Noted Cuban Poet Omar Perez to Visit UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Omar Pérez, a highly accomplished Cuban poet, musician, artist and translator, visits The University of Alabama campus from Oct. 20-24.

The featured event is a poetry reading and musical exploration Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jemison Mansion in downtown Tuscaloosa.

Admission to the event is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing is scheduled prior to the reading.

Born in 1964 in Havana, Cuba, Pérez has earned numerous accolades for his work, such as Cuba’s National Critics’ Prize and the Nicolás Guillén Prize for Poetry. His prolific literary career features essays, translations and original poetry, extending across language barriers with articulate, bilingual translations.

He has served as an editor at “Letras Cubanas,” a publication of the Cuban Book Institute that features the best in Cuban literature and art, and published translations of work by writers ranging from William Shakespeare to Dylan Thomas and Yusef Komunyakaa, among many others. Ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk, Zen perspectives constitute but one strand in Pérez’s ever-changing approaches to the writing of poetry.

The multi-talented artist’s visit to UA expands upon previous relations, including a conversation in Havana with University Fellows from the Honors College and collaboration with UA’s book arts program. He also played percussion for a jazz-poetry concert alongside Drs. Andrew Dewar and Hank Lazer from UA earlier this year in Havana. During his visit, Pérez will meet with various campus groups and classes throughout the week to interact and engage with undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty members.

Pérez’s visit is made possible through sponsorships from the Blount Undergraduate Initiative, Creative Campus, UA’s English department, New College, the Office for Academic Affairs, The University of Alabama Press, as well as the book arts, creative writing, and modern languages and classics programs.