With cold weather settling in, warm cups of pozole brought together students and staff at the sold out “Poetry and Pozole” event hosted in El Centro on Wednesday, Nov.13.
Rachelle Escamilla, a humanities and communication professor, who has been working at Cal State Monterey Bay for seven years led the evening, which featured poetry readings, educational moments and, of course, plenty of pozole.
As attendees arrived, they were greeted by lively Latin music and a table loaded with pozole rojo, along with sides like cabbage, onion, cilantro and other condiments. “The pozole was great. I always love free food, especially when it’s this good,” said Shannon Sondeno, a first-year graduate student.
“Honestly, I’ve been craving pozole from home. And I feel happy that they are serving it here,” said Anjelina Jasso, a first-year computer science major student. “I really like poetry, too, so I was excited to find a group of people that also like poetry.”
For Escamilla, who is Monterey County’s Poet Laureate, poetry is often utilized “to keep family members who passed away alive by telling them, the audience, their story and making sure that story does not die.”
Attendees were able to listen and interpret the poetry that Escamilla wrote as she shared poems written by accomplished writers: Chrystos and MK Chavez, and some excerpts from her book, “Imaginary Animal.” While providing history and culture about the people behind the poems, she seemed to captivate and move the audience, something that might not have been as impactful without context on the culture that makes and inspires her work.
Natalie Frontella, a first-year graduate student said, “Reading it on your own is one thing, but here, with the story behind it and the person who wrote it reading it aloud, it just feels more impactful.”