Spanglish is a complex hybrid language of Spanish and English, often used within bilingual communities. Linfield University’s Spanglish Day event celebrates biculturalism and bilingualism through creative writing and visual art.
This year’s event includes a writing contest and an accumulation of live readings of short stories, essays and poems featuring multilingual Spanish-English stories. Linfield students and community members are invited to submit creative pieces for the writing contest.
Submissions should be emailed to Tania Carrasquillo Hernández at tcarrasq@linfield.edu by Saturday, May 6. The three submission categories are poetry (no word limit) and short story and essay (both 500-2,000 words). Submissions will be evaluated on their creativity and understanding of the complex dynamics of multilingual and Latinx communities.
“Spanglish Day creates a space for students who are bilingual and who come from multiple cultural backgrounds to be able to bring that full experience to campus,” said Abby Thomas, Linfield’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion.
The event takes place from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, May 11 at the Multicultural Center inside Withnell Commons. Linfield’s Spanish Club, in collaboration with the global languages and cultural studies department, have been celebrating Spanglish Day every year in May since the event’s inception in 2016. This year, bilingual artist and Linfield Art Gallery curator Thea Gahr will be guest speaking.
“This event will culminate with a creative workshop where participants will respond visually and verbally to selected creative pieces,” Carrasquillo Hernández said. “This is an opportunity to showcase your talents, embrace biculturalism, and celebrate our diverse community together.”
For more information, contact Tania Carrasquillo Hernández at tcarrasq@linfield.edu.
