"Chicano writers from El Paso are the most progressive, open-minded, far-reaching, and inclusive writers of them all."

Octavio Romano

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Book News

Coming Events


Christine Granados

Friday, October, 13, 6:15 p.m.
Christine Granados reading
Dallas Public Library, 1515 Young Street, Dallas, Texas read from
"Brides and Sinners" with Diane Gonzales Bertrand and Diana Lopez as
part of the Texas Latino Voices series presented by the Texas Center
for the Book.

October 24-26
Christine Granados will also speak at the Southwest Writers and Artists Festival at Texas A&M University, College Station.

Playwright Octavio Solis

Octavio Solis new play "Marfa Lights" premieres at West Texas State University A&M in Canyon, Texas on October 5-14, 2006. Then it opens at St. Mary's University in Moraga, California on November 7-12, 2006.

Latinos and the Law

Soltero, LATINOS AND AMERICAN LAW: Landmark Supreme Court Cases

A historical overview and analysis of fourteen landmark Supreme Court

cases that have significantly affected Latino rights in such areas as

education, the administration of criminal justice, voting rights,

employment, and immigration.

http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/sollat.html

Table of contents and excerpt:

http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exsollat.html

New book on Cesar Vallejo

HOMAGE TO VALLEJO by Buckley, Christopher, Ed.

Greenhouse Review Press, 2006

ISBN: 978-0-9655239-3-6

Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. 41 American poets respond to the poetry and life of the great Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo. This anthology includes poetic homage, variations on a theme and imitations of this seminal 20th century master by such poets as Donald Justice, Philip Levine, Larry Levis, Luis Omar Salinas, Pamela Stewart and Charles Wright. Each poet has also written a prose complement in which they discuss Vallejo's influence on their own work and on contemporary American poetry. In his introduction, Christopher Buckley discusses Vallejo's unique influence on contemporary American poetry, and expresses the hope "that this collection of poems will be, in some small part, a witness to the great and enduring life, poetry and soul of Cesar Vallejo."

http://www.spdbooks.org/details.asp?bookid=9780965523936

New Neruda Translation

FIFTY ODES
by Neruda, Pablo

$17.50 / paper / pp.363

Host Publications, 2006

ISBN: 0-924047-20-8

Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. Translated from the Spanish by George Schade.

This bilingual edition of FIFTY ODES by Pablo Neruda, lovingly translated by

Latin American scholar George Schade belongs in the collection of every serious poetry lover. Neruda magically transforms everyday objects, from dogs to dictionaries, into essential elements of an always amazing and surprising world. Alastair Reade, dean of Latin American poetry translators, declares, "These translations have the same fizziness, the same physical excitement that Pablo Neruda has."

http://www.spdbooks.org/details.asp?bookid=0924047208

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Growing Up Beef: KU Students Discuss Meat-Packing Towns
Sylvia Maria Gross

KANSAS CITY, MO (2006-08-21) This week, the two candidates for governor of Kansas both came out in support of a state policy making English the official language. State Senator Jim Barnett, the Republican candidate, told the Lawrence Journal World that he thought many Kansans feel that English is slowly being minimized. A spokesperson for Governor Kathleen Sebelius said she respects the heritage of all Kansans, but believes it would be easier to communicate in school and business, if English were the official language.

Some University of Kansas students disagree. In a panel on campus about the meat-packing industry several months ago, three students talked about growing up in the immigrant communities surrounding slaughterhouses and plants. Here are some excerpts from that conversation; the moderator was KU law student Ray Rojas, and participants were graduate students Crystal Viurquez and Rebecca Crosthwait, and law student Leo Prieto.


http://tinyurl.com/jtg8b

Premio Aztlán Literary Prize

Call for Submissions

The Premio Aztlán Literary Award is a national literary award, established to encourage and reward emerging Chicana and Chicano authors. Renowned author, Rudolfo Anaya and his wife, Patricia, founded Premio Aztlán in 1993. The prize was reestablished in their honor in 2004 by the University of New Mexico Libraries.

The winner of the prize will be awarded $1,000. Recipients are required to be present at the award ceremony and give a public lecture at the University of New Mexico in April 2007.

Past award recipients include:

Gene Guerin (2005) Cottonwood Saints

Mary Helen Lagasse (2004) The Fifth Sun

Sergio Troncoso (1999) The Last Tortilla and Other Stories

Ronald Ruiz (1998) Guiseppe Rocco

Pat Mora (1997) House of Houses

Wendell Mayo (1996) Centaur of the North

Norma Cantú (1995) Canicula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera

Denise Chavez (1994) Face of an Angel

Alicia Gaspar de Alba (1993) The Mystery of Survival and Other Stories

Guidelines

Literary prize is for a work of fiction (novels and collections of short stories) published in the 2006 calendar year.

Authors must have published not more than two books.

Entries must be the work of living authors.

Edited works, self-published books or manuscripts in process are not accepted.

No poetry, children or young adult literature will be considered.

If named as recipient, person must be present to receive the award and is expected to give a lecture at the University of New Mexico in April 2007. Travel and lodging will be paid for by the University of New Mexico Libraries.

Honorarium will be sent following the recipient’s presentation at the University of New Mexico. Not attending the Premio Aztlán award and ceremony will result in the selected honoree’s forfeiture of the prize.

The closing date for entries is December 31, 2006.

Submissions must include:

5 copies of the book

Letter of interest, or if from the publisher, a letter of nomination

Author’s curriculum vitae, resume or background information, which must include a list of their published works and any communal involvement in the Chicana/Chicano community.

Be postmarked by December 31, 2006

Please send submissions to:

Premio Aztlán Literary Prize

University Libraries, Dean’s Office

MSC05 3020

1 University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131

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New book from Floricanto Press

Latina Icons:Iconos Femeninos Latinos e hispanoamericanos. Edited by María Claudia André.La Mujer Latina Series ISBN: 978-0-915745-85-2. Floricanto Press, 2006. $26.95. See Description below:

This books brings the most prominent Latino icons, popular figures, represents the most important clear description of the process of iconization of the most cherished female Latin American figures.

This book attempts to define and provide meaning to these popular women within context of popular symbols and the function these women played in the construction of their individual and collective identity.

These articles, written by well-known Latin Americanists, many of them Latinos themselves, reflect a most revealing landscape of iconization of these Latinas ranging from religious, political, and popular articulation. These images help us understand the complex discursive process of the creation of popular images, and the influence that institutions and cultural traditions play in their creation.

La Malinche, the movie actress Maria Felix, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Maria Ilonza, Frida Khalo, Selena, Yemayá, Carmen Miranda, and Malena, the woman object of the most notable Tango, are among the figures discussed in this extraordinary book.

Spanish Description

Esta colección de ensayos explora los procesos de representación y de iconización de algunas de las figuras femeninas más prominentes de América Latina. En ella se intenta definir qué significado tienen estas figuras dentro del contexto popular y determinar cuál es la función que desempeñan en la construcción de una identidad colectiva e individual. Los ensayos aquí incluidos presentan un revelador panorama sobre las múltiples articulaciones entre lo religioso, lo político y lo popular que nos permite vislumbrar no sólo la compleja red discursiva que circula a través de los diversos medios de producción cultural, sino también establecer el nivel de participación e influencia que ejercen de los organismos institucionales en la construcción de símbolos, imágenes y tradiciones culturales. La Malinche, la actriz del cine Maria Félix, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, María Ilonza, Frida Khalo, Selena, Yamayá, Carmen Miranda, y Malena, la mujer centro del tango mas famoso escrito, son las figuras femeninas aquí discutidas extensivamente en este extraordinario libro.

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The Talented Chews of El Paso

Check out Martha I. Chew SánchezCorridos in Migrant Memory: Corridos are ballads particular to Mexican traditions that are used to analyze or recall a particular political, cultural, and natural event important to the communities where they are performed.

As part of the cultural memory, many of the most popular corridos express the immigrant experience: exploitation, surveillance, and dehumanization stemming from racism and classism of the host country.

The corrido helps Mexican immigrants in the United States to humanize, dignify, and make sense of their transnational experiences as racial minorities. Corridos in Migrant Memory examines the role of corridos in shaping the cultural memories and identities of transnational Mexican groups.

These narrative songs, dating from the earliest colonial times, recount the historical circumstances surrounding a model protagonist whose history embodies the everyday experiences and values of the community.

The everyday experiences and cultural expressions of Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants have not found their way into textbooks in Mexico or in the United States. Martha Chew Sánchez's study provides a foundation upon which to build an understanding of the corrido. Martha I. Chew Sánchez is assistant professor of global studies at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York.

Albino Carillo Enters the Blogosphere

Go to: http://elespejofumeroso.blogspot.com/

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Newspaper Tree Book Group

Greetings -

NPT is continuing its book group with a look back at a rollicking El Paso around the turn of the (past) century. The book is: “Them was the Days: From El Paso to Prohibition” by Owen P. White. If you don’t have a copy, this book is hard to find, except for on Amazon, where there are 29 available (used). You can order one today at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1417933313/sr=8-2/qid=1156437500/ref=sr_1_2/104-1910068-9919950?ie=UTF8

See table of contents:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1417933313/ref=sib_dp_top_toc/104-1910068-9919950?ie=UTF8&p=S008#reader-link

We will be meeting on Saturday, October 7 at 4:00 p.m. in our offices downtown at 109 N. Mesa (corner of Texas), 7th floor. Drinks, snacks, quarters for parking meters, etc. will be provided. Please let me know as soon as possible if you can’t come due to another conflict, so that we can extend other invitations.

Vanessa

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