A Reading by Poet Ernesto Cardenal

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University welcomes the poet, Ernesto Cardenal, in a presentation of his latest book, The Origins of Species and Other Poems. Cardenal, widely acknowledged as Latin American’s greatest living poet, is a Nicaraguan artist, former Ministry of Culture of his country (1979-1988), founder of Solentiname’s artistic movement, spokesman for justice and self-determination in Latin America, and human rights activist. In his 2011 book the poet mixes myth with pop culture, and a belief in the divine coexists with a profound concern for the material world that is as often unsettling as it is beautiful.