about/bio

about

named after the title of my 2nd chapbook, this blog started as an attempt to present my poetry to a wider audience, but it’s evolved into more of a living documentary of my process and growth as a poet and performer. it chronicles performances and shows (also by other artists) and features new writings and reflections on race, womanhood, Filipinoness, privilege, love, body politics, and on occasion, gallbladders.

call me lares, jenny, or j.la, but the “c” is there in acknowledgment of my mother, whose name would otherwise be invisible within my own.

For comments, inquiries/bookings, drop me an email: jenny.c.lares@gmail.com

bio

jenny c. lares is a poet based in the DC/MD area, and is one of the Co-Founders and Artistic Directors of Sulu DC, an underground network of AAPI artists from all disciplines in the metro Washington, DC area. As Artistic Director she coordinates a monthly showcase featuring AAPI artists from local and national scenes.

She has been featured at DC poetry and art venues including Busboys and Poets, Artomatic, and Mothertongue, a collective of women spoken word poets. She has performed at the 2005 and 2007 Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) Spoken Word & Poetry Summits (a biennial gathering of API artists and poets across the country), and been a featured artist at the Sulu Series (a network and monthly series of Asian American artists in New York City) at the Bowery Poetry Club. She has also performed at student conferences at George Mason University, Oberlin College, University of Michigan, and Emory University.

Lares most recently coordinated and hosted Creative Explosion V: The Spirit of API Feminism Through Performance, a show that seeks to highlight and celebrate the lives and experiences of Asian and/or Pacific Islander women through a variety of mediums, and to support established and emerging local artists in the DC metro area. She currently serves on the Board of the DC Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)—the only national women’s organization who does multi-issue work around the social justice and human rights concerns of API women and girls.

She is the author of two self-published chapbooks: (re)genesis, and most recently, lemons & potpourri. Her poems have appeared in {m}aganda magazine (a student-run publication out of UC Berkeley), and as part of the 2008 Women’s Poetry Conference (online only). Her poems will be included in the upcoming anthology, Walang Hiya…literature taking risks toward liberatory practice, and the first issue of TAYO Literary Magazine (sponsored by the Filipino American Library).

Lares was born in the Philippines, immigrated to the US when she was 7, and was raised in Bel Air, MD, where she currently resides. She is keeping her fingers crossed that she will become a resident of DC by the end of the year.

For upcoming shows, check out the events page.