Portland poet and activist Judith Arcana interviews Cindy about poetry and her forthcoming collection, Inlay with Nacre: The Names of Forgotten Women. This is the first time Cindy reads from her new body of work.
POETRY IN PERFORMANCE: The Poetry and Music
of Ancient Mexico
Poetry by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez
Music by Gerardo Calderón
Sponsored by the Mid-Valley Poetry Society
Bush Barn Art Center, Salem, OR
March 25, 2017
Journey to the spirit of ancient Mexico—to a time and place where poetry is the way to a pure heart, an "emerald heart." Through a live performance of Aztec-inspired poetry with pre-Columbian music, Cindy and Gerardo engage in a haunting dialogue with "the ones who have gone before."
Gerardo Calderón
LETRAS LATINAS: The small claim of bones
Poetry by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez
Interviewed by Ae Hee Lee
Institute of Latino Studies
University of Notre Dame
December 5, 2014
"In The Small Claim of Bones, Cindy Williams Gutiérrez's words dig deep and exquisitely into the earth of Mexican history to uncover the voices of the people of Tenochtitlan and New Spain. Divided accordingly, the book engages in three different dialogues: between the poet’s father and the Nahuas, her mother and Sor Juana, and Cindy herself and the “bones” that make up her multicultural identity. Through word, breath, and song, this collection of poetry places the sacredness and beauty of the past right beside the present, enriching it— claiming it."
—Ae Hee Lee, Institute for Latino Studies graduate assistant,
University of Notre Dame
Art: © José Luís Rodríguez Guerra