OC-Born Latino Queer Poets Seek Poems About Orlando Tragedy for The Brillantina Project

When David Lopez, a queer SanTanero writer and librarian, found out about the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando by an early morning text message from his sister, a wave of incomprehensible emotions rippled through his mind. How could anyone cruelly kill 49 people just enjoying themselves on "Latin Night" at the LGBTQIA establishment? Then word came of an unrelated arrest of a heavily armed man heading to LA Pride later on that same day. “We are now being targeted to a very extreme extent,” Lopez felt. “How are we going to get through this?” He explored a personal need to turn to poetry before teaming up with Luis Lopez-Maldonado to formThe Brillantina Project, an open call for poems from everywhere about the tragedy.

Read more on my latest OC Weekly Navel Gazing Blog post:

http://www.ocweekly.com/news/two-oc-born-latino-queer-poets-seek-poems-about-orlando