Joaquin Zihuatanejo to perform at Lourdes College

“In my classroom, I make my students press their pencils down hard when they write so as to make an impression on things that they were not intending to impress. In my classroom, I make my students ask the biggest question of all: why. And more importantly, I make them answer it.” – excerpt from a poem by Joaquin Zihuatanejo

On Thursday, November 13, Lourdes College is hosting a performance by spoken word artist Joaquin Zihuatanejo. Born and raised in a barrio of East Dallas, Joaquin infuses his Latino culture as well as his experience teaching inner city students in much of his poetry.

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A National Poetry Slam Finalist, Grand Slam Spoken Word Champion and HBO Def Poet, Joaquin has performed at universities, conferences and poetry slams throughout the United States, Canada and México. As a professional performance poet, Joaquin has shared the stage with well known artists Saul Williams, E. Lynn Harris, Alicia Keys and Maya Angelou. 

Prior to committing to spoken word full time, Joaquin was an award-winning English and creative writing Teacher for ninth and eleventh grade students. As a teacher, he inspired his students to produce a collection of poems titled Stand Up and Be Heard.  Additionally, he has self-published two collections of written poetry, Barrio Songs and I of the Storm as well as a spoken word CD, Barrio Songs: A Spoken Word Collection.

Joaquin will perform in the Ebeid Student Center of McAlear Hall at 4:30 p.m. This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information contact Lisa Binkowski, Director of Student Activities and Recreation, at 419-517-8870 or email [email protected].