This December Poet in the City lined up a trio of leading contemporary performers to explore immigration, identity and the many different meanings of ‘home’, for an evening inspired by Leo Boix’s acclaimed new collection Ballad of a Happy Immigrant.
How does it feel to leave one’s home country and arrive in a new place with a new language? What does it mean to live, love and write between two cultures and traditions?
British-Argentine Leo Boix will be joined on-stage by Salvadoran poet Janel Pineda, bringing her own experiences of migration to the US. The evening’s discussions will be hosted by their long-term friend, collaborator and multi-disciplinary writer Malika Booker.
Expect Latin American live music with Piero Pierini and Gaby Echevarría and curated film excerpts as we celebrate the sounds and scenes of Latin American culture.
“It isn’t often that one encounters a sensibility so interested in our world – and so compelling in its powers of attentiveness. Leo Boix’s poetry has a wide tilt and scope. It sings the doors open.” Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic.
Leo Boix is a Latinx bilingual poet and translator. A fellow of The Complete Works Poetry, he was awarded the Keats-Shelley Prize in 2019. Born in Argentina, he now divides his time between London and Deal, Kent. His most recent collection Ballad of a Happy Immigrant (Chatto & Windus) was picked as a 2021 Poetry Book Society Wild Card Choice.
Ballad of a Happy Immigrant
Wednesday 8 December 2021 | 7:30 pm
King’s Place | London
Listen Desde la Tundra PODCAST (with subtitles in ENGLISH)