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Letra Latinas, Part 12: A Conversation with Aleida Rodríguez

May 14, 2025 • Think ND

Episode Topic: A Conversation with Aleida Rodríguez

Listen in to an oral history conversation with award-winning poet Aleida Rodríguez, interviewed by Karla Yaritza Maravilla Zaragoza, English Ph.D. student and a Joseph Gaia Distinguished Fellow in Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Aleida discusses how a fortuitous 1973 call from a pay phone in a Chinese restaurant marked the beginning of her career as a published writer, and how ‘rare bird,’ the term of endearment she shared with her childhood best friend, became the inspiration for her to found rara avis literary magazine and Books of a Feather press, both the first to be founded by a woman, Latina, and lesbian in Los Angeles history.

Featured Speakers:

Karla Yaritza Maravilla Zaragoza, University of Notre Dame
Aleida Rodríguez, poet

Read this episode's recap over on the University of Notre Dame's open online learning community platform, ThinkND: https://go.nd.edu/2f8cf5.

This podcast is a part of the ThinkND Series titled Letra Latinas.

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