Romancero Books is pleased to invite you to the premiere of A Queer Latinxs Poetry Reading film and the launch of MARICA FORMAL.
A Queer Latinxs Poetry Reading - film directed by Vasco Vieira
Join us for the premiere of A Queer Latinxs Poetry Reading, a film with poets Leo Boix, Sofía Vaisman, Adriann Ramirez and Natalia Figueroa.
Curated by Romancero Books, the film shows four queer latinxs poets reciting their most recent poems. The artwork was selected as part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of The National Poetry Library.
At the end of the screening, copies of their books will be available to purchase.
Please note drinks and nibbles will be on display for guests.
Natalia Figueroa
Natalia Figueroa (Chile, 1983). Bachelor, MA and PhD in Literature at Universidad de Chile. Her poetry book Una mujer sola siempre llama la atención en un pueblo (Chile, 2014; Spain, 2017), won the Best Poetry Book Prize in 2015 awarded by the Minister of Culture in Chile. She translated from the modern greek Το τραγούδι της αδελφής μου and Ημερολόγια Εξορίας, both from Yannis Ritsos, and Με το πρόσωπο στον τοίχο, from Miltos Sahtouris. In 2018 was published her research Ideologías excluyentes en la literatura chilena (Exclusionary ideologies in Chilean literature). She is a co-organizer of the Female Writers Meeting Islas nuevas, of Poemas para náufragos y viajeros, both in Chile, and of the international women's meeting Mount Sappho. In 2021 she published her second book of poems, Experimentos acerca de la repetición de los días (Experiments on the repetition of days).
Adriann Ramírez
Adriann Ramírez grew up in El Centro, California close to the Mexican border before ultimately moving to London in 2016. They began making short films in San Francisco while working towards their degree in dance and choreography, while simultaneously working as a principal dancer with PUSH Dance Company in 2013. Their first short film, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’, premiered at the 2014 Frameline International LGBTQ Film Festival and went on to show at various film festivals around the USA and UK. In 2018 they created Lavender Language, an ongoing series of conversations where they speak with queer artists about their creative process and how they maintain careers in artistic fields. HOT TEARS THROUGH VELVET RAGE, their debut book of poetry and photography, was published by Polari Press in 2021.
https://www.adriannramirez.com/ @adriann.ramirez
https://polari.press/
Sofia Vaisman Maturana
Born in Santiago de Chile in 1993. She grew up in the region of Valparaíso, there she began her first approaches to music and poetry. In 2015 she published her first collection of poems, “Pasillos de tiempos precoces” (Editorial Planeta de papel, Valparaíso, Chile). In 2018 she published her second collection of poems: "No le pongamos nombre a lo nuestro" (Ediciones Puntos suspensivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina). And in 2019 she was awarded the second place at the Victorina Press Poetry Awards, (London). She writes regular chronicles for SalvoConducta (Santiago-Buenos Aires), and is editing her third collection of poems “Traducciones para el libro de las sombras” to be published with Elefante Editorial (Buenos Aires). Currently she is in the process of writing her first novel.
https://sofiavaisman.com/
Leo Boix
Leo Boix is a bilingual Latino British poet, translator and journalist. He has published two
collections in Spanish, Un lugarpropio and Mar de noche. Boix is a fellow of The Complete
Works and co-director of ‘Invisible Presence’. His English poems have appeared widely and his
debut collection of English poetry, Ballad of a Happy Immigrant, was published by Chatto and
Windus in 2021.
https://leonardoboix.wixsite.com/poetry @boixleo
Vasco Vieira
Vieira Vasco is a Portuguese London-based queer filmmaker & creative. His work spans across film, advertising and video art. As a celebrated Writer, Director and Editor, his credits include award-winning super 8 short films ‘Admit One’ and 'Personae', the iconic webseries ‘Holy Popcorn’ and the poetic behind-the-scenes documentary '25 Years In The Making'.
Earlier on, he co-founded Cinephilia Film Fest and directed both seasons of the internationally acclaimed TV project 'The Coffee Shop Series', which was commissioned by Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture.
Nowadays, he experiments with both digital and multiple analogue formats, allowing his compelling body of work to speak for itself, showcasing his commitment to pushing creative boundaries in storytelling and visual expression.
https://www.vieiravasco.com/ @vascovieiravasco
MARICA FORMAL
A project by Rafael Escardó
Marica Formal is a queer activism and visual identity project with starting point and focus in Lima, Peru. Textually, Marica Formal, in Spanish, means “Formal Faggot”. Currently, the Peruvian cis straight male population uses the words Marica and Maricón (faggot) as a colloquial insult to refer to other straight men as cowards in the most normalized way. We have identified this practice as a form of systematic homophobia in the country and made it our mission to reclaim the words. The pilot product of the brand is the classic pair of long white sportswear socks, with the brand logo at the top of the elastic. We have adopted a change-via-example strategy, in which, by asking the members of our community to wear the socks and spread around the city, we’ll slowly but surely, change the meaning of the words step by step. On the longer run, we also envision the project to become more than just a socks brand, we want the project to be a whole platform that promotes queer values through visual culture. This is why we have made a series of prints, referencing three diMerent artist that represent queer values and inviting the audience to tap deeper into them, from the mainstream to the underground: Tom of Finland, Lee Lozano and Giuseppe Campuzano. Ultimately, we would like to draw the profile of a Marica Formal individual and promote it’s community values, starting in Peru and expanding into other Hispanic speaking countries that need the adjustment.
https://www.maricaformal.com
A project by Rafael Escardó
Rafael Escardó is a Peruvian artist based in London since 2015. He was born in 1991 and lived in Lima until age 24. After finishing a degree on Business Management and experiencing coming out as a gay man, he moved to London to pursuit his vocation as an artist at the Fine Art course in Goldsmiths University of London. With a special interest on the fields of textiles, sculpture and the body; Escardo lives and works in East London and travels back and forth to Lima for projects such Marica Formal, here and there.
https://www.rafaelescardo.com @rafaelescardo_studio