Naugatuck Valley Community College hosted a special evening of music and poetry featuring three award-winning writers and poets at Confluencia on October 12 in the College’s Playbox Theater. The evening began with music played by a student ensemble and refreshments and moved onto college President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D., opening remarks followed by an “open mic” featuring NVCC students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the Greater Waterbury community who offered readings of original works as well as poetry and prose by noted writers.

Among a featured panel of award-winning poets, translators, and writers who read their work was NVCC professor Steve Parlato:

Assistant Professor Steve Parlato, a teacher at NVCC since 2001, is faculty advisor to the school’s newspaper, The Tamarack. An actor and illustrator, Steve’s poetry appears in journals including Freshwater, Margie and Borderlands. His debut novel, The Namesake, was published in 2013, by Merit Press, and he recently completed his second book, The Precious Dreadful.

Verónica Aranda is a multi-lingual poet and translator with an international presence. Her award-winning work appears in several languages and she translates contemporary poetry from Portugal, Brazil, France and Nepal into Spanish. Her professional efforts extend from creative and critical journal contributions to participation in international literary events. A writer of numerous poetry collections including Inside the Shell of the Tortoise, a bilingual Spanish-English anthology and Épica de raíles.

Manuel Iris, Ph.D. is an award-winning poet, essayist and translator whose works have been published in many literary journals both nationally and internationally such as Postal de Oleaje. His poetry book The Notebook of Dreams (2010) won the “Merida” National Poetry Award. He is currently a member of the research seminar on contemporary Mexican poetry of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Held four times per academic year, Confluencia was established in October 2008 by President De Filippis, who was appointed in July of that year. “It is a way to honor talented writers and all they have achieved in their life’s work and a way to share their personal experiences with others,” President De Filippis said. “The literal meaning of the title ─ a coming or flowing together, meeting or gathering at one point ─ describes what we envision when our community becomes part of the excitement on our campus. It is an opportunity for the College to affirm the centrality of community in all that we do and to underscore our intent to remain an essential part of the literary heart of the region.”