation by Araceli Esparza - "Sidewalks"
Body
Araceli Esparza, is a Latinx Poeta. Araceli’s work has been published in Madison Magazine, Verse Wisconsin, and several anthologies, and you can hear her poetry in Wisconsin Life archives. She is an MFA graduate from Hamline University. Araceli was born and raised in Madison, WI; her parents were migrant farmworkers from Guanajuato, Mexico, from whom she still gathers her strength. She recently co-edited a poetry anthology with Flying Ketchup Press, The Very Edge Poems, that can be bought at local bookstores and Amazon. She was also featured in the National Anthology Hispanic Star Rising. Araceli was named Wisconsin's Most Influential Latina by the Wisconsin State Journal and Madison 365. Her poem Los Chico y Chicas de Blossom Street was made into an animated short produced by PBS Wisconsin, and won gold from the Milwaukee Press Club. Araceli teaches picture book writing, and holds contemplative writing circles; she volunteers each year for the Yarahara Writing Conference and teaches bilingual poetic craft to the Spanish youth winners.
Currently, Araceli is planting seeds as a social justice speaker and founder of a Latina mentoring program (Midwest Mujeres) that helps Latinas upskill their tech knowledge and increase their earning potential while helping to create a positive impact on marginalized communities.
In her words about being a poet, "To me, being a Latinx writer means to be able to catch fire, to bring forth something from labor and sweat, to have enough when there’s not a lot."
She has organized community art-based programs with the libraries and other artists in the area. Araceli is a teaching artist and has been trained at the Kennedy Center of the Arts hosted by the Overture Center. Araceli is often sought out as a local curator for Latinx artists and has been featured in several artsy shows.
Follow her on Instagram @araceliesparza_speaker for more Chin...
Click here for full text