Francisco Alarcón has died. He (pictured, via) was 61 years old.
Throughout Alarcón’s career as a bilingual writer, he created poetry and verse-style children’s books. The Sacramento Bee reports that he also served as a lecturer of Spanish at the University of California, Davis. Click here to check out some of his poems: “‘Mexican’ is Not a Noun” and “L.A. Prayer.”
Here’s more from The Los Angeles Times: “Much of his work had a leftist political flavor. He wrote of pro-immigrant activism and explored themes of outsider identity that included his own as a gay Latino man raised in a pious Catholic family…Alarcón was a tireless promoter of poetry and art — ‘very gregarious,’ said friend and fellow Bay Area poet Lucha Corpi. Friends said he lived in constant motion — with only the briefest commas between traveling, performing, teaching and visiting schools for readings.” (via NPR)