As Miami’s new Town Square, the Arsht Center will once again convene the South Florida community to celebrate the homecoming of acclaimed Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco. Blanco, who was tapped as President Obama's 2013 Inauguration Poet, is the youngest, the first openly gay person and the first Hispanic poet to receive this distinction.

On February 22 at 7:30 pm in the majestic Knight Concert Hall, the Center presents a free community event to welcome Blanco back to Miami, where he was raised and educated. The evening will feature a bilingual reading of selected works, including his poem selected for the Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol last month; an on-stage interview conducted by a high-profile special guest (to be named); and an open format Q&A session with the community. The event will conclude with a book signing organized by Book & Books in the lobby.

The Center is proudly hosting this event in response to the incredible show of support from dozens of family members, long-time friends, teachers and aspiring poets who joined 1,000 South Floridians at the Center's recent inauguration simulcast community event on January 21.

Richard Blanco was made in Cuba, assembled in Spain, and imported to the United States - meaning his mother, seven months pregnant, and the rest of the family arrived as exiles from Cuba to Madrid where he was born. Only forty-five days later, the family emigrated once more and settled in New York City, then eventually in Miami where he was raised and educated. His acclaimed books of poetry (City of a Hundred Fires, Directions to The Beach of the Dead, and Looking for The Gulf Motel) explore his cultural identity, the blurred lines of gender, the frailty of his father-son relationship, and the intersection of his cultural and sexual identities as a Cuban-American gay man living in rural Maine.