Festival shows literary revival


There’s nothing like the written word. It pervades the back covers of novels, the glaring lights of electric billboards and the glossy fronts on magazines. Yet in an increasingly media-centered world, this love of reading and the written word is threatened.

But with the arrival of the Kindle, Nook and other electronic reading devices as well as upcoming film adaptations of novels, perhaps the written word will experience a revival.

Here to add to the preservation of this medium is the three-day event Festival de Flor Y Canto: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, a meeting of Chicano and Latino writers and poets that opened Wednesday on the second floor of Doheny Library.

Organized by Tyson Gaskill and Barbara Robinson from USC Libraries and Maria-Elena Martínez from the history department, the Visions and Voices event is co-sponsored by USC’s El Centro Chicano and the Latino Student Assembly. Not only a celebration of appreciation toward the complex and mesmerizing craft of poetry, the festival also focuses on Chicano and Latino culture in the hopes of sharing it with the rest of campus.

With an eclectic mix of poets all under the same roof, the program is flooded with talent and pieces which will broaden the horizons of poetry fans and the rest of the student body alike.

The event started in 1973, when the first festival graced the USC campus and current festival organizer Michael Sedano worked as a photographer for the Daily Trojan. In the midst of writing a dissertation of Chicano and Latino literature, Sedano heard of the event, which piqued his interest and led him to attend — with camera in hand.

“I gave myself the job of documenting the festival … and then I went to work in private industry for 24 years and all that time those images were in my mind,” Sedano said.

Keeping the images from the 1973 festival in mind, Sedano decided to bring Flor Y Canto back to USC. Sedano said he was inspired to recreate the festival at USC to give current students the opportunity to see work from authors who attended the original festival more than three decades ago.

“Now is the right time to hold this festival because the original performers are getting advanced in age … they’re going to disappear soon,” Sedano said.

A large focus of Flor Y Canto is bridging the gap between this generation and the classic authors, Sedano said. The event will include a section for students to recite their works on Friday — an opportunity for unknown poets and authors to showcase their work alongside literature icons.

But the event does not limit itself to written works. Before putting the festival into motion, Sedano became interested in retrieving the video recordings of the 1973 festival. After a search through various universities for the recordings and dealing with copyright issues, Sedano finally acquired the footage, which will be included in a Doheny Library collection for the public to watch.

“They’re permanent, just like my photos,” Sedano said.

The central goal of the three-day festival is to ensure the lasting influence of writing — specifically Chicano and Latino literature, Sedano said.

“If people will come and share the poems that are being read this Thursday and Friday by contemporary young poets, they will see that the same aesthetics that motivate any writer or reader are present in Chicano and Latino literature,” Sedano said.

The event includes performances on Thursday by Danny Romero, Gloria E. Alvarez, Francisco Alarcón and Olga Garcia. Friday will mark the end of the event with visits from Ruben R. Mendoza, Karen Cordova, Sarah R. Garcia and John-Michael Rivera. The event also features an exhibition entitled Sueños by the Sea: Celebrating Los Festivales de Flor y Canto at USC, which features Sedano’s photographs from the original festival. The public can view this exhibit until Dec. 15.