Latin Hip Hop as the New Poetry
This June, Marion Carnegie Library will host a presentation exploring the
connections of spoken word and hip hop music.
“We are excited to bring music journalist Catalina Maria Johnson to Marion,” said Kelly McMullen, Adult
Services Coordinator. “Her presentation, Latin Hip Hop as the New Poetry, is an exciting way to blend the
music and literary worlds for our part in Make Music Marion Day.”
The presentation, Latin Hip Hop as the New Poetry, will take place on June 21, 2025 at Marion Carnegie
Library. Two sessions will be offered, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Catalina Maria Johnson, PhD will share and discuss
video and lyric examples, making a case for hip hop as the new poetry with a focus on Latinos in the U.S. and
the Americas. At 2 p.m., between Johnson’s presentations, the Carbondale dance group Latin Dance Flow will
be performing. The event is free and open to the public, and great for audiences of all ages.
This presentation is part of Make Music Marion Day, a city wide collaboration sponsored by Marion Art
Squared. Musical events will be taking place all across Marion on June 21st. To learn more about this day
visit: www.makemusicday.org/marion.
This event is co-presented by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speakers Bureau. Road scholar speakers
travel throughout Illinois sharing free, dynamic presentations about literature, philosophy, theater, local history,
film, music, politics, and more, at no cost to host organizations. The program enables local nonprofit
organizations to present free-admission cultural programs to their communities.
Catalina Maria Johnson, Ph.D. is a Chicago-based music journalist. She hosts and produces her own radio
show, Beat Latino, which airs in Chicago on Vocalo (Chicago Public Media) and other USA cities as well as
Berlin. Catalina is also a regular contributor to NPR, Songlines and other publications, and an editorial board
member of Revista Contratiempo.
For more information, please visit www.marioncarnegielibrary.org/events or contact
[email protected]
