Latin poets to read Wednesday at Mint Museum on Randolph

Latin poets reading Wednesday at the Mint Museum on Randolph Road

I love Latin poets. They tend, as a group, to be so romantic, so imaginative, so flashy and still so tenderly charged.

One of my favorites is Martin Espada, who was born in Brooklyn, but is Latin through and through. In his poem, "The Republic of Poetry," from the book of the same name, he proclaims that in the imaginary Republic of Poetry, "monks print verses about the night / on boxes of monastery chocolate," that "poets read to the baboons /  at the zoo, and all the primates, / poets and baboons alike, scream for joy."
 And, of course, it goes without saying that in the Republic of Poetry, "poets eat free."
 If you, too, love the thrill of Latin writing, you're in luck.
 To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, six Latin poets -- three Colombians, two Mexicans and one Venezuelan -- will give a bi-lingual reading of poetry and prose on Wednesday, 7-8 p.m., at the Mint Museum on Randolph Road.
The occasion is the publication of the anthology, "La Fragancia del Agua" (The Fragrance of Water") from Main Street Rag Publishing of Charlotte, which includes work by the group Artesanos de la Palabra.
Poets reading are Cielo Ramirez, Claudia Quijano-Tourn, Irania M. Patterson, Jose Vazquez, Kurma Murrain and Patricia Atilano.

In the Republic of Poetry, all poetry readings would be free, and the poets, of course, millionaires. I don't know about any millionaires among them, but the reading is definitely free and open to the public. Mint Museum: 2730 Randolph Road, Charlotte, N.C., 28207.
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