Ada Limón, first Latina U.S. Poet Laureate, shares space-bound poem at SXSW

The first Latina U.S. Poet Laureate, *Ada Limón*, *addresses SXSW*. *Photo by Mari G. Hernandez/Special to Austin Vida*

Ada Limón’s poem will travel millions of miles to Jupiter’s second moon, Europa, in October. Limón is the country’s 24th Poet Laureate and the first Latina to be appointed to the position. She grew up in Sonoma, California, where she developed a love for poetry. Now, her handwritten poem is engraved on the Europa Clipper spacecraft, reading in part, “it’s not darkness that unites us, not the cold distance of space but the offering of water.”

In 2022, Limón received many requests for original poems, but declined every offer until NASA approached her with their attractive proposal to have one of her poems land on one of Jupiter’s moons. She said she struggled with creating the poem because of the daunting task, and made her way through 19 drafts. Her struggle came to an end when she changed her focus from NASA to another aspect: nature. Since water makes up both humans and Europa, she became inspired and finally had direction on how to write her poem.

“In order to connect a poem to the second moon of Jupiter I needed to celebrate and praise this planet,” Limón said at the opening session at the South by Southwest Conference.

For the remainder of the session, the Director of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s Planetary Science Division, Dr. Lori Glaze joined Limón. They talked about the ways science and art work together and gave life advice.