Poetry Alive! Celebrates Jennifer Clement

Poetry Café Bellas Artes presents:
Poetry Alive! Celebrates Jennifer Clement

Thursday, February 7,
5:00 – 6:00 PM

Sala Literaria, 1st Floor
 El Centro Culturál Ignacio Ramírez “El Nigromante”
Hernández Macías 75

Suggested Donation $100 pesos

Jennifer Clement Poetry Reading

By Maia Williams

Poetry Alive! is an annual celebration of the work of the distinguished poet scheduled to present a keynote address at the upcoming San Miguel Writers’ Conference (Feb. 13- 17, 2019). The tradition of the volunteer advisory board reading selected works in English and Spanish began with Billy Collins in 2017, followed by Rita Dove in 2018.

This year, in a delightful twist, Jennifer Clement herself will present her poems in English, along with several in Spanish, on Thursday, February 7^th, 5:00 to 6:00 PM.

Jennifer Clement is the President of PEN International and the first woman to be elected since the organization was founded in 1921.

Jennifer studied English Literature and Anthropology at New York University and also studied French literature in Paris. She has an MFA in fiction from the Stonecoast MFA program at USM.

Jennifer has published four books of poetry including The Next Stranger (with an introduction by W.S. Merwin). Clement is the author four novels: Prayers for the Stolen, A True Story Based on Lies, The Poison That Fascinates and Gun Love. Prayers for the Stolen was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice Book, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, winner of the Gran Prix des Lectrices Lyceenes de ELLE 2015, an NEA Fellowship and the Sara Curry Humanitarian Award. The novel appeared internationally on many “Best Books of the Year” lists, including The Irish Times. Clement was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her novel Gun Love. Her books have been translated into 30 languages.

She is the author of the acclaimed memoir Widow Basquiat on New York City in the early 1980’s and the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. Glenn O’Brien in Artforum described this work as, “Magical … The life of Basquiat … is a joyous lightning bolt when it is described in true detail, as it is in Clement’s extraordinary as-told-to poem.” NPR rated it one of the best books of 2015 in seven different categories.

From 2009 to 2012, Clement was president of PEN Mexico and her work focused on the disappearance and killing of journalists. She and her sister, Barbara Sibley, are the founders and directors of the San Miguel Poetry Week. Jennifer lives in Mexico City and is a member of Mexico’s prestigious “Sistema Nacional de Creadores.”

Jennifer Clement Keynote Address: Thursday, February 14th, 6:30 PM – “Sex Trafficking, Heroin and Guns: Writing the Social Novel,” will be held in the ballroom of Hotel Real de Mina. Tickets are available at sanmiguelwritersconference.org.

Founded in January of 2016, Poetry Café Bellas Artes meets monthly, September through April. This all-volunteer organization features local and visiting poets (established and emerging) sharing original work in a casual setting. Three poets with local ties, Leona DeFehr, Anado McLauchlin, and Laura Juliet Wood, will present their poems Thursday, February 21st, from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

Please arrive early. Seating is limited.