Looking Back at 20 Years of Letras Latinas: Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta

Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta reading at the Poetry Foundation on March 21, 2024.

During my college days, I was trying to figure out my way as an artist in Chicago, and friends and family really had no idea who I was or was becoming, so I simply assumed that it would always be that way: I would always be a misunderstood artist-writer with no real place that felt fully mine. However, imagine what a gift it was to be reading a poem about growing up in the Chicago House music scene at the Poetry Foundation (PF) and not only is the PF happy about this, but they've also gone through the trouble of finding the song that inspired the poem in order to play it as folks filter in to the event. Add to that the arrival of one of my best friends from that early time, someone who I spent countless hours dancing with in order to feel happy and safe despite our precarious futures. I cannot explain how life-affirming this moment at the Poetry Foundation was for me. Somehow, here I was in my hometown, celebrating my artistry alongside some of the poets I admire most, staying in a neighborhood I never thought would welcome me. It turned out, I had been doing what was right for me all along. This is a moment that I will never forget and I have all the gratitude for Letras Latinas for helping to make this happen. Mil gracias. 

— Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta

From left to right: Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta, Diannely Antigua, Jasminne Mendez, and Yesenia Montilla on March 21, 2024.