Sheldon Museum of Art will host an interdisciplinary discussion of the groundbreaking new volume “Tears and Flowers: A Poet of Migration in Old Key West” (University Press of Florida). A rare glimpse into the history of the Cuban community in Key West in the early twentieth century, this book makes the poetry of Feliciano Castro (1892–1982) available in English for the first time.

A Galician Cuban who lived for decades in the southernmost city of the United States, Feliciano Castro worked as a lector reading to cigar factory employees, a newspaper editor, a printer, and a writer. “Lágrimas y flores,” a collection of his poetry, was published in 1918—and nearly lost forever. Translated here by Rhi Johnson (Indiana University Bloomington), Castro’s poems provide a window into a little-known world.

Johnson and University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor Joy Castro, the poet’s granddaughter, open this new bilingual edition with an introduction detailing the writer’s biography, literary context, and cultural milieu. “Tears and Flowers” highlights questions of national identity, migration, belonging, and courtship in Cuban émigré society, connects Florida to the Spanish-speaking communities of the Caribbean and Spain, and recovers the literary archive of a rich moment in U.S. and Latinx history for a contemporary audience.

Translator and co-editor Rhi Johnson and six Nebraska professors from the Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Latinx and Latin American Studies program, and the Departments of English, History, and Modern Languages will discuss the impact and significance of this contribution to U.S. and Caribbean history and literature.

Discussants:

Rhi Johnson, IU Bloomington
Joy Castro, UNL English & Ethnic Studies
James Garza, UNL History & Ethnic Studies
Katie Marya, UNL English
Laura Muñoz, UNL History & Ethnic Studies
Ingrid Robyn, UNL Modern Languages and Literatures & Ethnic Studies
Luis Othoniel Rosa, UNL Modern Languages and Literatures & Ethnic Studies

This program is co-sponsored by the Institute for Ethnic Studies, Latinx and Latin American Studies, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Mexican American Student Association (MASA), and Sheldon Museum of Art.

This event is free and open to the public.