SAN ANTONIO – The City of San Antonio has announced Nephtali De León as the Alamo City’s new Poet Laureate.
De León will serve as the city’s sixth Poet Laureate for a three-year term spanning April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2026, according to a news release.
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The duty of the Poet Laureate is to promote literary arts throughout the city and to develop public events and programs in conjunction with the Department of Arts & Culture, according to the City of San Antonio’s site.
De León is a Chicano storyteller known for his poetry, children’s stories, essays, paintings, and sculptures.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the Department of Arts & Culture will host a ceremony at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 10 at City Council Chambers in the Municipal Plaza Building, 114 W. Commerce to officially appoint De León to the position.
San Antonio community members are invited to attend the event, which is part of a culmination of April events celebrating National Poetry Month.
“Nephtali’s work in the community is exemplary of the role of a Poet Laureate,” said Department of Arts & Culture Executive Director Krystal Jones. “He is one of the most prolific Chicano writers in the literary world today, and his lyrical poetry and other artistic expressions have touched the lives of so many, both here in San Antonio and across the globe.”
De León has been published in Mexico, France, the U.S., and Spain, with several of his stories translated into many different languages.
“I am humbled and honored that the city I love, San Antonio, Texas, selected me to be its Poet Laureate,” said De León. “Poetry is to the soul what music is to the ear. It is the most profound impassioned quest to brush with the divine. In San Antonio, we speak through our ancestors in a code-switching modality, taco-flavored musings.
More information on De León can be found online.
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