Official art for the children’s poetry workshop. Photo Courtesy Talleres de Poesía

Talleres de Poesía—a group of bilingual poets, writers and cultural workers from San Francisco, Los Angeles and El Salvador—will host the Mission’s first bilingual, children’s poetry festival, “Flor y Canto para nuestros niños y niñas,” on Sept. 15.

“The festival is not to honor a specific writer or poet, it is to celebrate and empower children with the beauty of reading and writing,” said Jorge Argueta, the event’s organizer and founder of Talleres de Poesía.

While this all-day poetry event will focus on children in the morning, the evening will give way to an impressive lineup of poets for a more adult audience. “It features a bright collection of over 30 poets and musicians that truly believe in the gentle power of poetry,” Argueta explained.

Talent for the event includes California Poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía, acclaimed poets and artists Francisco X. Alarcón, Lucha Corpi, Francisco Herrera, Maya Christina Gonzalez, Harriet Rhomer and Rene Colato Lainez among many others.

Longtime Chicana poet, activist and educator Lucha Corpi sees it as a wonderful opportunity not only for children, but also for the parents.

“It’s important for children to know that there are bilingual writers out there, and for many it will give them a sense of validation, as they are being introduced to work that reflects language as a voice of culture,” she said.

Flor y Canto is being organized in support of the third annual Festival de Poesía, which takes place in El Salvador in November.

Talleres de Poesía put together the first Festival de Poesía Infantil in El Salvador in 2010, in an effort to integrate literature as a tool for expression in violence-ridden communities that were impacted by the civil war.

Argueta sees a bridge between these communities and the experiences of some of the children growing up in the Mission and San Francisco, and hopes to bring this concept to life in San Francisco for the first time this year.

Talleres de Poesía invites children and families of all cultures to partake in this unique event and empower youth with the magic of literature.