This month U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and the Library of Congress have launched the new web-based project La Casa de Colores. As Herrera describes it, "La Casa de Colores, or 'the House of Colors,' is a house for all voices. In this house we will feed the hearth and heart of our communities with creativity and imagination. And we will stand together in times of struggle and joy."
La Casa de Colores features "La Familia," a living, epic poem meant to be written collaboratively by Americans throughout Herrera's laureateship. Contributors may submit up to 200 characters on a specific theme, which will rotate every month. The first theme was Family Words and Story Poems. Currently the theme is Migrants: Portraits and Friendships, and the deadline for submission is November 14. Contributions will be posted online on the 15th of each month.
La Casa de Colores also includes El Jardín ("The Garden"), which will feature Herrera in conversation with curators from the Library of Congress about its historic holdings, as well as poem responses to those holdings written by the U.S. poet laureate.