Poets Across the Generations IV: Piri Thomas and Luis Rodriguez
UIC Latino Cultural Center & Guild Complex

Piri Thomas began his struggle for survival, identity, and recognition at an early age. The viscious street environment of poverty, racism, and street crime took its toll and he served seven years of nightmarish incarceration.


9/8/1999 - 9/8/1999


Piri Thomas began his struggle for survival, identity, and recognition at an early age. The viscious street environment of poverty, racism, and street crime took its toll and he served seven years of nightmarish incarceration. With the knowledge that he had not been born a criminal, he vowed to use his street and prison know-how to reach hardcore youth and turn them away from a life of crime. In 1967 both his career and fame as an author were launched with the electrifying autobiography, Down These Mean Streets which mad El Barrio (the neighborhood) a household word to multitudes of non-Spanish-speaking readers. It has now been translated into Spanish for the first time, Por Estas Calles Bravas. Savior, Savior Hold My Hand also received wide critical acclaim, as did Seven Long Times, a chronicle of one man?s experience in New York?s dehumanizing penal system. Stories from El Barrio, a collection of short stories, is for young people of all ages. He is working on a book entitled A Matter of Dignity (the sequal to Down These Mean Streets).

Luis J. Rodriguez is the author of the memoir Always Running: la Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. (1993 Curbstone Press; 1994 Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster0, which won a Carl Sandburg Literary award and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book for 1993. In 1998 Curbstone Press published a children?s illustrated book (in Spanish and English), America is Her Name, which won a 1999 Paterson Prize for a Book for Young Adults. Luis is also founder of Tia Chucha Press, the publishing wing of Guild Complex and a founder/board member of Youth Struggling for Survival, featured in the 1997 PBS series ?Making Peace? (Moria Productions). He has traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America reading, lecturing and conducting workshops. Luis is a founding board member of Guild Complex.

Poets Across the Generations brings together writers on the same stage who have developed their voice and honed their skills during different periods. The generation gap has ranged from poets who experienced the great depression to those influenced by the Grunge Movement. They not only recite their poems, but also discuss the links and distinctions between their generations, placing their writing in context based on their influences and the conditions in which their poetry emerged. This series is supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Performers
Piri Thomas and Luis Rodriguez

Tags: Literary, , 1999