Literary Salon with Red Hen Press, Tia Chucha Press, and Letras Latinas

We are pleased to invite you to a special literary salon at Red Hen Press in Pasadena on Thursday, May 1 celebrating authors from Red Hen Press, Tia Chucha Press, and the Letras Latinas initiative from the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies.

We welcome William Archila (S is for, The Gravedigger’s Archaeology), Adela Najarro (Variations in Blue), Brent Ameneyro (A Face Out of Clay), Malia Márquez (City of Smoke and Sea), Jose Hernandez Diaz (Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man), and Luivette Resto (Living on Islands Not Found on Maps), with Francisco Aragón (After Ruben) as our wonderful emcee.

Thursday, May 1
5:30 p.m. Reception with refreshments, tamales & light bites
6:15 p.m. Program
Red Hen Press: 1540 Lincoln Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103

RSVP: https://redhen.org/event-calendar/literary-salon-with-red-hen-press-tia…

Parking: Lot space is limited; street parking is plentiful

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Francisco Aragón is a Latino poet, editor, translator, and director and founder of Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies. He is the author of three books of poetry, most recently After Rubén (Red Hen Press, 2020). Previous collections include Glow of Our Sweat (Scapegoat Press, 2010) and Puerta del Sol (Bilingual Press, 2005). Francisco is also the editor of the award-winning anthology The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry (University of Arizona Press, 2007). He spends the fall and spring semesters on the Notre Dame campus, where he teaches courses in Latinx poetry and creative writing.

Brent Ameneyro is a poet and music artist. He is the author of the collection A Face Out of Clay (The Center for Literary Publishing, 2024) and the chapbook Puebla (Ghost City Press, 2023). His poetry has been published in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Iowa Review, Ninth Letter, The Journal, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and elsewhere. He was the 2022-2023 Letras Latinas Poetry Coalition Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. Brent currently serves as the Poetry Editor at The Los Angeles Review.

William Archila is the author of three books of poetry including S is For (Black Lawrence Press, 2025), which won the 2023 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the author of The Art of Exile (Bilingual Review Press, 2009), which was awarded the International Latino Book Award, and The Gravedigger’s Archaeology (Letras Latinas, 2015), which received the Letras Latinas/Red Hen Poetry Prize. His works have been published in Poetry Magazine, The American Poetry Review, Kenyon Review and numerous other publications. William is an associate editor at Tía Chucha Press and he lives in Los Angeles.

Jose Hernandez Diaz is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020), Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024), The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025) and Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man (Red Hen Press, 2025), which won the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award. He has been published in the Yale Review, the London Magazine, and in the Southern Review. Jose teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshops, The Writer’s Center, and elsewhere. Gigantic Sequins and Parcel have nominated him for the Pushcart Prize. Jose holds degrees in English and creative writing from the University of California, Berkeley, and Antioch University Los Angeles.

Malia Márquez was born in New Mexico and grew up in New England. She holds a BFA in 3D Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art & Design and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She has worked as a restaurant server & cook, a high school art & film studies teacher, and once upon a time was co-owner of a small tortilla company. Author of This Fierce Blood (Acre Books, 2021) and City of Smoke and Sea (Red Hen Press, 2025), Malia lives with her family in Los Angeles.

Adela Najarro is the author of five poetry collections, including her latest collection Variations in Blue (Red Hen Press, 2025) through the Letras Latinas/Red Hen Collaborative. Her other works include Split Geography (Mouthfeel Press, 2015), Twice Told Over (Unsolicited Press, 2015), My Childrens (Unsolicited Press, 2017), and Volcanic Interruptions (Jamii Publishing, 2022), a chapbook featuring artwork by Janet Trenchard. She holds a doctorate in literature and creative writing from Western Michigan University, as well as an M.F.A. from Vermont College, and is widely published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines. Adela currently resides in Santa Cruz, California.

Luivette Resto is an award-winning poet, editor, mother, and middle school English teacher. She was born in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, and was proudly raised in the Bronx, New York. She is a CantoMundo and Macondo Fellow. Her books of poetry include Unfinished Portrait (2008) and Ascension (2013), both published by Tía Chucha Press, as well as Living on Islands Not Found on Maps (FlowerSong Press, 2022). Her work has been mentioned in the LA Times and Ms. Magazine, and her work has been published in North American Review. Luivette is the associate editor of Tía Chucha Press, and she serves on the boards of Women Who Submit and Beyond Baroque. She lives in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles.