Alejandro Jimenez
Alejandro Jimenez
Poet
- 4x TEDx Speaker/Performer
- Featured in TIME Magazine as "a Mexican artist shaping contemporary Mexican culture"
- EMMY-nominated
Alejandro Jimenez is a nationally and internationally recognized poet, writer, and performer from Colima, Mexico, now living in New Mexico. His work explores cultural identity, race and ethnicity, immigrant narratives, masculinity, memory, and the complex intersections between them. Featured in TIME Magazine as one of 80 Mexican artists shaping contemporary Mexican culture, Alejandro’s work and personal story are also the subject of a short documentary for the PBS series American Masters: In The Making, which highlights emerging cultural icons. He is an International Latino Book Award finalist and, representing Mexico, was the runner-up at the 2023 World Poetry Slam Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Alejandro is the 2021 Mexican National Poetry Slam Champion, a two-time National Poetry Slam Semi-Finalist in the United States, a multiple-time TEDx speaker and performer, and an Emmy-nominated poet. Beyond the stage, Alejandro works as a middle and high school counselor, where he believes there is very little more valuable than sharing a good laugh with the students he serves. His performances blend powerful storytelling, humor, vulnerability, and poetry to create an experience that is both thought-provoking and deeply human.
Two tongues, two languages
In this workshop we will explore the languages we carry in our tongues. It will ask the participants to think beyond the immediate benefits and repercussions of being bilingual. We will explore the power, the resistance created when we hold on to our language(s); when we give new meaning to words, when we create new words, when we write in a way that our family understand us, when we do not conform. What does it mean to be bilingual in an era of anti-latinx rhetoric and sentiments? The crux of this workshop is on how our tongues are not a burden but a necessary tool to reclaim ourselves.
Where is home?
As immigrants/refugees to this country we are caught in the juxtaposition of feeling neither from here nor from our country of origin. In this workshop we will explore the concept of home and what it means to yearn for ‘home’ in a place that may be foreign to us. How do we seek ‘home’, how do we find ‘home’, how do we build ‘home’ in a country that constantly reminds us we do not belong?
Poetry is more than words
The intention of this workshop is to focus on poetry beyond the words. In practical terms poetry is a call to action, a unified hymn, a way to be heard, it is an invocation; poems create healing and give meaning. Poetry is not merely violets and roses, it is a means, a blueprint for self-determination and self-love. A means to take back what was taken. Poetry is about growth and listening. We will explore poetry as an act of resistance and liberation.
Spokenword/Performance Poetry 101
This workshop focuses on the difference between traditional poetry and performance poetry/spokenword. Participants will write their own poems and will learn how to use the body as an instrument in the delivery of their poems.
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Photo (.jpg)
- Contract Rider (.pdf)
Alejandro is a formerly-undocumented immigrant, poet, writer, and educator from Colima, Mexico, living in New Mexico. He is the 2021 Mexican National Poetry Slam Champion, he is a two-time National Poetry Slam Semi-Finalist (US), multiple time TEDx Speaker/Performer, and Emmy-nominated poet. He was featured in TIME Magazine as one of 80 Mexican artists shaping contemporary Mexican culture. Please welcome Alejandro!