Sunday Small Press Spotlight: First Texas Publishers; Update: Sheryl Wins Award; Premiere of Octavio Solis new play

Bueno Raza,

Our Sunday press spotlight is First Texas Publishers.

This small press out of San Juan, Texas in the Texas valley.

First Texas has recently released Strawberry Fields by Chuy Ramirez. Strawberry Fields is a migrant tale in the South Texas tradition of Tomas Rivera. A novel in short stories, the protagonist, a former farmworker, now attorney, tries to solve the a the strawberry fields murder in six stories. In his journey to solve the murder, he revisits his migrant past as a farmworkers on the migrant stream through the Midwest.

Chuy Ramirez grew up in the city of San Juan in South Texas and is presently an attorney in McAllen Texas. He attended Pan American University in Edinburg Texas and the University Texas Law School.

UPDATES
Sheryl Luna, Octavio Solis

I saw on Sheryl Luna's blog received that she's received the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation Award funded by Sandra Cisneros and fellowships from Ragdale (Guild Complex, U. of Notre Dame) the Anderson Center. Congrads! to Sheryl

The world premiere of 

John Steinbeck’s 

The Pastures of Heaven 

by Octavio Solis

premiered yesterday at Cal Shakes' Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda, CA

Octavio Solis

Written by Octavio Solis
Developed in collaboration with Word For World Performing Arts Company
Directed by Cal Shakes Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone
June 2-27
Previews June 2-4 at 8pm
Opening June 5 at 8pm
Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30pm
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Saturday Matinee, June 26 at 2pm
Sundays at 4pm
Grounds open two hours prior to showtime for picnicking.

 Developed in collaboration with Word For World Performing Arts Company
Directed by Cal Shakes Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone 

Click here for interview with Octavio Solis

A brand new play adapted by one of our country’s most talented and prolific playwrights. This richly theatrical play—commissioned especially for Cal Shakes—celebrates the art of storytelling as it depicts comic and heartbreaking characters in search of happiness in the seemingly idyllic landscape of Steinbeck’s own Salinas Valley.

Based on The Pastures of Heaven © 1934 John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven has been selected as a National Endowment for the Arts Distinguished New American Play as part of the NEA New Play Development Program, hosted by Arena Stage.

Today, Saturday, June 5 8:00p

at Cal Shakes' Bruns Amphitheater, Orinda, CA

Written by Octavio Solis
Developed in collaboration with Word For World Performing Arts Company
Directed by Cal Shakes Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone
June 2-27
Previews June 2-4 at 8pm
Opening June 5 at 8pm
Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30pm
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Saturday Matinee, June 26 at 2pm
Sundays at 4pm
Grounds open two hours prior to showtime for picnicking. read more

Price: $20

Phone: (510) 548-9666

Age Suitability: Teens and up 

Read the Blog: Visiting the Real Pastures of Heaven
Last weekend several of us from Cal Shakes and Word for Word Performing Arts Company went to Salinas to hold some events in anticipation of our upcoming world premiere, John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven. 

Entering into The Pastures of Heaven
So folks, we just ended a full week of workshopping the first complete draft of Octavio Solis’ adaptation of Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven. We’re premiering it next year on our Main Stage, and it was quite a week.

Steinbeck Blog Prompt #3 by Jonathan Moscone
The third and last in our series of three prompts, designed to help inform our upcoming Steinbeck Project workshop. The Cal Shakes New Works/New Communities program would love for you to leave your input in the "comments" section below, via prose, poetry, links to video, imagery, or audio, and whatever else you can think of.

Tomorrow, throwback article from Pluma Fronteriza on Colorado Chicano writers!