The City: A 30th Anniversary Event with Rigoberto Gonzalez

Lambda Award-winning poet Rigoberto González considers five poems that explore the city. As the bittersweet symbol of order and chaos, progress and decay, community and overcrowding, the city is both beacon and demon—a landscape of possibility where dreams are born and where dreams transform or die. González examines a range of poetic representations of the city and civilization and how, over centuries, this manmade space continues to mirror human joy and anxiety. These poems help us understand the powers of the city—the greatest archive of memory, history and story.

30 Poems: Close Readings
This spring, Poets House continues with a year-long exploration of 30 poems that have left an indelible mark on the history of poetry: six poets provide close readings of five enduring poems (6 x 5 = 30).