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Penelope Alegria's
Milagro is a retracing of parental lineage, a recount of the stories that course through the veins of family. The collection examines the effects of immigration from the perspective of both the immigrant and the immigrant's child, investigating how the act of leaving reverbrates through generations. These poems echoe with fondness and longing, with love and sacrifice that reflects the first-generation American's struggle to belong. Alegria writes about uncles, Peruvian cuisine and first boyfriends to show how what immigrants choose to leave behind is often what their children carry with them.
About the author
Penelope Alegria is the 2019 Chicago Youth Poet Laureate and a two-time member of Young Chicago Authors’ artistic apprenticeship, Louder Than a Bomb Squad. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in La Nueva Semana, El Beisman, Muse/A Journal, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT, as well as BBC Radio 4 and WBEZ Radio Archives. She is a Brain Mill Press Editor’s Pick, and she was awarded the 2018 Literary Award by Julian Randall and both the 2019 and 2020 Poetry Award by the Niles West English Department. She has performed spoken word at the Obama Foundation Summit, Pitchfork Music Festival, and other venues in the Chicagoland area. She will attend Harvard College in the fall of 2020.
