Francisco Aragón, editor of The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry, will read from his work on Thursday, Dec. 4, as part of the Ethnic Voices Poetry Series at Park University.

The reading, which will include an introduction by the Latino Writers Collective of Kansas City, Mo., will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the McCoy Meetin' House on the University's Parkville Campus. A reception and book signing will follow.

Aragón is author of Puerta Del Sol and has published poetry in many anthologies and journals. He serves as the director of Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he oversees, among other projects, Momotombo Press, the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize and Latino Poetry Review.

The Latino Writers Collective works to showcase national and local Latino writers, and provides role models and instruction to Latino youth in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its mission is to foster an environment where the voices of Latino students, blue collar workers, professionals and homemakers can finally be heard, sharing their experience and vision with a broad audience.

The next poet in the 2008-2009 Ethnic Voices Poetry Series, which is funded in part by the Missouri Arts Council, will be Jewish-American poet Howard Schwartz, who will read at 6:30 p.m. March 5, 2009, at the McCoy Meetin' House. The fifth and final series reader will be South Indian Filipino-American poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil at the Kansas City Public Library Central Branch on March 26, 2009, at 7 p.m., preceded by a 6:30 p.m. reception.

For more information on the series, including samples of the poets' work, visit www.park.edu/ethnicpoetry, or contact series director Virginia Brackett, Ph.D., at virginia.brackett@park.edu or (816) 584-6818.