Pat Mora

Watch a short video from Annenberg Learner of Pat engaging with middle school students. She discusses her work with students in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and reads her poem “Ode to Courage,” which is based on the experience of a girl for whom English is her second language. Mora describes how she tries in her work to invite the reader to look at the people who are often ignored. “One of my hopes is that the literature makes us all more compassionate,” says Mora. “Literature helps us cross borders and build community, and it is when we hear many different kinds of voices that that happens.” Mora explains to the students that she is a writer because she is a reader and wants them to understand that reading is essential to writing.