Who is Mónica de la Torre? A disappeared subversive? A funk-dancing cheerleader? A top transsexual model?
In “Doubles,” [the (mischievous) (cynical) (hilarious) poet] Mónica de la
Torre asks that very question, in the form of a faux email exchange.
Mercedes Correche is a young woman who begins searching the web for her missing mother. What follows is a sly yet sympathetic examination of social networks, societal assumptions and the (multiple) identities we construct for ourselves.
“No one I know writes like Mónica de la Torre,” observes Mary Jo Bang, professor of English in Arts & Sciences, in the journal American Poet. “For de la Torre, each poem is an improvised moment. Her quirky characters act according to scripts that are both strangely familiar and refreshingly strange.”
This month, de la Torre — or at least the version that doubles as senior editor for BOMB magazine — is the Visiting Hurst Professor of Creative Writing in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
While on campus, de la Torre will host two public events: reading from her work on Thursday, Sept. 12, and presenting a talk on the craft of poetry on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Both events, presented as part of The Writing Program’s fall Reading Series, are free and open to the public and begin at 8 p.m. in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall. A reception and book signing will immediately follow each.
For more information, call (314) 935-7428.