The poetry of José Ballesteros, associate professor of Spanish at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, has been chosen to be included in the first anthology of Washington, D.C.- area poets written in Spanish. Al pie de la Casa Blanca: Poetas hispanos de Washington D.C. was edited by Luis Alberto Ambroggio and Carlos Parada, two leaders of the Hispanic writing community. Ballesteros and other contributors will read their poetry at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Library of Congress.

The anthology includes the work of 24 Washington-area poets, including Naomi Ayala, Quique Avilés, Rei Berroa, Consuelo Hernández, Gladys Ilarregui, Grego Pineda, Arturo Martínez, Egla Blouin and Vladimir Monge. “I was asked to submit my poetry to the anthology after the editors heard my work during an open-mic night at the Folger Library in Washington,’ said Ballesteros. Six were accepted. They largely deal with different types of strife caused by displacement.

The book will soon be available on Amazon. Currently, it can be found at Busboys and Poets and Pórtico Bookstore in D.C.

Ballesteros has been teaching at St. Mary’s College since 2002.

 St. Mary's College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best public liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. More than 2,000 students attend the college, nestled on the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland.