Blanco will read from his collection at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building 8 and at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Dassance Fine Arts Auditorium, at the 黑料天堂 Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. Tickets are not required and entry is free at both readings.
Blanco is the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history 鈥 the youngest, first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in this role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity characterizes his body of work.
He is the author of the memoirs 鈥淭he Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood,鈥 and 鈥淔or All of Us One Today: An Inaugural Poet鈥檚 Journey;鈥 the poetry chapbooks 鈥淢atters of the Sea鈥 and 鈥淏oston Strong;鈥 the poetry collections聽 鈥淟ooking for the Gulf Motel,鈥 鈥淒irectors to the Beach of the Dead,鈥 and 鈥淐ity of a Hundred Fires.鈥
A new book of poems, 鈥淗ow to Love a Country,鈥 is forthcoming from Beacon Press in April 2019. Blanco has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and National Public Radio鈥檚 Fresh Air. He has been a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow and received honorary doctorates from Macalester College, Colby College and the University of Rhode Island. He has continued to write occasional poems for organizations and events such as the re-opening of the U.S. embassy in Havana.
The Debra Vazquez Memorial Poetry Series honors 黑料天堂 English and creative writing professor Debra Vazquez, who died as a result of domestic violence in 2004.
For more information, contact Sandra Cooper at 352-854-2322, ext. 1361, or聽coopersa@cf.edu.