The University of Arizona Press
Date: Monday, November 9, 2026
Time: 6 p.m., PDT
Place: Ellipse Gallery, Fresno State Library, 5200 N Barton Ave, Fresno, CA
Free: Admission is free and open to the public.
Juan Felipe Herrera, author of Flourishing Shadows / Sombras Florecientes: A Chicano Howl, will celebrate the book’s launch at the Ellipse Gallery in the Fresno State Library on November 9, 2026, at 6 p.m. The author of thirty-five books in various genres, Herrera served as poet laureate of the United States from 2015 to 2017. Herrera has taught Chicano and Latin American studies at California State University, Fresno, and creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and has held numerous visiting positions. The book was translated by Lauro Flores. This event is free and open to the public.
About the book:
From former U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera comes a searing bilingual collection that speaks directly to America and all its peoples. Flourishing Shadows / Sombras Florecientes is a lyrical journey through migration, memory, and resistance—an urgent address to a nation grappling with its identity. Blending autobiography and Indigenous, Chicanx, and Beat traditions, Herrera reclaims language as a tool of compassion and truth. With ink drawings and evocative verse, this book honors the migrants who traverse borders and histories, flourishing even in the shadows. A call to listen, to remember, and to act.
