September 17, 2024 

Media Contacts:  
Jeannie Henkle, libraries and learning support services director, 509-682-6718, jhenkle@wvc.edu
Vanessa Saldivar, Title V director, 509-682-6720, vsaldivar@wvc.edu  
Derek Sheffield, English faculty, 609-682-6737, dsheffield@wvc.edu   
Jennifer Korfiatis, interim public information officer, 509-682-6650, jkorfiatis@wvc.edu  

Blas Falconer (left) and Ricardo Ruiz (right)

Wenatchee Valley College is hosting two visiting writers on Oct. 1 and 2 to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and the publication of a new book, Latino Poetry. The event is part of the Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home initiative directed by the Library of America. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 1, Blas Falconer will give a talk in the Grove Recital Hall from 7 to 8 p.m. His talk will speak to what the new anthology can tell us about the nature of Latino poetry, especially its rich diversity. This event is free and open to the public. 

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, Ricardo Ruiz will offer a generative poetry workshop on the main floor of the library from 1 to 2 p.m. This is open to all WVC students and faculty. Participants should bring writing instruments of their choosing and be ready to write a poem. 

Later that day, WVC alumni Jose Fuentes and Briseldy Hernandez-Ramos, along with student Gabriela Pedraza Fraga will join Ruiz to give a poetry reading in the Grove Recital Hall from 7 to 8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. 

Blas Falconer is the author of four poetry collections, including Rara Avis (Four Way Books, 2024). He is also the coeditor of two anthologies: The Other Latin@: Writing Against a Singular Identity (The University of Arizona Press, 2011), with Lorraine M. López, and Mentor and Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010), with Beth Martinelli and Helena Mesa. Falconer is the recipient of a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets & Writers. He teaches in the MFA program at San Diego State University.  

Ricardo Ruiz is a multi-dimensional writer of poetry and prose. The son of potato factory workers, Ruiz hails from Othello, Wash. His work draws from his experience as a first-generation Mexican-American and from his military service. His debut collection of poetry reached no. 1 on Amazon’s Hispanic-American Poetry Chart and won the Washington State Book Award in 2023. 

This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective. 

Additional sponsors include Humanities Washington, the Associated Students of WVC, the WVC English Department, and the WVC Library. 

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Wenatchee Valley College enriches North Central Washington by serving educational and cultural needs of communities and residents throughout the service area. The college is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion for all students and employees and provides high-quality transfer, liberal arts, professional/technical, basic skills and continuing education for students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. Visit our website, wvc.edu. 

Wenatchee Valley College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in employment and student enrollment. All programs are free from discrimination and harassment against any person because of race, creed, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a service animal by a person with a disability, age, parental status or families with children, marital status, religion, genetic information, honorably discharged veteran or military status or any other prohibited basis per RCW 49.60.030, 040 and other federal and state laws and regulations, or participation in the complaint process. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and Title IX compliance for both the Wenatchee and Omak campuses: 

To report discrimination or harassment: Title IX Coordinator, Mish ee twie 1321A, (509) 682-6716, title9@wvc.edu. 

To request disability accommodations: Student Access Manager, Wenatchi Hall 2133, (509) 682-6854, TTY/TTD: dial 711, sas@wvc.edu.