New Pluma Fronteriza issue is out and Book and Literary News

Share

Chicana(o) and Latino(a) Literary News

New Pluma Fronteriza issue is out

The fall 2010 issue of Pluma Fronteriza: Newsletter of Chicano(a) and Latino(a) Writers of the El Paso/Cd. Juarez Border Region is out. Lots of great news on Chicano and Mexicano writers from the frontera: Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Carlos Morton, Rafael Jesus Gonzalez, Ben Saenz and much, much more.

Download a free copy by clicking here: Download Pluma.

Wings Press spotlighted

Wings Press, publisher of many Chicano and Chicana writers throughout the years, including Lorna Dee Cervantes, E.A. Mares, raulrsalinas, and El Paso's own Carolina Monisvais, was featured on the Huntington Post in Anis Shavani's Small Press Spotlight. See Pluma Fronteriza's Small Press Spotlight, with more of a Chicano(a) lit focus, we did a few months ago on Wings press: SEE IT NOW.

Most Popular Post on Pluma Fronteriza Blog

We installed a gadget that ranks the pages views on the Pluma Fronteriza blog. Right now we have it set at "most popular of all time" and Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano's interview comes out on top, with my story on El Barrio del Diablo coming out second. Check it out for yourself on the right column of the blog; just scroll down.

Deportation Nations?

A neat little look by Arlene M. Roberts at the book Deportation Regime in the Huffington Post. "In a recently released anthology, The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space and the Freedom of Movement," says Roberts, "the editors concede that the deportation regime requires scholars, advocates, and activists - citizens, denizens, and deportees alike - to engage politically and theoretically in renewed ways with questions of freedom." READ MORE.

Luis Valdez receives award

Luis Valdez was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award the Western Literature Association last month. "Distinguished Writer Luis Valdez gave a talk on Thursday evening which addressed his own remarkable career trajectory — from organizing in the fruit fields of the Central Valley to writing and directing at the highest levels of American theatre and film — while weaving in a consideration of the immigration crisis and the legal backlash against it that is now troubling the Southwest. In telling his own story, and relating it to the community of Western writers he was addressing, Valdez drove home the point that we need not see the West’s narrative of South to North immigration as contrary to the story of East to West immigration more familiar to students of the American West, and this new perspective must inform the politics of our readings." READ MORE.

Cultures to Clash in San Diego in 2011

Sign On San Diego states that the La Jolla Playhouse will stage at least two world-premiere works as part of its 2011-12 season. Both are inspired by news stories. One of them will by by the Culture Clash. READ MORE.

Rigo Reviews

Rigoberto Gonzalez has some recent reviews in the El Paso Times. He reviewed Madre and I (University of Wisconsin Press) by Guillermo Reyes. READ IT NOW. Also, he reviewed Julie Sophia Paegle's Torch Song Tango Choir (University of Arizona Press).

See Pluma Fronteriza's interview with Guillermo Reyes.

Other Book and Literary News

Tops Lists

John Mullan compiles a List of the Ten Best Angel's In Literature. From Thomas Hardy to Dante, check out Ten of the best angels in literature. Also, moving over to Russian Literature, or novels set in Russia, check out Anna Shevchenko's top 10 novels set in Moscow. Who's No. 1, Chekov, Pushkin, or Tolstoy? Also see Ten Film Portrayals of Famous Writers (Huggington Post).

Prize of Mixed Blessings

The Guardian posted an article on the mixed blessing of winning a major book award. See Not so hot off the press: a big prize to pay for small publishers.

Jane Austen's editor quite amiable? Who cares?

We featured a story about Jane Austen's editor. NPR recently featured a story Was Jane Austen Edited? Does it Matter?

Savoring Rejections

Do you want a big publisher to reject your book proposal? You should. Read Why You Want a Big Book Publisher to Reject Your Book (Huffington Post).

Spider Girl and Cup Size

A recent rendition of Spider Girl is the subject of an article in The Guardian. Among the changes is a less revealing costume. For those of you not in to comic book, most comics illustrators are male and tend to exaggerate the female anatomy. "Yet Anya Corazon is not the first female superhero whose power is about more than just cup size," says Naomi Alderman. READ IT NOW.

On the topic of male chauvinism, the estate of Ian Fleming, create of James Bond, recently cut out Penguin from e-book rights to Fleming novels (The Guardian).  READ IT NOW. Oh James!

I'm Melting my Publicist

"Putting a publicist on the spot publicly is like throwing a bucket of water on a witch -- you can practically hear the hiss as their enthusiasm melts and dissolves into nothing," says Laurence Hughes in his article Something Book Publicists Love to Hear: "Pretend I'm a Producer, Pitch Me a Book."

Six Words

Recently on PBS's Need to Know, the program featured veterans' six-word memoirs. NPR has a feature on a anthology of "hint fiction," which is 25 words for fewer. Check it out.

Slut!

Are you a book slut? "For as long as I can remember, I was a monogamous reader. I'd start a book and read it straight through no matter how much time that took. Now I'm a book slut," says Lev Raphael in his article for The Huffington Post Confessions of a Book Slut.

Vatos and Zombies

I'm often observant to the lack of Chicano(as), everywhere, non-profit legal services in El Paso, non-profit boards, university librarians, and God help me, even in post Apocalyptic genres. the old joke was why you didn't see Chicanos in Star Trek. Answer: They don't want to work in the future either. Of course that was before Star Trek got so diversified (i.e., Torrres, Chekote, etc.).

The latest post-Apocalyptic zombie media has not yet included any Chicanos. Unless I'm wrong, either Chicanos don't turn into zombies after the Apocalypse or we were wiped out. 

However, the next episode of AMC's The Walking Dead is called "Vatos" so could it be that for the first time in film/TV, Chicanos will be portrayed in post-Apocalyptic times. 

Now, I'm not including Michelle Rodriguez who came out in the original "Resident Evil" who is killed before the actual zombie-Apocalypse emerges. Maybe similar to "Gangs of the Dead" and "Hood of the Living Dead" where Chicanos apparently survive. Robert Rodriguez has us survive in "Pathogen" which is part of "The Grindhouse" double feature. Don't know never seen them, but just read the plots for fun last night and looked at the cast make up. Then again Pedro Miguel Arce and John Leguizamo appear in Land of the Dead.  See our poke at the Post-apocalyptic genre in Book Publishers Announce Moratorium on New Book Submission, which by the way is one of our most popular posts.

From Russia with Love

Love Letters from Nabokov. Check out this video of a new collection of love letters from Nabokov to his wife, during a 50-year period. SEE IT NOW.

New Media

On the digital frontier, Marketwire states "has estimated about 35% of iPad owners haven't used the devices to read e-books." Read Simba Estimates 1/3 of iPad Owners Don't Use Device for Reading Books.

More book news later, maybe Monday. I'm off to Ruidoso.