Matt Sedillo (born December 18, 1981) is a Chicano political poet, essayist, and activist.

Portrait shot of Chicano poet Matt Sedillo

Biography

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Sedillo was born on December 18, 1981, in El Sereno, Los Angeles, California. His poetry was compared to that of Amiri Baraka's by the Hampton Institute,[1] He has been described as the best political poet in America by investigative journalist Greg Palast and as the "poet laureate of struggle" by historian Paul Ortiz.[2] He has been described as one of the most important working class intellectuals of our time.[3] He has spoken at the San Francisco International Poetry[4] and the Texas Book Festival.[5] He was featured on C-SPAN at the 2016 Left Forum[6] and has had numerous international speaking engagements including Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba.[7]

At Re/Arte Centro Literario in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, Sedillo facilitates a writers workshop every Wednesday.[8] He is currently the literary director at the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, California.

Honors and awards

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Works

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  • For What I Might Do Tomorrow Caza de Poesía. 2010. ISBN 9781936293223
  • Mowing Leaves of Grass FlowerSong Press. 2019. ISBN 9781733809290
  • City on the Second Floor FlowerSong Press. 2022 ISBN 1953447899

References

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  1. ^ Jeter, John (2021-02-02). "Decolonizing the American Mind: A Review of Matt Sedillo's "Mowing Leaves of Grass"". Hampton Institute. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  2. ^ "'The Poet Laureate of the Struggle': Why Matt Sedillo is Considered One of the Best Political Poets in America". L.A. TACO. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  3. ^ Lo, Teka. ""Mowing Leaves of Grass": a poetic critique of US history". ROAR Magazine. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  4. ^ "San Francisco International Poetry Festival | San Francisco Public Library". sfpl.org. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  5. ^ "Matt Sedillo – Texas Book Festival". www.texasbookfestival.org. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  6. ^ "Matt Sedillo | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  7. ^ "V Coloquio Internacional del Programa de Estudios sobre Latinos en los Estados Unidos". casadelasamericas.org. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  8. ^ Echeverria, Olga (2021-08-07). "Viva Padilla Re/Imagines Literary Space in Boyle Heights". Cultural Daily. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
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