On Nov. 6th at 6:00 p.m., while pedestrians in puffer jackets shuffled past in the cold, Dotters Books buzzed with conversation. In a small venue among bookshelves, community members gathered for a night of poetry. 

Acclaimed poets José Felipe Alvergue and Gustavo Barahona-López sat at the head of the space, works of poetry and autotheory in hand. They opened by acknowledging the space’s occupation of Indigenous peoples’ lands. 

Barahona-López, finalist for the 2021 Quarterly West poetry prize and winner of the inaugural Chicanx Visions Book Series Project Prize, read from his newest publication, “Foundation,” available through the Flowersong Press. 

For Barahona-López, poetry is not merely an art form but a means of processing grief and loss.

“Some of those epiphanies that have helped me in the healing process were only possible because of the process of this book, of writing,” Barahona-López said.

Barahona-López said his poetry also meditates on his ancestry and what it means to grow up as a Latino in an environment governed by standards of masculinity and affected by nativism.

“The Latine experience isn’t a single strand; it’s a multitude, it’s a spectrum,” Barahona-López said. “And I think sometimes people are made to feel guilty for not abiding by a particular archetype.” 

Fellow poet Felipe Alvergue said he agreed. A standard Latine identity does not exist, nor does it depend exclusively on one’s ancestry.  

“Latine identity is being constructed all the time in all of these different spaces of North America,” Felipe Alvergue said. “And that is in itself the creation of a generational story.” 

A finalist for the Wisconsin State Poet Laureate and graduate of CalArts Writing (MFA) and Buffalo Poetics (PhD), Felipe Alvergue transcends poetic norms by incorporating lyrical fragments and subverting visual standards. 

Felipe Alvergue said that it seems natural for the format of a text to fluctuate to reflect the style of communication. He formats the text to conceptualize what it would look like if it could communicate as humans do.

“When we communicate, do I avoid your eyes? Do I kind of shrink up a little bit when I say something private?” Felipe Alvergue said.

Felipe Alvergue expressed that the essence of poetry also lies in its ability to unite audiences in both a physical and mental respite from reality. In this respect, gathering as a community to hear poetry is in itself poetic. 

“It’s acts like this that remind us who we are,” Felipe Alvergue said. “And I think that’s very vital right now.” 

Margaret Leonard, owner of Dotters Books, expressed a similar perspective. In her view, poetry is not a luxury but a necessity.

“It is kind of what keeps us human,” Leonard said. “It teaches us the importance of connecting and listening.”

According to Leonard, poetry readings, like the Night of American Poetry at Dotters Books, provide a space for the community to seek refuge from reality and immerse themselves in a positive atmosphere. 

Leonard also acknowledged that the anxieties of the current political moment, especially within the Latine and literary communities, often feel out of control. 

“So if one thing we can do is sit in a room together and listen to poetry, that feels like a big thing,” Leonard said. 

In this respect, both the act of writing poetry and consuming it help the soul process trauma and heal from emotional wounds.

Upon stepping out of the bookstore after the crowd had drifted out, the cold snap back to reality emphasized the intimacy and comfort of the poetry reading. 

Dotters Books has many similar events approaching. It will continue to provide a space for poets and readers to convene, discuss and heal. 

Felipe Alvergue and Barahona-López’s latest works are available for purchase at Dotters Books, both in their storefront on 307 South Barstow and online. 

Riddle can be reached at [email protected].