Department of Foreign Language to Host Bilingual Poetry Reading and Talk

Ashland University’s Department of Foreign Languages is hosting a bilingual poetry reading and talk on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m. in the Ronk Lecture Hall in the Schar College of Education. The event is free and open to the public.

Juan Armando Rojas Joo of Ciudad Juárez, México, will present the reading of his book, “Río Vertebral/Vertebral River” -- a poetic allegory of the U.S.-Mexican Border. He also will address issues of violence on the U.S.-Mexican border. This book was translated by Dr. Jennifer Rathbun, assistant professor of foreign languages at Ashland University.

A poet and literary critic, Rojas Joo has published “Lluvia de lunas,” (1999), “Río vertebral” (2002), “Santuarios desierto mar” (2004), “Ceremonial de viento / Ceremonial of Wind” (2006) and “Río vertebral/Vertebral River” (2009).

He is co-editor of the anthology of poetry “Canto a una ciudad en el desierto” (2004) and teaches Spanish and Latin American literature at Ohio Wesleyan University. During 2002–2004, he was the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow and visiting assistant professor at Amherst College, Mass.