In Conversation: Dorsía Smith Silva & Vincent Toro

Dorsía Smith Silva (In Inheritance of Drowning, CavanKerry, 2024) and Vincent Toro (Hivestruck, Penguin 2024) will explore why their writing in these precarious times is essential, especially as their writing embodies protest poetry. They will discuss protest writing as a transformative experience and means to address US colonialism, Latinx identity, and the intersections between Puerto Rico, ecopoetics, capitalism, neoliberalism, and environmental and economic destruction. As they share how their poetry can lead to collective action and empowerment, Dorsía and Vincent will also address some contemporary racial, social, and political injustices that many marginalized communities confront. The conversation will end with a focus on the power and importance of protest poetry.

About the Poets

Dorsía Smith Silva is the author of In Inheritance of Drowning (CavanKerry, 2024), which was a category finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award, Eric Hoffer Award, Whirling Prize, and Da Vinci Eye Award, reviewed by Publishers Weekly, and recommended by Ms. Magazine. She is a Poetry Editor at The Hopper and Full Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Literary Hub, Poets.org, Poetry Daily, The Beloit Poetry Journal, and The Los Angeles Review have published her work, and she has received fellowships and scholarships from Bread Loaf and the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Moreover, she is the editor of Latina/Chicana Mothering and the co-editor of seven books. Looking to increase the visibility of poetry by BIPOC authors, she is the creator of the Smith Silva Challenge which is a reading challenge that highlights poetry books by BIPOC authors. Dorsía Smith Silva has a Ph.D. in Caribbean Literature and Language. She is on social media @DSmithSilva.

Vincent Toro is the author of three poetry collections: Hivestruck (Penguin Random House 2024), Tertulia (Penguin Random House 2020), and Stereo.Island.Mosaic (Ahsahta 2016), which won the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award. His work has been published in dozens of magazines and journals and has been anthologized in Saul Williams’ CHORUS, Puerto Rico En Mi Corazon, Best American Experimental Writing, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT, and Latino Poetry: The Library of American Anthology. Vincent is also an award-winning playwright and stage performer, is Assistant professor of English at Rider University, a Letras Boricuas Writing Fellow, and contributing Poetry editor for Kweli Literary Journal.