Roberto Leni

Roberto Emilio Leni Olivares was born in the Chilean port of Valparaíso. His family was exiled to the U.S in 1976 as a result of Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile.  He is an organizing member of Colectivo 9/11 and of Colectivo de Poetas ECHOSPACE of the East Side Café in East L.A. In 2001 he was artist-in-residence in the Headlands Center for the Arts, and received a fellowship from USC in 2007. He co-organized and participated in two USC Visions & Voices events: Memoria Poética and The Mobile Voices of LA's Immigrants 2011 - 2012.  His short stories have been published in El Andar, Lucero¸ and in Art Catalogue:  Two 9/11s in A Lifetime: A project and exhibit on the Politics of Memory, among others.