[email protected] featuring Inaugural Poet Richard Bianco on March 19th

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Saratoga Performing Arts Center announces [email protected]: “How to Love a Country with Richard Blanco.” The event will be held on Saturday, March 19th at 6:00 pm in the Nancy DiCresce Room at The [email protected] facility. The special event will feature a discussion moderated by WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s Joe Donahue with Presidential Inaugural Poet and SPAC Visiting Artist Richard Blanco. 

Driven by a desire to examine the essence of place and belonging, Blanco will explore with Donahue how his cultural identity as a Cuban-American and a gay man influences his works (How to Love a Country and The Prince of Los Cocuyos) and the power of poems and stories to create a sense of shared humanity.

“Bringing together charismatic visiting artist Richard Blanco with the insightful voice of WAMC’s Joe Donahue will make for one of our most illuminating speaker events to date — an exploration of how we are shaped by cultural identity, experiences, memories, and our complex stories,” said Elizabeth Sobol, President & CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

A vibrant, multi-dimensional speaker, Blanco was selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet in U.S. history and serves as the first-ever Education Ambassador for the Academy of American poets. In 2021, he became SPAC’s first visiting artist for the new SPAC School of the Arts and a mentor for the upcoming Adirondack Trust Company Festival of Young Artists. Blanco and Donahue will discuss both his collection of poems: How to Love a Country and Blanco’s memoir The Prince of Los Cocuyos. In How to Love a Country, Blanco invites a conversation with all Americans. Through an oracular yet intimate and accessible voice, he addresses the complexities and contradictions of our nationhood and the unresolved sociopolitical matters that affect us all. The Prince of Los Cocuyos is a poignant, hilarious, and inspiring memoir, which explores Blanco’s coming-of-age as the child of Cuban immigrants and his attempts to understand his place in America while grappling with his burgeoning artistic and sexual identities. The memoir is currently under development for a TV series.

Immediately following the discussion is a book signing with the author. A limited number of copies of How to Love a Country and The Prince of Los Cocuyos will be available for sale on site. Advance copies are also available for sale at Northshire Bookstore.  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

[email protected]: “How to Love a Country with Richard Blanco” is free to attend, however, seating is limited. Pre-registration and proof of vaccination are required to attend. Acceptable forms of proof include a vaccination card, a photo of the vaccination card, or the Excelsior Pass. Visit spac.org or click HERE to register.