Henry Mendez Chavajay, 2016 (Guatemala) Inmigrante / Immigrant Técnica mixta / Mixed media © www.unnaturalelection.com

Poetry for Girls of The World
Six latinas share their works in an international festival
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BY LORENA MEDINA MARTÍNEZ

On March 25, the International Poetry and Art Festival Grito de Mujer was held for the first time in Anchorage. Women Poets International (MPI), an organization founded in the Dominican Republic and devoted to the promotion of contemporary poetry by women, coordinates this festival. This year, the festival focused on the girls and was held in 200 cities from around the world. Its objective was to raise awareness about issues affecting them, such as child abuse, gender violence, forced submission, forced labor, racism, early pregnancies and other violations of human rights. The festival was also intended to encourage communication about these issues, and to help establish support for the girls suffering from them. 

Anchorage participated in this event through the reading of unpublished poems written by women from different Latin American countries: Rosemary Báez and Andrea Jaque from Ecuador; Paulina Larenas-Bajwa from Chile; and Itzel Yarger-Zagal, Indra Arriaga, Gabriela Olmos, and Lorena Medina Martínez from Mexico. As immigrant women the poets expressed their desire to be heard speaking of their ideals and experiences with one voice: that of justice. Itzel Yarger-Zagal, MPI representative in Anchorage, put together the event in the hope that this festival becomes a long-term tradition in Alaska. 

​Informar, Educar, & Unir
Inform, Educate, & Unite