The MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Reno presents a reading from their Fall Distinguished Poet-in-Residence, Lara Mimosa Montes. Join us at the Lilley Museum of Art for a reading and Q&A from Lara’s genre-defying work, encompassing poetry, prose, memoir, and criticism.

This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.

This program is also co-sponsored with the University of Nevada, Reno Department of English; Core Humanities at the University of Nevada, Reno; and The Hilliard Endowment.

Lara Mimosa Montes

Lara Mimosa Montes is a writer, editor, and teaching artist whose practice and experiences span the fields of alternative publishing and experimental writing. She is the author of THRESHOLES(Coffee House Press, 2020) and The Somnambulist (Horse Less Press, 2016). Her writing has appeared in BOMB, Fence, The Brooklyn Rail, The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of artist residencies and fellowships from MacDowell, Marble House Project, Jentel, and Headlands Center for the Arts. Lara holds a PhD in English from The Graduate Center, City University of New York. She teaches in XE: Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement Master’s program at NYU. She was born in the Bronx.

About the Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home Initiative

‍For nearly five centuries, the rich tapestry of Latino poetry has been woven from a wealth of languages and cultures. With distinctive rhythms, lyricism, and candor, and nuanced understandings of place, history, and origin, Latino poets have brought dazzling insight to what it means to make a home in America.

Recognition of the beauty and power of this tradition has grown in recent years, with Latino poets receiving two national and twelve state Poet Laureateships, two Pulitzer Prizes, and three National Book Awards. At the same time, the perennial questions confronted by Latino poets—of exile and belonging, language and identity, struggle and solidarity, and labor and landscape—have become ever more urgent.

What does Latino poetry reveal about America? How might it help us imagine a more just, joyful, and capacious future? Places We Call Home seeks to foster nationwide conversation on this vital literature through a groundbreaking new anthology edited by Rigoberto González, events around the country, an online media archive, and a wealth of library resources meant to spur in-depth reflection and discussion on key figures and themes.

Funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective, Places We Call Home is directed by Library of America and presented in partnership with the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; the Academy of American Poets; Cave Canem; Poetry Society of America; and the National Book Foundation, among others.