HOLYOKE – A reading by poet Magdelena Gómez is more than just a recitation of her writings. It’s a theatrical event.

Gómez, an author, performance artist, and co-founder and artistic director of the Springfield-based Latino performance group Teatro Vida, will bring her literary and theatrical talents to Holyoke Community College on Dec. 7, when she will read from her book, “Shameless Woman,” a memoir in poems.

The event is free and open to all and will begin at 11 a.m. in HCC's Leslie Phillips Theater.

“She’s a well-known character,” said HCC Spanish professor Mónica Torregrósa. “She doesn’t just read her poetry. She performs her poetry.”

The event is being sponsored jointly by the Language Studies program at Holyoke Community College and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst through a three-year $120,000 "Bridging Cultures" grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities HCC received last year to enhance Latino Studies at the college.

The grant pays for summer workshops to train HCC faculty to infuse Latino Studies into humanities classes; it also funds Latino-based cultural events for the campus and community such as this.  

“We read her book in the summer workshops,” said Torregrósa, one of the grant managers, “So the professors who attended the seminars are familiar with her work and have assigned the book in their classes, so students are familiar with it too.”

Gómez, who lives in Springfield, is a multidisciplinary cultural organizer and was a vanguard member of the Nuyorican literary movement. She has been a performance poet since 1971. Her most recent writing and theater artist residencies include: The University of Illinois (Urbana - Champaign), Goddard and Springfield Colleges.

Her performance poem, "America, You are a Disappointing Lover," was recently performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music by the 16-piece Eco-Music Big Band with actor Marina Celander, under the direction of Marie Incontrera. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Teatro Vida, in Springfield, a commentator for New England Public Radio, and columnist for Point of View newspaper.  

“Shameless Woman” was published in 2014 by Red Sugarcane Press of New York City.