‘Interlingual’ poet to visit Park University

By Ray Weikal

From culture to language to music, Brenda Cardenas has learned to straddle some pretty sizable divides.

Cardenas is bringing her brand of cross-cultural poetry to Park University. She will read and perform her work at 6:30 p.m. today in the school’s Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Raised in a Latino community in Milwaukee, Cardenas developed a unique and often startling blend of Spanish and English. Some critics have described it as “Spanglish.” She’s fine with that term, though personally uses other words to define her art.

“Sometimes I explain it as kind of a hybrid poetry,” she explained during a phone interview from her office at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “It’s really interlingual because I incorporate both languages. I try to bring in multiple voices.”

Though she supports herself as a professor of English, Cardenas has found some critical success with her writing, including the 2005 publication of a poetry collection, “From the Tongues of Brick and Stone.”

Virginia Brackett teaches English at Park University and asked Cardenas to visit as part of the University’s Ethnic Poetry Series. Brackett was first exposed to the poet’s work during a literary contest several years ago at Triton College near Chicago.

“I was so delighted with her ability to connect with students that I wanted to try to bring her here,” Brackett said.

Cardenas perfectly fit the goal of the poetry series, which is funded through a $2,048 grant from the Missouri Arts Council, according to Brackett. Previous readings have been done by African American and Native American poets.

“I wanted to bring in individuals who will emphasize the wonderful diversity in the Kansas City area,” Brackett said.

As a child, the Cardenas home was a potent mélange of Spanish, English and Slavic languages mingling with near constant jazz, blues and bolero albums on the turntable. The sound and feel of words are just as important as the literal meaning, she learned.

“I’m very drawn to the musicality of poetry, the sense of music with language,” Cardenas said. “I somehow developed an ear for language.”

In the rarified air of poetry, Cardenas also learned to reconcile her academic life with the styles and forms that rose from the street. She lived for a time in a Chicago neighborhood with a strong Hispanic identity and incorporated the post-modern, post-punk musical sensibilities that swept through the town.

“There’s so many borders that I’ve been straddling in my life and that’s another example,” she said.

Though Cardenas’ work can be challenging, Brackett urged those interested to come to the reading.

“Poetry should be heard and not simply read,” she said. “It’s completely entrancing for the audience.”

Park University ethnic poetry series:

Who: Brenda Cardenas, a poet from Wisconsin

When: 6:30 p.m., today, Feb. 21

Where: Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, Park University

Cost: free and open to the public

Web site: voices.e-poets.net/CardenasB.

Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.