Latinas con pluma
The celebration of Latina writers was originally presented at Holyoke Community College.
Holyoke Community College theater professor Patricia Sandoval will direct "Latinas con pluma," a celebration of Latina writers on Friday, April 28, beginning at 7 p.m. at Holyoke's Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St.
The event is a repeat performance of a show originally presented at HCC in February. It features dramatic readings from Latina writers selected by Sandoval and performed by HCC students and alumni, all women.
"It was very successful when it was at HCC," Sandoval said. "It was a huge crowd. The Latino community came out for it. They spread the word and they showed up. I was really, really pleased. I've wanted to do something like that with Latina writers. It kind of brought everything together that I've been working on since I've been here. It was like an accumulation of all my personal work."
There are selections from about 20 different Latina writers, Sandoval said, such as Esmeralda Santiago, Dolores Prida, and Magdalena Gomez.
"It's got drama, it's got poetry, and it's got prose," Sandoval said before the first performance. "We're taking excerpts from Latina writers and putting it together into a theater piece."
"Latinas con pluma" started as a sabbatical project for Sandoval, who spent a semester researching Latina writers with the intent of putting on a staged reading.
"The beauty of Latina writers has been a passion of mine since my college days," said Sandoval, a 1984 graduate of HCC who lives in Southampton, "and now I have the opportunity to showcase and celebrate their work."
The title is a play on words.
"Pluma means feather, but it also means pen," she said.
The April 28 show is free and open to the public.
