Writing and Book News, Chicano(a) Book News

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Chicano(a) Writing News

Tiburcio Vasquez

The San Jose Mercury News published a review on John Boessenecker's book about 19th-century California bandit Tiburcio Vasquez. "Vasquez emerges here as a Californio who cherished his culture, but not the true rebel or Robin Hood his admirers made him out to be," says reviewer Joe Rodriguez. "He was a handsome, lovable scoundrel who, nonetheless, preyed only on little people. He was smart and literate, a lover of poetry and dance, but he also seduced his own niece and the wives of friends." READ MORE.

Ruben Trejo coffee table book

The Seattle Times ran a article reviewing coffee table books for you holiday season. One of them is Ruben Trejo: Beyond Boundaries/Aztlán y Más Allá edited by Ben Mitchell, essays by Tomás Ybarra-Frausto and John Keeble (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture/University of Washington Press, 152 pp., $35). READ THE SEGMENT.

Teatro Izcalli at Mesa College

The Mesa Press ran a story about Teatro Izcalli's visit to Mesa College. "The opening act focused on American schools' lack of knowledge about Chicano culture and how that culture has shaped the modern United States," says Rebecca Rios of the Mesa Press. "Each performer played a classroom stereotype such as the bookworm, the blond American, the San Diegan surfer, and the empowered Chicano student that took pride in his history." READ MORE .

Serros on Longoria's divorce

It's been a long time since I heard something from Michelle Serros. She wrote "Why I live Eve Longoria Better Now That She's Getting a Divorice" in Fox News Latino. "I speculate that her recent display of ganas - in the form of filing for divorce (another big no-no in comunidad latina) from her French hubby, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker – must have," says Serros, "derived from picking up a little something from one of those empowering book titles we’re all required to read as Chicana/o Studies majors. Perhaps the writings of Gloria Anzaldua or poet Bernice Zamora?" READ MORE.

Chicana artist burlesque

Okay, my Chicana carnalas, don't jump on me, but the The Contra Costa Times ran a piece on Cherry Galette, a burlesque artist. This 34-year-old woman of Chicana and Moroccan decent is hoping the new Christina Aguilera movie creates more fans for burlesque. READ MORE.

Maria Melendez in Colorado

The Scribe has an article on Maria Melendez and her visit to to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. "Her work is filled with wit and humor, gentle irony and sometimes severity," says the article Cartherine Jensen. READ MORE. 

Literary and Books News

Read It Out Loud: Lloyds of Editing

For what its worth, see Delia Lloyds 5 tips for Productivity Editing Your Writing. "Read your writing out loud. This tip is brought to you by none other than David Sedaris, whose views on the writing process were generously shared by another great writer/blogger, Lisa Romeo Writes. On the topic of reading your work aloud, Sedaris says, 'When I hear myself reading out loud, I hear things I don't hear when I read (silently) to myself. When I read aloud, I always have a pencil in hand. If I feel I'm trying too hard, or I'm being repetitive, I make a mark.'" READ MORE.

Stolen Stories and Gulags
 

An interesting story of stolen stories, the Gulags, and Polish veterans in Post WWII. See "How The Long Walk became The Way Back" (BBC).

If you wake up from a coma and all the hospital staff are gone...beware

"28 Days Later"

 Considering all the zombie stuff we've posted in the last few months (see An Occasional Off the Chicano Literature Path: Graphic Novels and Jane Austen's Zombies; Vatos and Zombies; Publishers Announce Moratorium on New Book Submissions), The New York Times has now honed in. See "My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead." "What if contemporary people are less interested in seeing depictions of their unconscious fears and more attracted to allegories of how their day-to-day existence feels? That would explain why so many people watched that first episode of “The Walking Dead”: They knew they would be able to relate to it." READ MORE. 

The Walking Dead

I also like this passage, "We all know how this goes: If you awake from a coma, and you don’t immediately see a member of the hospital staff, assume a zombie takeover has transpired during your incapacitation." I had thought the Walking Dead had taken this plot device from 28 Days Later, but apparently, it is from The Day of the Triffids.

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Gulliver's Troubles

A note on satire comes from the Huffington Post. Chris Kelly writes "Like brewing your own beer, satire is tricky, time consuming, and not as rewarding as you might expect. Humor is a lousy weapon, and anyone who thinks different is in for a life of one humiliating loss after another. When people talk about humor as a weapon it always makes me think of Jamie Lee Curtis in the closet at the end of Halloween, unfolding a wire hanger to use as a spear. It's better than nothing, but just barely." READ The National Lampoon and Humor Lately. 

While on the satire topic, take a look at this video satire of How to Write that pokes fun of the publishing industry.

Can Writing be Taught? The System-Theory Realizations of an Insider

Anis Shivani continues his shots across the bow on MFA programs, this time reviewing The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing (Harvard University Press) by Mark McGurl. " Shivani, in The Huffington Post, says If MFA programs are popular and expanding and producing prodigious amounts of writing, then this is what the system has ordained, and it can only be for the good. His systems-theory analysis is simultaneously too broad and too narrow, meaningless in either case." READ MORE.

You're the Only Chance We've Got

Leslie Nielsen died this past week. See the New York Times homage to him at Unsinkable Captain of Spoofs. I have to admit, no, many of you who know me and know I was a fan. I'm trying to think of Nielsen's interaction with Chicanos in his films, and I was able to recall a few, as well as some interactions with African Americans (not the OJ ones, but I will recount one but I'll mention one). At the end of the Naked Gun II, when OJ and Nielsen run into the hospital where Nielsen's (Lt. Frank Drebin) wife is in labor. OJ and Dreben go into the wrong delivery room and the baby they help to deliver is African American, which leads Drebin to chase OJ out of the room.

I think it was the third installment of the "Naked Gun" when Nielsen escapes from prison and he emerges with the movie's villain from a manhole and they both are wondering where they have ended up. One of them says, "It looks like a Los Angeles high school." They immediately realize the danger they are in and try to flee for their lives while Chicano students (including the honors club) takes out their cuetes and start shooting at them. In "Wrongfully Accused" he is placed in a line up with four huge African American men flanking him at each side. Also, in the Scary Movie franchise, Nielsen parody's George W. Bush being told about the September 11, 2001 attacks during a reading for children at a elementary school.

Also see, Remembering Leslie Nielsen: The Master of the Art of NOT Being Funny on NPR. Hearing this story, I did not know that Nielsen won the Nobel Prize for Acting.

More book Censorship

I found this link to this USA Today story: Those challenging books find strength in numbers, but I could not find when this article was written. Being that Banned Book Week has already passed, this is still an interesting article. "'Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family, a Christian ministry in Colorado, says it's "healthy and normal for parents to want to weigh in on what their kids are exposed to at taxpayer-funded schools, especially when we talk about materials that are sexually explicit.'" READ MORE. See our posts for Banned Books Week with five Chicano(a)-authored books that have been banned or challenged.

Cohen Brothers Take a Shot at Portis Novel True Grit

The novel True Grit by Charles Portis makes it to the screen for the second time in Hollywood's history. Despite its conservatism John Wayne, I like the 1969 version, but I'm excited about the Cohen brothers version. See Coen Brothers Saddle Up a Revenge Story (or Two) which gives a little more on the cultural aspects of John Wayne and "True Grit."

It's in the Numbers, Victoria

An interesting look at an analysis of various words in Victorian literature. See Analyzing Literature by Words and Numbers.

Grants for Persecuted Writers

Human Rights Watch called today for nominations for the prestigious Hellman/Hammett grants for 2011, for writers who have suffered persecution because of their work and are in financial need. READ MORE.

Princess' Brown Hair

Disney's latest venture into the princess genre gains some pop culture analysis in NPR's pop culture panel. HEAR NOW. "Tangled" actually has a princess that does not get married at 15 (you can't do that even in Texas anymore, thanks RLDS!). There are been several good article by Chicana scholars on Disney movies. One thing that I did notice, which brings up the Clark Doll Test, was when Rapunzel's blond-golden hair is cut and her hair turns brown. I heard one little girl get mad and say "she (Rapunzel) is no longer beautiful."

Literature Literacy: How Good Are You? Take the Quiz

 

Okay, A quiz on the "snow" in literature. I did not do good on this one. Where's Felipe Ortego when you need him? See if you are up to par in The Guardian's quiz on snow and literature. TAKE THE QUIZ.

As libraries are on the chopping block due to funding, take this quiz on libraries and literature. Here's the first question: "Librarians serve a terrific role in our communities, bringing books and readers together as well as inspiring many literary characters. The main protagonist in the Kingsley Amis novel That Uncertain Feeling is an assistant librarian tempted towards adultery. What is his name?" TAKE THE QUIZ.

"I don't like black people." It's Good to Know, or Is It?

Pretty bold racist comments from South African writer Annelie Botes: "'I don't like black people,' she told the paper, when asked what sort of people she disliked. 'I don’t understand them! ... I know they are people just like me. I know they have the same rights as me. But I do not understand them. And then I do not like them. I avoid them because I am scared of them.'" READ MORE (NEWS24.COM).

New Media

Net Neutrality

"The Federal Communications Commission is being accused of abandoning 'net neutrality' rules that would ensure a free and open internet," says Democracy Now. "On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled proposals that would allow internet service providers to charge higher fees for faster access to online content." READ MORE.

E-book Wars

Another entry into the e-book war is Google. See Google to move into the ebook market at end of year. Also see Google e-book venture to level the playing field (San Francisco Chronicle).

Also see The Nook, Barnes and Nobel's Biggest Mistake (New York Post). "...the Nook's quick growth has come at a price. Yesterday, Barnes and Nobel reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, and said losses for the current fiscal year could surpass $50 million -- twice as steep as the previous forecast -- as B&N invests heavily in the Nook." READ MORE.

Open Source Digital Textbooks

California is on the road leading the digital textbook movement. See California Embraces Open Source Digital Textbooks.

Literary Events today in EPT

Today, Dec. 4, 1030am. El Paso Chican@ History Project. Memorial Park Library. Seeking a re-visioning of the El Paso's history.

Today, Dec.4, 4pm. Nepantla: Celebrando Nuestra Herencia Fronteriza featuring Jimmy Santiago Baca, Miguel Algarin, Tony Spiller & Richard Stratton. Readings and music by San Patricio Brigade, Cesar Ivan, Nancy Green, Fuga, Laura Cesarco Eglin, Sasha Pimentel-Chacon, Gabriel Gaytan, Alma Maquitico, Rich Yanez, Valentin Sandoval, Roberto Santos, Adrian Rivera, and many more. 1st Av. Lofts, 300 S. Florence (right off Paisana Av.) in El Paso. Free. Co-sponsored by Mouthfeel Press.

Elena Poniatowska

Carlos Monisvais

Tonight, Dec. 4, 6pm. Concert honoring the Mexican writer "Carlos Monsivais". The Consulate General of Mexico invites the general public to the concert honoring the Mexican writer "Carlos Monsivais". The event includes a semblance performed by Elena Poniatowska, in which she portrays from the perspective of having intimate knowledge of the writer’s work, and as the character Carlos Monsivais was in life. The evening will conclude with a flute concert played by Horacio Franco, in honor of the late writer. WHERE: Magoffin Auditorium at UTEP, located in Hawthorne St. and W University Ave. El Paso, TX 79968.

Report: Criminals smuggle up to $39 billion in drugs while CBP and Huspeth County Sheriff Arrest Willie Nelson

AP

Report: Criminals smuggle up to $39 billion in drugs while CBP and Hudspeth County Sheriff Arrest Willie Nelson

By Mary Weaver

Posted: 12/02/2010 07:50:09 AM MST

Associated Pest

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The Government Accountability Office is calling for urgent action after Mexican cartels smuggled up to $39 billion worth of drugs into the United States, all during Willie Nelson's 4-and-half-hour arrest and booking in Hudspeth County, TX last month.

The Metro Organization for TexasTea Acquisitions or MOTA, estimates the while Customs and Border Protection and Hudspeth County Sheriff were occupied with Nelson, an estimated $39 billion was smuggled through Hudspeth County alone.

The GAO estimates the Willie Nelson influences the U.S. economy in ways previously unknown.

“For example,” says James Bolillo, head of the Department of Nelson-US Government Comparison at the GAO, “during Willie Nelson's last arrest on a marijuana charge, 134 small farmer lost their farms.”

“Nelson is much better,” says Boliyo, “at helping small farmers than the US government. In fact, the ratio of Nelson's success at saving small farms in comparison to the U.S. Government is 4:20 with Nelson saving 20 small farms in comparison with the US government's 4 farms.”

However, Nelson assistance to the US economy does not stop there says Pizca Mohasky, president of the Growers of Reefer, Indonisanbud, and Flower Association or GRIFA. “Nelson's consumption alone of our product in a regular year,” says Mohasky, “is 12% of the GDP. His assistance to small farmers comes in many forms and add the sparks that Willie Nelson's fan base gives to small farmers, the economic stimulus is smoking.”

Contrasting the GAO's finding, Asst. Secretary of Agriculture, Cory Poratpharms, said that the USDA gave million of dollars in water subsidies to agribusiness last decade, and then give them subsidies not to use the water. 

Nelson poses for fans in Hudspeth County

“We've helped many farmers in the last decade with subsidies,” says Poratpharms, “including Ken Lay, Scottie Pippen, Sam Donaldson, Ted Turner, and David Rockefeller. (Heritage Foundation Backgrounder 1542, April 30, 2002, Link).

Above, the late Ken Lay, a hard-working American farmer

Poratpharms adds that the USDA has also made easier to be defined as a “farmer” including, according to one study, 413 municipal governments, 44 universities, and 14 prison systems (source). 

"Good American farmers such as Chevron Oil; John Hancock Life Insurance; Caterpillar Manufacturing; and Archer, Daniel Midland," says Poratpharms, "are tilling the soil everyday to put food on our table, that  is, unless we pay them not to" (Source).

Once ounce of marijuana

Stetson-wearing Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, provided no comment when asked why so much county resources should be dedicated to 6 ounces of marijuana while cartels runs tons of marijuana other drugs on an hourly basis through his county.

West, assuming that Wilson, who was born into poverty in Abbott, Texas during the Great Depression, has never a washed dish in his life, mentioned he would make Wilson, well - wash dishes.

Some have suggested that West is looking to boost Nelson's record sales and Internet downloads. “You can't ask for better publicity,” says Wayne Goodall of the Country Singers Publicist Association. “Not to mention publicity for all the causes Nelson supports.”

Nevertheless, the GAO is still calculating how many family farms may have been lost during Nelson's 4-hour ordeal.

As for Nelson, who is frequently quoted saying “Don't Do it In Hewit” after a previous arrest on a marijuana charge near Hewitt, Texas, said “Don't Huffit in Hudspeth.”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Hudspeth County were cartels were distribution their latest drug load, Fijate Deveras, director of public relations for the cartel, thanked Sheriff West and CBP for their precocity in using taxpayer resources and effectiveness at preventing drug smuggling. "Do Meth in Hudspeth!" she added.

Related Stories

• Willie Nelson forms Teapot Party
• Saving ASARCO's smokestack to create “superjoint” to cost $14M; Superfund to fund superjoint

Recent Books on Chicano(a) Theatre, Stage, and Performance

Recent Chicana(o) Theatre, Stage, and Performance

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Again, drama is one of those genres that doesn't produce a whole lot of books, with exception of the stage publications. So I'm going back six years in in this post in case there is something you missed. If we missed something, let us know.

Before, we show you the books, make sure to download a copy of our new issue of Pluma Fronteriza with lot of news on El Paso, Juarense, and Cruceno writers including Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Carlos Morton, Benjamin A. Saenz, Rich Yanez, and more. Download it for free at: Download Pluma Fronteriza.

Dreaming on a Sunday in the Alameda and Other Plays

(Chicana & Chicano Visions of the Americas Series)

HardcoverUniversity of Oklahoma Press 2004

ISBN-10: 080613626X

This innovative collection, featuring three plays by Carlos Morton, spans five centuries of Mexican and Mexican American history. In the tradition of teatro campesino, these plays present provocative revisions of historical events.

The first play, "La Malinche," challenges the historical record of the tragic clash between Indians and Spaniards. The near-mythical La Malinche, who betrayed her country for love of Hernan Cortez but was then betrayed by him, is freed from the bonds of history to have her vengeance. She saves her legacy and destroys the legacy of the conquistador. In the second play, "Dreaming on a Sunday in the Alameda," characters from a mural by painter Diego Rivera come to life to depict four centuries of Mexican history. 

Among these, Frida Kahlo, Rivera’s wife, finally steps out of his shadow as a woman and artist in her own right. "Esperanza," a libretto for an opera, tells the story of Mexican miners who labored in twentieth-century Silver City, New Mexico. Based on the classic movie Salt of the Earth, this play deftly portrays the crisis that foretold the rise of the Chicano movement.

Carlos Morton is director of the Center for Chicano Studies and Professor of Dramatic Art at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Zoot Suit: A Bilingual Edition

Paperback Arte Publico Press; Bilingual edition 2004

Language: Spanish / English

ISBN-10: 1558854398

Luis Valdez (Author), Edna Ochoa (Translator), Jorge Huerta (Introduction)

This bilingual edition combines the original English-language version with the first-ever Spanish translation of the critically acclaimed play by Luis Valdez, a work that cracked open the depiction of Chicanos on the stage, challenging viewers to revisit a troubled moment in our nation’s history. From the moment the myth-infused character El Pachuco burst onto the stage, literally cutting his way through the drop curtain with a switchblade, Valdez spurred a revolution in Chicano theater. 

Focusing on the events surrounding the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial of 1942 and the ensuing Zoot Suit Riots that turned Los Angeles into a bloody war zone, this is a gritty and vivid depiction of the horrifying violence and racism suffered by young Mexican Americans on the home front during World War II. Valdez’s cadre of young urban characters struggle with the stereotypes and generalizations of America’s dominant culture, the questions of assimilation and patriotism, and a desire to rebel against the mainstream pressures that threaten to wipe them out.

Experimenting with brash forms of narration, pop culture of the war era, and complex characterizations, this quintessential exploration of the Mexican-American experience in the United States during the 1940s was the first, and only, Chicano play to open on Broadway.

 

Mummified Deer And Other Plays

Paperback Arte Publico Press April 30, 2005

ISBN-10: 1558854177

Luis Valdez (Author), Jorge Huerta (Introduction)

For more than 20 years, Luis Valdez, the most distinguished Latino playwright and director, has reserved most of his scripts for live stage productions. His two landmark published collections, Early Works and Zoot Suit and Other Plays, are only a sampling of his early master works and of the later plays that made it to the stage in the 1980s. Now, Valdez has finally opened his trunk to release print editions of revised early works and a brand new, major drama.

"Mummified Deer" is Valdez’s mature exploration of the Yaqui Indian roots of Chicano(a)  culture and Valdez’s own family. Returning to the format of the tent show, Valdez mines maternal psychology and Yaqui mysticism to demand that characters scale the full gamut of emotions. In this gut-wrenching piece, Mama Chu is the dominant, imposing figure who must reconcile the present with the past and unify the conflicting histories and identities of her family.

Mundo Mata is the long-awaited drama of unionizing farm workers battling the agribusiness power structure in California while Mexican Americans are being sent off to battle brown-skinned enemies in Vietnam. Valdez assesses the toll that families have to pay to remain united against divisive forces. It all comes down to Reymundo, the antihero, who in the end must weigh existential and political questions.

“The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa,” Valdez’s re-worked first play, still holds all the vision, spunk, and innovation of the young playwright. Injecting black humor into domestic drama, disembodied heads talk, mothers exchange roles with the patriarch, Pachucos banter, and Sell-Outs become the mouthpieces for an oppressed community — all characters and themes that would dominate future plays of Valdez and subsequent Chicano literature.

Plays By Octavio Solis

Paperback Broadway Play Pub 2006

ISBN-10: 0881452580

Octavio Solis (Author)

This collection contains three full-length plays: “Santos & Santos,” “El Paso Blue” and “El Otro”: “Solis’ dark, rapturous look at the immigrant experience is not s o m e t h i n g y o u ’ l l e a s i l y f o r g e t .

remember that Broadway Press published two of

Octavio Solís’ play in trade editions: “La Posada

Mágica” and “Man of the Flesh.”

Psst . . .: I Have Something to Tell You, Mi Amor

Paperback Wings Press 2005

ISBN-10: 0916727203

Ana Castillo

Comprised of both a one-act and a two-act play, this powerful dramatic pairing centers on Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was kidnapped, raped, and tortured by U.S.-sponsored Guatemalan security forces in 1989 (see Raymundo Eli Rojas' review of this book). "Castillo’s displays of emotion and experience are legitimately heavy with truthfulness. It jolts readers with a blast of reality. Other books written on Ortiz’ story were not the best put-together works. Her story is a good one and she found a writer who can best tell it in Castillo." -- Raymundo Eli Rojas, The Newspaper Tree

The Chicano/Latino Literary Prize: An Anthology of Prize-Winning Fiction, Poetry, and Drama  

Paperback Arte Publico Press 2008

ISBN-10: 1558855114

Stephanie Fetta (Editor)

"David is mine!" Mrs. Renteria shouts out to her neighbors gathered about the dead but handsome young man found in the dry riverbed next to their homes in a Los Angeles barrio. "David?" Tiburcio asked. "Since when is his name David? He looks to me more like a ..." Tiburcio glanced at the man's face, "... a Luis." Mrs. Renteria's neighbors call out a litany of names that better suit the mysterious corpse: Roberto, Antonio, Henry, Enrique, Miguel, Roy, Rafael. The very first winner of the Chicano / Latino Literary Prize in 1974, Ron Arias' "The Wetback" uses dark humor to reflect on the appearance of a dead brown man in their midst.

This landmark collection of prize-winning fiction, poetry, and drama paints a historical and aesthetic panorama of Chicana/o and Latina/o letters over a twenty-five-year period beginning in 1974 and ending in 1999. Most, but not all, of the winning entries are featured in this anthology, which also includes second- and third-place winners, as well as honorable mentions.

Now entering its thirty-first year, the award has recognized a wide variety of writers, from established ones such as Juan Felipe Herrera, Michael Nava, and Helena Maria Viramontes, to those that are lesser known. Many of the pieces in this anthology are considered to be foundational texts of Chicana/o and Latina/o literature, and those that are not as widely recognized deserve more serious study and attention.

Presented in chronological order, the selected writings are primarily in English, although some are written in Spanish, and others in Spanglish. Some, like Francisco X. Alarcon's poem "Raices / Roots," appear in both languages: "Mis raices / las cargo / siempre / conmigo / enrolladas / me sirven / de almohada." "I carry / my roots / with me / all the time / rolled up / I use them / as my pillow." 

In addition to the diverse array of authors, styles, and genres, the works included in this collection cover a wide range of themes, from more political issues of ethnic, gender, and class conflicts to the universal themes of love, death, and birth.

Contemporary Latina/o Theater: Wrighting Ethnicity

(Theater in the Americas Series) Paperback Southern Illinois University Press

ISBN-13: 978-0809328307

Jon D. Rossini

In Contemporary Latina/o Theater, Jon D. Rossini explores the complex relationship between theater and the creation of ethnicity in an unprecedented examination of six Latina/o and Chicano(a) playwrights and their works: Miguel Piñero, Luis Valdez, Guillermo Reyes, Octavio Solis, José Rivera, and Cherríe Moraga. 

Rossini exposes how these writers use the genre as a tool to reveal and transform existing preconceptions about their culture.  Through “wrighting” — the triplicate process of writing plays, righting misconceptions about ethnic identity, and creating an entirely new way of understanding Latina/o and Chicano(a) culture — these playwrights directly intervene in current conversations regarding ethnic identity, providing the tools for audiences to reexplore their previously held perspectives outside the theater.

Examining these writers and their works in both cultural and historical contexts, Rossini reveals how playwrights use the liminal space of the stage — an area on the thresholds of both theory and reality — to “wright” new insights into Latina/o and Chicano(a) identity.  They use the limits of the theater itself to offer practical explorations of issues that could otherwise be discussed only in highly theoretical terms.

Rossini traces playwrights’ methods as they address some of the most challenging issues facing contemporary Latinas/os in America: from the struggles for ethnic solidarity and the dangers of a community based in fear, to stereotypes of Latino masculinity and the problematic fusion of ethnicity and politics.  Rossini discusses the looming specter of the border in theater, both as a conceptual device and as a literal reality — a crucial subject for modern Latinas/os, given recent legislation and other actions.   Throughout, the author draws intriguing comparisons to the cultural limbo in which many Latinas/os find themselves today. 

An indispensable volume for anyone interested in drama and ethnic studies, Contemporary Latina/o Theater underscores the power of theatricality in exploring and rethinking ethnicity.  Rossini provides the most in-depth analysis of these plays to date, offering a groundbreaking look at the ability of playwrights to correct misconceptions and create fresh perspectives on diversity, culture, and identity in Latina/o America.

Teatro Chicana: A Collective Memoir and Selected Plays

(Chicana Matters Series) Paperback University of Texas Press 2008

ISBN-10: 029271744X

Laura E. Garcia (Editor), Sandra M. Gutierrez (Editor), Felicitas Nuñez (Editor), Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez (Foreword)

The 1970s and 1980s saw the awakening of social awareness and political activism in Chicano(a) communities. In San Diego, a group of Chicana women participated in a political theatre group whose plays addressed social, gender, and political issues of the working class and the Chicano Movement. 

In this collective memoir, seventeen women who were a part of Teatro de las Chicanas (later known as Teatro Laboral and Teatro Raíces) come together to share why they joined the theatre and how it transformed their lives. 

Teatro Chicana tells the story of this troupe through chapters featuring the history and present-day story of each of the main actors and writers, as well as excerpts from the group's materials and seven of their original short scripts.

Contemporary Latina/o Performing Arts of Moraga, Tropicana, Fusco, and Bustamante

(Modern American Literature Series) Hardcover Peter Lang; First printing edition 2009

ISBN-10: 0820474290

Garland Leah

Contemporary Latina/o Performing Arts of Moraga, Tropicana, Fusco, and Bustamante demonstrates the crucial significance of looking at theatrical performance for rethinking critical inquiry.

Leah Garland closely analyzes the theoretical tools with which prominent theater artists Cherrie Moraga, Carmelita Tropicana, Coco Fusco, and Não Bustamantechallenge neocolonial parameters for self-examination. Garland shows how the self-affirmative maneuvers that these artists deploy reconceptualize the subject in literary theory.

Nine Plays by José Cruz González: Magical Realism and Mature Themes in Theatre for Young Audiences

(Louann Atkins Temple Women & Culture Series) 

Paperback University of Texas Press 2008

ISBN-10: 0292718551

Coleman A. Jennings (Editor)

In today's multicultural world there is an urgent need for more plays and books that represent a diverse array of ethnic groups. Theatre and book critics, scholars, and theatre professionals have long campaigned for a broader representation of minorities in book and play publishing.

In this anthology, renowned theatre expert Coleman A. Jennings has compiled a selection of plays by José Cruz González that meets these multicultural demands head-on. 

González is a foremost voice in theatre for children and youth whose plays address themes, often through imaginary lands and extraordinary characters, faced by children in their everyday lives.

Born to migrant workers in Calexico, California, in 1957, González learned at a young age how to tap into the vast world of his imagination. From his grandfather, who would regale the family with stories and riddles as they worked on the farm, he learned the power of storytelling. He spent afternoons, weekends, and summers working in the fields, so it is no surprise that his plays are strongly tied to the natural world. His use of magical realism has become one of his trademarks.

The nine plays in this anthology were thoughtfully collected and will go far to fill the multicultural gap in the world of theatre for children.

The Plays of Josefina Niggli: Recovered Landmarks of Latino Literature

Paperback University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition 2007

ISBN-10: 0299224546

Josefina Niggli (Author, Editor), William Orchard (Editor)

Josefina Niggli (1910–1983) was one of the most successful Mexican American writers of the early twentieth century. Born of European parents and raised in Mexico, she spent most of her adult life in the United States, and in her plays and novels she aimed to portray authentic Mexican experiences for English-speaking audiences. 

Niggli crossed borders, cultures, and genres, and her life and work prompt interesting questions about race, class, gender, modernity, ethnic and national identity, and the formation of literary canons.

Although Niggli is perhaps best known for her fiction and folk plays, this anthology recovers her historical dramas, most of which have been long out of print or were never published. These plays are deeply concerned with the aftermath of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, imagining its implications for Mexico, Mexican Americans, and U.S.-Mexico relations. Included are "Mexican Silhouettes" (1928), "Singing Valley" (1936), "The Cry of Dolores" (1936), "The Fair God" (1936), "Soldadera" (1938), "This is Villa!" (1939), and "The Ring of General Macias" (1943). 

These works reflect on the making of history and often portray the Revolution through the lens of women’s experiences.

Also included in this volume are an extensive critical introduction to Niggli, a chronology of her life and writings, plus letters and reviews by, to, and about Josefina Niggli. that provide illuminating context for the plays.

Josefina Niggli, Mexican American Writer: A Critical Biography

Paperback University of New Mexico Press 2007

ISBN-10: 0826342728

Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez

This is the story of a remarkable woman whose artistic mission was to relate Mexican cultural history to English-language readers. A world-renowned playwright in the 1930s and best-selling novelist in the 1940s, Josefina Niggli published at a time when Chicana/o literature was not yet recognized as such. Her works revealed Mexico from an insider's point of view, although she found herself struggling with publishers who wanted an American hero pitted against a Mexican villain.

Niggli's life experience transpired in Mexico, Texas, the East Coast in the pre-World War II years, and North Carolina, with jaunts to Hollywood and to England, all in an era when few U.S. women writers were able to publish. 

Only recently has Niggli received critical attention as scholars of Chicana/o literature recognize her as one of the earliest Mexican American writers to focus on life lived between two cultures and nations. This scholarly biography, which includes selections from some of Niggli's unrecognized writings, is designed to solidify her place in the literary canon.

"Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez's exceptional book, Josefina Niggli, Mexican-American Writer: A Critical Biography, is a magnificent contribution to the scholarly study of the life and works of the brilliant binational and transnational writer, Josefina Niggli. From poems to short stories and theatrical plays to novels, [Martinez] provides the reader with extensive and detailed biographical data interspersed with key selections of Niggli's lesser known or unpublished writings. Martinez's groundbreaking book will be a fundamental work for any future study undertaken on this Mexican American writer's creative production and on Chicana/o literature in general."-- Maria Herrera Sobek, author of Chicano Folklore: A Handbook (2006) and associate vice chancellor at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Mexican Village and Other Works

(Latino Voices Series) 

Paperback Northwestern University Press; 1 edition 2008

ISBN-10: 0810123401

Josefina Niggli (Author), Ilan Stavans (Foreword)

The first collection of the writings of one of the most influential Mexican-American authors of the 20th century

Born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico in 1910, Josefina María Niggli was one of the first Latina writers to have her work published in the United States -- and thus one of the first to introduce American audiences to the culture and people flourishing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Well ahead of what is now called Chicano literature, her writings -- spanning a broad range of genres, subjects, and styles  -- offer an insider's view of the everyday lives little known or noted outside of their native milieu. In Niggli's plays, for instance, these often invisible working class Mexicans were literally elevated to the public stage, their hidden reality given expression.

A long-overdue gathering of Niggli's work, this volume showcases the writer's remarkable literary versatility, as well as the groundbreaking nature of her writing, which in many ways established a blueprint for future generations of writers and readers of Chicano literature. This collection includes Niggli's most famous and influential work, Mexican Village -- a literary chronicle of Hidalgo, Mexico, which explores the distinct nature and tensions of Mexican life -- along with her novel Step Down, Elder Brother, and five of her most well-known plays.