San Francisco International Poetry Festival: Carla Badillo Coronado

Carla Badillo Coronado, June 2009,dancing with the zuleta skirt

This post features Carla Badillo Coronado, a poet, artist and dancer from Ecuador who is going to be part of the San Francisco International Poetry Festival. The same festival is going to feaure poets from more 21 countries, including Zimbabwe's Ignatius Mabasa. I will post an interview I did with Carla, but for now, let me feature of few photos of her at different dancing functions in her country.



We are working to bring Carla to the Sacramento Poetry Center in August for her to perform her poetry and show her artwork. If all goes well, the same event will also feature Sacramento artist Mariana Castro de Ali.

Carla with the "fueguito sagrado" (sacred fire).

Carla Badillo Coronado performs with the group group Tullpucuna (which means "colors" in Quichua).The group is featured below:



Carla has told me that her poetry and the dances celebrate her culture and ancestors. There much color in the festivities and rituals. She has said that her San Francisco appearance will showcase some of her dances, in addition to the poetry.



Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Jack Hirschman and the San Francisco Public Library will present the second San Francisco International Poetry Festival, July 23-27, 2009. The festival will take place at the Palace of Fine Arts and various venues and libraries throughout San Francisco.

The Festival honors the City’s great legacy of hosting and encouraging cross cultural dialogue. In 2007, the four-day extravaganza drew thousands of people from the Bay Area for free and open-to-the-public poetry and music at both large and small venues throughout the City, including a street party in North Beach, youth events, book signings, translation workshops and more.

Twenty-six poets from 21 countries will journey to the Festival, reading together with the leaders of San Francisco’s own highly regarded literary community. The truly international group of poets, from countries including Bangladesh, China,Ecuador, France, Greece, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe and others, represent a wide spectrum in the world of poetry, from recognized masters to emerging new talents, who are redefining the art in our evolving times.

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