La Bloga milestone: 10k hits

In Sept. '06, La Bloga received 4,468 hits. Today as you read this post, La Bloga has reached our first month of 10,000 visits.

In the expanse of a planet-wide WWW, 333 and a third hits per day is not earthshaking, so to speak. Nor I do know how this compares to other Chicano or Chicano lit sites, but for us it's more than comforting to know there's that much interest in the "news, views and reviews" that the Bloguistas produce on this site.

Each contributor volunteers their time and posts the fruits of hours and hours of work necessary to keep La Bloga fresh. While being the lightest contributor to the site, I have watched and read as mis compadres have created something great where before there was only null pixels.

I take this opportunity to ask the other Bloguistas to take a well-deserved bow:
Manuel Ramos - who created and set the standards that guide the quality of La Bloga postings.
Michael Sedano - who's become resident tech guru and was there at the launching.
Daniel Olivas - whose scholarship and literary contributions boosted our Internet presence.
Lisa Alvarado - who's added the Midwest perspective and made us more than a bunch of good ole Chicano boys.
René Colato Laínez - whose major contributions in children's literature give La Bloga added perspectives.
Gina Ruiz - who, though no longer with us, gave much time and countless reviews (also no longer with us).

Please take a moment to send them your own congratulatory messages. They've done a considerable body of scholarship that next year should well belie today's 10k hits.

RudyG

Bounty

Manuel Ramos

Crookneck from the neighborhood Valdez Honor Garden, thank you, Molly; Romas from Mary, gracias; and the Little Green Devils from my back yard; photo by Flo

MARIO ACEVEDO UP FOR COLORADO BOOK AWARD
Acevedo's Nymphos of Rocky Flats (Rayo 2006) has been nominated for a Colorado Book Award in the category of Popular Fiction.

The 16th Annual Colorado Book Awards ceremony happens on October 17 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1050 13th Street, Denver, CO; Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom; 6:00 PM Reception/Silent Auction; 7:00 PM Dinner & Awards Program. Proceeds from the event benefit Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book literacy programs for adults and K-12 students including Motheread/Fatheread, Authors in the Classroom, Letters About Literature and River of Words.

Click here for more information.

Mario's third book in his Felix Gomez vampire/detective series, The Undead Kama Sutra, is scheduled for a 2008 release, and he's spreading the news that the series has been extended by Rayo for at least two more books.

CHE'S WIDOW TO PUBLISH MEMOIRS
Aleida March de la Torre, widow of Ernesto Che Guevara, has announced that her book of memories, Evocaciones, will be published in March 2008. Guevara's fellow guerrilla fighter and collaborator during the liberation campaign in Las Villas (1958), said that she hopes that the book will provide "answers to all questions one may ask her on such an intimate topic. " Che Guevara married March de la Torre in 1959, after his "electrifying campaign in the central provinces that gave Fulgencio Batista´s tyranny the coup de gráce."

GREAT SOUTHWEST BOOK FAIR
The Second Annual Great Southwest Book Fair is happening on Saturday, September 29 from 9 AM to 6 PM at the El Paso (Texas) Public Library and the El Paso History Museum at Cleveland Square. Writers, publishers, historians and other literature enthusiasts from across the Southwest will convene to provide an international marketplace for books and Southwestern literature. There will also be presentations by some of the areas most respected authors including Denise Chávez, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Georgina Baeza, Christine Granados, Javier O. Huerta, Elizabeth Margo, and Donna Snyder. Attendance is free and open to the public. For more information call 915-543-5466.


NEW MARTIN LIMÓN
The Wandering Ghost
Soho Crime, November

One of La Bloga's favorite authors, Martin Limón, returns with another crime fiction novel featuring military policemen George Sueño and Ernie Bascom. Here's what Publishers Weekly said about this upcoming book:

"The turbulent Korean peninsula provides the backdrop to this fine military mystery, the fifth (after 2005's The Door to Bitterness) to feature U.S. Army criminal investigation agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom. A crack combat unit stationed near the strife-torn demilitarized zone proves strangely uncooperative when a military policewoman disappears. The missing soldier had made herself unpopular with her chain of command when she attempted to testify against two GIs who accidentally killed a Korean schoolgirl while speeding. As Sueño and Bascom dig past the obfuscation, they uncover an unsavory mix of black marketeering, sexual harassment, corruption, rape and murder, risking disgrace in their quest to find their fellow cop before it's too late. Limón, a veteran who spent 10 years stationed in the Republic of Korea, captures precisely the experience and atmosphere of the tension that exists between the American military and South Korean society, two vastly different worlds bound together only by realpolitik. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."

The Poisoned Pen bookstore gave this book a great review that finished with: "This crazy case introduces a female MP, ... Jill, and asks a question central then and now: what will result when you drop a group of young, raw recruits into a traditional, foreign culture?" Good question.

HAVANA NOIR
Edited by Achy Obejas
Akashic Books, October

Brand new stories by: Leonardo Padura, Pablo Medina, Alex Abella, Arturo Arango, Lea Aschkenas, Moises Asis, Arnaldo Correa, Mabel Cuesta, Paquito D'Rivera, Yohamna Depestre, Michel Encinosa Fu, Mylene Fernandez Pintado, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, Miguel Mejides, Achy Obejas, Oscar Ortiz, Ena Lucia Portela, Mariela Varona Roque, and Yoss.

Here's what Akashic says about its latest collection in its acclaimed and award-winning "noir" series:

"To most outsiders, Havana is a tropical sin city: a Roman ruin of sex and noise, a parallel universe familiar but exotic, and embargoed enough to serve as a release valve for whatever desire or pulse has been repressed or denied. Habaneros know that this is neither new -- long before Havana collapsed during the Revolution's Special Period, all the way back to colonial times, it had already been the destination of choice for foreigners who wanted to indulge in what was otherwise forbidden to them -- nor particularly true.

"In the real Havana -- the lawless Havana that never appears in the postcards or tourist guides -- the concept of sin has been banished by the urgency of need. And need -- aching and hungry -- inevitably turns the human heart darker, feral, and criminal. In this Havana, crime, though officially vanquished by revolutionary decree, is both wistfully quotidian and personally vicious.

"In the stories of Havana Noir current and former residents of the city -- some international sensations such as Leonardo Padura, others exciting new voices like Yohamna Despestre -- uncover crimes of violence and loveless sex, of mental cruelty and greed, of self-preservation and collective hysteria.

"Achy Obejas is the award-winning author of Days of Awe, Memory Mambo, and We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? Her poems, stories, and essays have appeared in dozens of anthologies. A long-time contributor to the Chicago Tribune, she was part of the 2001 investigative team that earned a Pulitzer Prize for the series, "Gateway to Gridlock." Currently, she is the Sor Juana Writer-in-Residence at DePaul University in Chicago. She was born in Havana."

NEW THRILLER FROM R.J. PINEIRO
Spyware
Forge, November

R.J. Pineiro, author of more than a dozen novels, has a new one hitting the shelves in November.

The publisher says: "Mac Savage, a former CIA officer; Marie Kovacs, a former nanotechnology scientist turned missionary; and Kate Chavez, a Texas Ranger investigating a murder, join forces to unravel a global conspiracy that starts with the diamond industry and ends with a plan to eliminate the human race." How can you not want to read this book after that intro?

Pineiro, who resides in Austin, was born in Havana in 1961. He has quite a bio, that you can read here.



Later.

Reel Women, Real Women and the Violence Taboo

Reel Knockouts celebrates and examines what the authors call "mean women." It is the first book-length treatment of violent women in the movies. Martha McCauley is a Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Virginia Technical and Neel King is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Belmont College in Nashville. Both have written and lectured extensively on the themes of gender, violence and popular culture.

This book doesn't pander to a traditional feminist critique which is essentially anti-violence, which rejects any portrayal of women as perpetrators of violence as merely parroting the oppression of the patriarchy. McCaughey and King take the position that the traditional feminist movement offers an equally restrictive construct for women. A universe for women that is hemmed in by giving birth, forming community, and nurturing alone is just as distorted as exclusive warrior culture restricting the lives of men.

The authors argue that is not the business of analysts, artists and theorists to decide which images suit sexist reaction and which feminist revolution, which express dominance and which resistance. Rebellion never exists without oppression, and McCaughey and King reject the standard argument that any images of women in the movies are defined solely by sexist, heterocentrist, white supremacist origins. This volume studies violent women in the movies not merely as patriarchal pawns or broken promises, but also as possible tools in the liberation of women from racial, class, gender and other political constraints.

The chapters analyze a variety of the most well-known of these new women. Starting with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise, Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, and Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in the Alien series. The impact of these strong, vengeful, sometimes "amoral" women are placed in a post-feminist context.

They are not bound by conventional ideas of womanhood, love, romance or family. They are quintessential outsiders, sometimes outlaws, having more in common with the wave of male antiheroes made popular in the spaghetti Westerns of the late sixties and indie films of the seventies. But they live on their own terms, sometimes liberating themselves and others, but always resisting external control.

The whole issue of how to portray violence enacted by women is a thorny and complex one. I appreciated the author's willingness to allow all schools to contend. What emerges in this collection allows feminists and the public-at-large to questions assumptions about gender, violence, pleasure, dominance, fantasy.

I agree with the assertion in Reel Knockouts that images of powerful women, capable of violence, capable of revenge are important ones to consider. I'm not afraid that these portrayals show women as too deranged, too sexy, or that women will imitate the violence. I'm also interested in examining my own ambivalent feelings about violence, and as a writer, mold, deconstruct and exploit them. I hoping Reel Women will be fodder for work with layers of meaning, that cuts through complacency, one that portrays complicated and complex ideas of a female self.

ISBN:0292752512
ISBN-13: 978-0292752511

FROM SHORT STORIES/VIGNETTES TO PICTURE BOOKS

René Colato Laínez


Sandra Cisneros and Francisco Jiménez wrote a collection of short stories in their books The House on Mango Street and The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. Years later, some of these short stories became wonderful picture books. What made these short stories so appealing for picture book editors? What does a short story need to have to work as a picture book manuscript?

A published short story needs to have children as the main characters or characters
that can appeal to children’s curiosity for the story to work as a picture book. A short story also needs to have something unique that children can appreciate, laugh about or learn from. It needs to have poetic playful child language or the characteristics of any good piece of literature- setting, characters, plot, problem and resolution. But most important of all, a short story needs to be very popular or needs to have a market on demand.


The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child by Francisco Jiménez have things in common. Both authors have Hispanic roots. Sandra Cisneros is a child of Mexican immigrants. Francisco Jiménez is an immigrant child who came from Mexico. Their short stories have minority children as main characters. Both collections of short stories were published by small publishers. The House on Mango Street was published in 1984 by Arte Público Press and The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 1997. Later major publishing houses republished both books. Vintage Books an imprint of Random House republished Sandra Cisneros’ work. Francisco Jimenez’ work was republished by Houghton Mifflin. Both works have received major awards.

The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a girl coming of age in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago. Sandra Cisneros uses poems and stories to express thoughts and emotions about her character’s oppressive environment. Esperanza's childhood life in a Spanish-speaking area of Chicago is described in a series of spare, poignant, and powerful short stories. Each story centers on a detail of her childhood: a greasy cold rice sandwich, a pregnant friend, a mean boy, etc.


“Hairs” is a short vignette in the book. The story describes the different kind of hairs in the same family. “Hairs” became the very acclaimed bilingual picture book Hairs/ Pelitos. The picture book is exactly like the short story. It does not have any changes.

“Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papá’s hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands.” (n.p).

This short story makes a good picture book because it breaks the stereotype that members of the same culture are exactly alike. Sandra Cisneros shows, through simple, intimate language, the diversity among us. The author uses child like poetic language and the five senses to describe each family member. Her father's hair looks “like a broom”, her mother's hair smells like “baked bread”, and her brother's hair feels like “soft fur.” This book offers children the experience of diversity within one's own family and how they can accept this differences within their family.

Cisneros’s poetic language can be appreciated in the description of the mother’s hair.

“But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles, all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pin curls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, Mamá’s hair that smells like bread.” (n.p).

The book, The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, begins in Mexico when the author, Francisco Jiménez, is very young and his parents inform him that they are going on a very long trip to "El Norte/ The north." The book is written in a series of stories of the family's unending migration from one farm to another as they search for the next harvesting job. Each story is told from the point of view of the author as a young child. From this collection of stories comes not one but two beautiful picture books La Mariposa and The Christmas Gift/ El regalo de navidad.


In the short story “Inside Out” Francisco Jiménez tells the story of his first year in school. He does not speak English and he has trouble when he begins first grade, but his fascination with the caterpillar in the classroom helps him begin to fit in. This story became the picture book La Mariposa. There are two editions of this book, one in English and one in Spanish but both books have the same Spanish title. The English version is not titled "The Butterfly". Perhaps, they kept the Spanish title to symbolize that Francisco could not speak English at that time. He could say mariposa but not butterfly.

The short stories in The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child are written in first person.

“Roberto who had attended the school the year before, accompanied me to the main office where we met the principal, Mr. Sims, a tall redheaded man with bushy eyebrows and hairy hands. He patiently listened to Roberto who, using the little English he knew, managed to enroll me in the first grade.” (16)

La Mariposa is written in third person. The writer uses more simple language and more dialogue in the picture book version.

“When they got to school, Roberto walked Francisco to the principal’s office. Mr. Sims, the principal, was a tall red-headed man who listened patiently to Roberto. “My little brother,” Roberto said, using the little English he knew, “is en primer grado.” (n.p).

This short story makes a good picture book because of the message of hope that it gives to immigrant children. Francisco is mute and slow at school like the caterpillar in the jar but then he changes. Like the caterpillar, he grows wings and flies. Things will be better in school for Francisco in the future. The author weaves Spanish, without translation, through the text. Not only does this more truly represent Francisco's character; it gives English-speaking readers a better understanding of the protagonist's trials.


In the short story “Christmas Gift”, Panchito, Francisco Jiménez, dreams of getting a red ball for Christmas but there's no work and no money for presents, and the family must move again. He is disappointed when he receives his one gift, a bag of candy, on Christmas morning. At the end Francisco learns that the best gifts come from the heart and not from a toy store. This short story became the bilingual picture book The Christmas Gift/ El regalo de navidad.

Like in “Inside Out” Francisco Jiménez wrote “Christmas Gift” in first person.

“When I heard Papá say, “We’re broke too,” I panicked. My hope for getting a ball of my own that Christmas faded- but only for a second. “It can’t be like last year,” I told myself.” (52-53)

The picture book is written in third person. It has more child language and dialog. Francisco Jimenez also adds an additional scene to show how much Panchito wants his red ball. Children can relate to this scene.

“When Panchito heard his papá say this, he panicked. “Broke? But not like last year,” he thought. “No, this time Papá and Mamá will have enough money to get me a ball for Christmas.” Ever since he was six, Panchito had wanted a red ball- a ball to toss in the air, to catch, to twirl, then drop and watch as it bounced up and down. At school he would pretend one of the balls belonged to him, but the black number on it always reminded him that it belonged to his classroom.” (n.p).

This short story is also a good picture book manuscript because there are many Christmas books that talk about wonderful gifts and fantasy that is often too commercial. This wonderful story helps children find the true meaning behind Christmas, and see that everybody does not experience Christmas in the same manner, or get every thing they want. This story is unique. It celebrates the true spirit of Christmas, and illuminates how children do indeed draw strength from the bonds in their families.

It was a learning experience to read both collections of stories and their respective picture books. My goal as a writer is to write good multicultural children’s literature. Stories where minorities children are represented in a good positive way. Stories where they can see themselves as heroes. Stories where children can dream and have hopes for the future. These three short stories are good example of this kind of literature. I am glad that they became picture books that I can share with my students in my kindergarten classroom.

Would these short stories have the chance to become picture books if they had not been published first as a collection of stories and had been well received by the public? Probably not, because when Sandra and Francisco wrote their stories, they were not thinking about writing picture book manuscripts. Their goal at that time was to write short stories.

In conclusion, for a short story to work as a picture book manuscript it must be unique and it needs to appeal to children. These short stories need to use child language. The main characters need to be children. These stories have to be very popular. They need to have a setting, a good plot, problem and resolution like any other good piece of literature or they need to use poetic language. If the short story is good and the writer finds the right house for it, he or she can convert it into a picture book. But no matter what, a good story is a good story in any genre.

Propaedeutic to a Chicana Chicano Canon

Michael Sedano

I confess I’ve wanted to use “propaedeutic” in a title for a long time just never got around to it. I’m glad that’s out of my system. The word, not the question. I had lunch with a professor of C/S recently and forgot to quiz her on what literature goes into today’s majors and minors across the field. I’ve looked at syllabi on the internet and see as many “essentials” as there are profes angling for enrollment, so one’s choices for cultural literacy become luck of the draw rather than some compelling sense of a literature in common, or a clear recommendation to the high school 9-12 sequence.

The notion of a canonical literature for chicanas chicanos goes back to the beginnings of “Chicano” literature, and of La Bloga. Especially with the holidays around the corner, there’s value in asking again a pair of questions: what chicanarte titles should populate the shelves of readers of United States Literature, and readers of Chicana Chicano Literature?


In 1969, Quinto Sol publishers in Berkeley, California, published a beautiful anthology titled El Espejo: The Mirror. Selected Mexican-American Literature. Editor Octavio Romano had included exciting new chicano voices—there were few but men published-- but also pieces with strong allegiances for the anglo-european mainstream that justified the hyphenated subtitle. Then, 1972, in the fifth printing, with Herminio Rios on board, El Espejo: The Mirror became “ Selected CHICANO Literature”. The assimilationist, “just as good as” writers, had disappeared to the benefit of readers who now discovered Alurista, Abelardo, Tino Villanueva, rrsalinas. Poets.

Shortly after the emergence of the movimiento-infused literature of El Espejo and its supporting journal El Grito, a competing journal showed another set of voices. An east coast journal, Revista Chicano-Riqueña, arrived, with equal power to that out of Berkeley and the Southwest. The journal went through several transformations, existing for a quarter century, and was celebrated in 1988 with an award-winning anthology Floating Borderlands Twenty-five Years of U.S. Hispanic [sic] Literature”.

The 1980s saw an explosion of literary anthologies. The editors wrote about a “Chicano Renaissance” visible in the collections, which would replay variations of the tables of contents of El Espejo, El Grito, and la revista., even as scholars debated the “canonical” approach of El Espejo versus the “non-canonical” approach out of the east.

All that was the literature of my youth. The point being, it’s been 40 years, gente, since that first El Espejo collection. By now raza have amassed a corpus of work that suggests value in renewing a search for the ten foot shelf of essential titles that every family must own, that every kid can’t graduate high school or college without having read, that fills your gift list for the next ten years of a kid’s upbringing.

Any collection of essential work must include new work. The classics might be published tomorrow, but you’ll go broke buying every tempting title showcased at La Bloga or otherwise recommended by friends. Ojalá your public library has a new books budget and buys widely.

Owing to the hundreds, perhaps thousands of chicana and chicano writers, thankfully, anthologies continue to hit the market. It’s useful to come across a couple of newish anthologies, Cristina García’s 2006, Bordering fires: the vintage book of contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a literature (New York : Vintage Books, 2006) and the more recent Hecho en Tejas: an anthology of Texas-Mexican literature, edited by Dagoberto Gilb. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press published in cooperation with the Southwestern Writers Collection, Texas State University, 2006).
http://labloga.blogspot.com/2006/05/nuevo-y-viejo.html

From here, it’s time to prioritize the novels I want to read again, and start from the top. Where would you begin?


mvs

¡WEST HOLLYWOOD BOOK FAIR!

Please join us at the upcoming West Hollywood Book Fair which will be held on Sunday, September 30th.

Cost - Free!
Location - West Hollywood Park @ 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. (between Santa Monica Blvd. & Melrose Ave.)
Map - Click here.
Parking - Parking is available across the street at the Pacific Design Center—Enter from San Vicente across from the park. FREE shuttle service is also available from Plummer Park (7377 Santa Monica Blvd.) the day of the Fair.

I will be moderating a panel on writers who blog and representing La Bloga, of course. This is the official listing for my panel:

TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG
(11:00am-Noon)
Adrienne Crew, Margo Candela, Kevin Roderick, Mark Sarvas
Moderator: Daniel Olivas
Book Signing at Skylight Books booth

There are also many friends of La Bloga who will be appearing on panels. Here’s a sample:

AT LAST: FIRST FICTION
(11:00am-Noon)
Alex Espinoza, Jeff Hobbs, Karen Mack, Jennifer Kaufman, Andrea Portes
Moderator: Eduardo Santiago
Signing @ Book Soup booth

LA NOIR: CRIME FICTION CLOSE TO HOME
(11:00am-Noon)
Emory Holmes II, Jim Pascoe, Gary Phillips
Moderator: Sam Quinones
Signing @ Book Events & Authors Unlimited booth

GUSTAVO ARELLANO & SAM QUINONES TALK IMMIGRATION
(2:00-2:45pm)
Signing @ IMIX Bookstore booth

LITERARY FOREMOTHERS: A LESBIAN TRADITION
(2:15-3:15pm)
Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Myriam Gurba, Ali Liebegott, Fiona Zedde
Moderator: Lisa Freeman
Signing @ A Different Light booth

For a complete list of panels, click here. For a list of all authors, click here.

See you there!

◙ Rigoberto González, in yesterday’s El Paso Times, reviewed Annecy Báez's collection of closely linked stories, My Daughter's Eyes (Curbstone Press), which he calls “a candid look at the private world of young women coming of age as they navigate their bicultural upbringing in the Bronx and the Dominican Republic.” This collection was chosen by University of Texas at El Paso professor Benjamin Alire Sáenz as this year's recipient of the Miguel Mármol Prize. González concludes: “With My Daughter's Eyes, a promising and heart-wrenching debut, Curbstone Press adds yet another powerful title to its impressive list of Mármol Prize recipients.” Read the complete review here.

◙ Writing for the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Helena María Viramontes reviewed How I Learned English: 55 Accomplished Latinos Recall Lessons in Language and Life (National Geographic) edited by Tom Miller. Viramontes notes, in part:

Some of the essays in the collection are thoughtful, extended pieces of writing; by contrast, many are vignettes or anecdotes, sometimes too short to even begin to express the full complexity of this linguistic/cultural experience. And frequently the sentiments overlap. Still, Miller's contributors recall their struggle to learn English with both humor and pathos, providing instruction and inspiration for those who find themselves divided -- losing ground, perhaps, but not themselves.

Read the whole review here.

◙ Agustin Gurza tells us of a new exhibit called "Marisela Norte: Sociedad Anónima" which runs through October 13 at Tropico de Nopal Gallery-Art Space, 1665 Beverly Blvd., L.A. (213) 481-8112. There will be a conversation with the artist and curator at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday. Film screening and martini night, 8 p.m. on September 29. Gurza begins his review of the exhibit with these observations:

Marisela Norte is a poet and performance artist who sees the city of automobiles with the eye of someone who doesn't drive or carpool. Which is to say, she sees it up close, like a lifelong pedestrian who traverses the sidewalks and stops at street corners to wait for the bus.

It was on a downtown street in front of the Bonaventure Hotel that Norte spotted the lady with the watermelon socks. They were girlish socks, with a pink frill at the top just above the ankle and a slice of watermelon embroidered on the side. Her feet were tucked into sequined slippers that conjured fairy tales of "Arabian Nights."

"If someone would have done this combination in a fashion magazine, people would have said, 'Wow, this is the next thing,' " said Norte, who finds inspiration and friendships on her daily bus ride between downtown and her home in East L.A. "But this is something that goes by completely invisible."

Not anymore.

You can read the whole piece here. As one who grew up near these downtown streets and now works in an office building in the same area, I certainly want to get myself out to Norte's exhibit. I note that Gurza covers Latino music, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times. E-mail him at agustin.gurza@latimes.com with comments, events and ideas for this weekly feature.

◙ All done. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadres at La Bloga. ¡Lea un libro! --Daniel Olivas

Magic, Laughs, and the Heartland

Manuel Ramos


CHICANO MAGIC

Business of Art Center
Hagnauer Gallery,
515 Manitou Avenue
Manitou Springs, CO
719 - 685-1861
September 21-November 3, 2007 Opening Reception:
Sept. 21, 2007, 5-8pm
Exhibition Dates: Sept. 21 - Nov. 3, 2007

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Business of Art Center (BAC) in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in partnership with Museo de las Américas Executive Director Patty Ortiz, is hosting an exhibition of contemporary Chicano artwork. Ms. Ortiz also served as a guest curator of this spectacular exhibition of Denver area and New Mexico artists.

Chicano Magic explores how contemporary Chicano art has held close its surrealist roots. From the influence of the fanciful imagery of the Mexican muralists to Carlos Castaneda's Mesoamerican shaman study, artists have found it easy to describe the Chicano experience through magical realism and surrealist imagery. With an added fine layer of social activism, the artists presented in this exhibition build a story mixed with tradition, struggle, creativity, and magic.

ARTISTS: Jerry De la Cruz, Meggan Deanza, Carlos Fresquez, Quintin Gonzalez, Ismael "Izzy" Lozano, Stevon Lucero, Sylvia Montero, Tony Ortega, Daniel Salazar, Maruca Salazar, Santiago Perez, Jerry Vigil, and Frank Zamora.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
New Madrid, the literary journal associated with Murray State University's low-residency M.F.A. program, announces its intention to dedicate its Winter 2008 issue to the theme of Mexico in the Heartland. The purpose of the issue is to acknowledge, investigate and celebrate the degree to which Mexico influences those living in the central United States , especially those in Kentucky and bordering states. Submissions may include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, interviews, translations from Spanish, etc.

The main criterion for acceptance, aside from literary excellence, is how well the submission addresses the theme of the issue. Submissions read between August 15, 2007 and November 15, 2007 .

All submissions must be sent via Submissions Manager. Submissions should be in MS Word format with a 12-point font, such as Times-Roman or Ariel. The attachment should end with ".doc" in the file name. The author's name and contact information should appear on the first page of the submission. Please include a brief bio of the author in the "comments" section of Submissions Manager. Prose submissions should be double spaced and paginated (20-pages maximum). Poetry submissions should be single spaced (6 poems maximum). Simultaneous submissions acceptable.

URREA AND CASTILLO AT WISCONSIN BOOK FESTIVAL
Luis Alberto Urrea and Ana Castillo will be among several critically acclaimed writers appearing at the Wisconsin Book Festival on October 10-14. Urrea's and Castillo's event is entitled Border Crossings, and will take place on October 14 from noon until 1:45 PM in the Promenade Hall of the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St. Madison, WI. There are numerous events at this Festival, and many that readers of La Bloga should appreciate. Check out the list of presenters, the schedule, logistics, and much more at the Festival website.

LAUGHIESTA
The 2007 class of the Circle of Latina Leadership presents: Laughiesta, a Latin Comedy Night, October 11. 5:30 PM Reception; 7:00 PM Show at the Comedy Works, 1226 15th Street, Denver. $25. 303-595-3637. Laughiesta benefits the Circle of Latina Leadership, a program of the Denver Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation.

Later.

News From Teatro Luna

OYE-LISTEN! A Bi-monthly Performance Series

About the performance and presenting artists -
Sharmili Majmudar & Amisha Patel, Dawn Herrera/Terry

Teatro Luna and Jane Addams Hull-House Museum join forces to showcase new works by emerging, Chicago-based performing artists. This collaboration aims to provide women artists of color a space to share personal stories and reflect on contemporary social issues facing their community. By remaining true to the lives and experiences of women of color, this series creates bridges among Chicago ethnic communities.

OYE-LISTEN! MONDAY, September 24, 7-9pm

Our Living by Sharmili Majmudar & Amisha Patel
Our Living a collaborative spoken word piece with musical background written and performed by two Gujarati Indian American women that interweaves our experiences and explores identity, sexism, racism, colonization, and re-emergence through reclaiming our true selves. In this piece, we remind ourselves of how our living depends on each other, despite and in the face of the oppression we experience. Through poetry, we reclaim truth and each other.

PORTALES: Mitologia Subjetiva (Matrilineal) by Dawn Herrera/Terry
Something between monologue and performance, PORTALES is a gently surreal portrait of a personal history, offering one possible account of the how borders may be internalized and inhabited. A work in progress, PORTALES will eventually weave together more strands of family narrative to further explore physical, cultural, emotional and spiritual legacies.

For more information about the artists, please visit: www.hullhousemuseum.org.

7pm - 8:40pm Performance
8:45pm - 9:00pm Post-show discussion
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Residents' Dining Hall
800 S. Halsted St, Chicago, IL

This is the third event in the series; the first two were standing room only: make your reservation soon!

This event is FREE. Light refreshments will be served.

Reservations are recommended,
call 312.413.5353
This event is ADA accessible. If you have a disability and need additional accommodations to attend this event, please inform us at the time of reservation

Santeria Garments and Altars: Ache is All

Santeria Garments and Altars is a literate, accessible, beautifully photographed book by a man who is a member/initiate in a house of Oshun. Its subtitle is, ‘Speaking Without A Voice.’ How appropriate! The emphasis is the striking photographs of the variety of altars to the different deities, members of a variety of houses preparing for, or engaged in aspects of worship.

By way of background information -- A ‘house’ is a group of devotees of a particular god or goddess under the leadership of a ‘babalawo’, or priest/priestess. Oshun is another one of the Seven African Powers who represents the archetypical female principle and the power of eros. Interestingly enough, abstinence or asexuality, and a virginal principle of female sexuality has no icon, nor any particular social importance.

Another interesting feature is that the author is a male practitioner, much in the tradition that the gods choose individuals to serve them regardless of gender. My own Catholic upbringing was full of gender separation, nuns as brides of Christ, servants of the male hierarchy, etc. While there are some tasks separated by sex, it does not appear to be as rigid, as attenuated as in a Christian/Catholic context.

One off the major tenets of this religious practice is the construction of altars, which every believer is required to do. There’s a synthesis between aesthetic and spiritual significance. It is considered one’s duty to create, as service to the deity to whom one has pledged oneself. A further illustration of the nexus between creativity and belief is the Santeria/Yoruba belief in ‘ache’, the universal life force present in all things. Each devotee is assumed to have within them the power to create a beautiful altar, one infused with ‘ache.’

In my performance pieces, there are ‘anchor ‘ points--static elements that have life infused into them. (In REM/Memory, there is a central, supine figure, hidden in a mass of blankets, who comes alive as the piece starts, and the nightmare begins. In Resurgam, a chaos of white fabric is stripped away to reveal a captive figure who finds release as the piece begins.) I see a similarity between a finished altar containing ‘ache,’ and a performance’s ‘anchor’ pieces being the place where it all comes alive, more specifically, where it reflects at least the possibility of sacred ritual.

There are several points of connection for me here. When the author created an altar to Oshun, it was clear that it could also be seen as a ‘site-specific installation.’ Size of the space, mood of the space, prominent observation points are all taken into consideration. These are the same consideration I make with each piece, the same considerations any installation artist might make.

In the design of an altar dedicated to Oshun, ‘found’ elements are brought into the piece that symbolize her attributes. Since Oshun represents eros, obvious choices illustrate sensuality. Honey, honeycombs, silks and laces are standard items in such an altar. I constantly bring found items from daily life into performances, hoping to create common imagery for myself and the audience as it unfolds . In Resurgam, during the 'communion’ section, I offer a papaya sliced in half to the audience, sharing its womb shape with them as the symbol of The Living Body--juicy, ripe, the source of all things, ever replenishing.

Lastly, I want to comment on the Santeria idea of ‘coolness.’ Essentially, it is the principle of balance, harmony, a reflection of the connectedness of all things. An altar, no matter how ornate, is not considered ‘cool’ if it does not have these attributes.

Even though my approach is spare, I try to layer things enough to suggest complicated ideas and experiences. It's work with a consistent point of view and root motifs that I try to communicate in the deepest possible way. Hopefully, what emerges is interconnectedness between myself, the audience, and a unifying force that exists in the moment of performance, a force that I believe is Spirit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

About the author:

Dr. Flores-Peña was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Studies: University of Puerto Rico, B.A, Catholic University of Puerto Rico, MA. Ed. UCLA M.A and Ph.D. Publications and lectures on Afro-Caribbean Ritual Art and Afro-Cuban religious cultures and Latino Folklore. Lecturer at WAC, Center for Afro-American Studies, and Adjunct Professor at Otis College of Art and Design.

ISBN-10: 087805703X
ISBN-13: 978-0878057030

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

News from our New York friends:

Tuesday, September 25th @7pm
ACENTOS Bronx Poetry Showcase
The Uptown's Best Open Mic and Featured Poets
Tomás Riley & Leticia Hernández,
Hosted by John Rodriguez

Y que gente??? We are still doing it strong in the Bronx and we have no intentions of stopping. Well, maybe when we are dead but until then, aqui estamos. Come out next Tuesday to hear the wonderful poetry of two visiting poets. So you know we have to give them a warm welcome.

Tomás Riley is a poet, writer, educator and a veteran of the Chicano spoken word collective The Taco Shop Poets (TSP). A finalist for the 2004 California Voices Award from Poets & Writers Magazine, his first book Mahcic debuted on Calaca Press in December 2005.

Leticia Hernández has presented her work throughout the country and in El Salvador at venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Highways, and the Guild Complex . Her first chapbook of poetry, Razor Edges of my Tongue, is available from Calaca Press. A Ph.D. candidate in Literature, she has taught Women Studies and Latino Literature classes at UPENN and San Francisco State University. She has worked with youth and community based organizations for over fifteen years and is currently the Executive
Director of GirlSource, a community-based organization that supports young women in San Francisco.

The Bruckner Bar and Grill
1 Bruckner Boulevard (Corner of 3rd Ave)
6 Train to 138th Street Station
Hosted by JOHN RODRIGUEZ
FREE! ($5 Suggested Donation)

Coming from MANHATTAN:
At the 138th Street Station, exit the train to your left, by the last car on the 6. Go up the stairs, to your right, to exit at LINCOLN AVENUE. Walk down Lincoln to Bruckner Blvd, turn right on Bruckner. Walk past the bike shop. The Bruckner Bar and Grill is at the corner: One Bruckner Blvd., right next to the Third Avenue Bridge.

Coming from THE BRONX:
By Train:

At the 138th Street Station, exit to your RIGHT, by the FIRST car on the 6. Go up the stairs, to your right, to exit at LINCOLN AVENUE. Walk down Lincoln to Bruckner Blvd, turn right on Bruckner. Walk alongside the bridge, past the bike shop. The Bruckner Bar and Grill
is at the corner: One Bruckner Blvd., right next to the Third Avenue Bridge.

By Bus:
Bx15 to Lincoln Ave. and Bruckner Blvd. Walk one block west, past the bike shop, to the Bruckner Bar and Grill. Bx1, Bx21, Bx32 to 138th and 3rd Ave. Walk five blocks south along
the left side of 3rd Avenue to the end (Bruckner and 3rd). The Bruckner Bar and Grill will be on the corner.

For more information, please call Fish Vargas 917-209-4211.

For the Acentos Crew
Fish Vargas

Lisa Alvarado

An Interview With Children's Book Author Monica Brown

René Colato Lainez


I love My Name is Celia and My Name is Gabriela. You are doing an incredible contribution to children’s literature with your Latino biographies picture books. What is your research process for writing these biographies?

I try to be a meticulous researcher and honor the historical record, if there is one and it is accurate. As Latino/as, we are sometimes absent from this record and that is partly why I write. Since I was a scholar before I was a children’s writer, research comes naturally, but this is only the beginning of the process. I try to let my subject inspire my writing. Though I wrote a picture-book biography of Celia Cruz, her music--its rhythm, its joyful energy, the lyricism—is present on every page. In my forthcoming biography Pelé, King of Soccer (HarperCollins RAYO, 2009), I tried to capture the physical genius, the grace, and the spirit of his gift, on the page. My collaborator, illustrator Rudy Gutierrez, has done an amazing job!

How do you select your Latino heroes for the book biographies? Who is the next one?


Well, my new biography is on the incredible Gabriel García Márquez (Luna Rising, 2007), a fellow South American. I chose him because he was one of my earliest literary inspirations and because I wanted to introduce children to the concept of magical realism (though I expect they “get it” more easily than most adults!). My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez, is not only a biography, but a book about imagination, observation, and unending possibilities of our own creativity.


Let’s talk about your new published bilingual picture book Butterflies on Carmen Street/Mariposas en la calle Carmen. What is this book about?



Butterflies on Carmen Street/Mariposa en la Calle Carmen (Piñata Books, 2007) is my first fictional picture-book for children. In Juliana, I created a confident Mexican American protagonist who lives in a community where all sorts of migrations are part of life’s realities, and where complex identities and multiple communities are celebrated, not denigrated. Juliana is a lively grade schooler who lives is a bustling neighborhood on Carmen Street, where her parents own La Esquina market, a place which sells everything from mango-chile lollipops and pan dulce to Spanish videos. For Juliana, life on Carmen Street is nurturing: her parents and grandfather love her, their store sells what everyone wants and needs, she has a great teacher, and a lively best friend, Isabel. Carmen Street is her community and she knows her place in it. She’s inquisitive and excited about a class butterfly project in which her teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, is going to give every student in the class their own monarch caterpillar. Juliana’s abuelo inspires her further by telling her stories about Agangueo in Michoacán, Mexico, the place of his birth and the monarch capital of the world. Through her grandfather’s story, Juliana learns from Ms. Rodriguez and her grandfather that migration is a natural cycle; the butterflies migrate to survive.


What was your inspiration to write this book?

Frankly, I was disturbed by the anti-immigration rhetoric in my home state of Arizona. As the daughter of a South American mother and a North American father, I suppose I think a little differently about borders. I was raised to consider myself a citizen of the world and I believe that my own daughters, though U.S. citizens, are children of the Americas. The monarch’s migration, with its cyclical pattern between Mexico, Canada, and the United States inspired me to tell a story about migration in a new way.


Have you raised caterpillars?

No, but my children have!

How do you pick up the names for your characters?

For Butterflies on Carmen Street, it was easy—I named the main character, Juliana, after my daughter! Her best friend is Isabel is named after my other daughter. Sometimes, however, I just choose a name because I like the sound and feel of the words on my tongue.

What was the process from manuscript to publish book for this story?

Well, ever since I read Denise Chavez’s Last of the Menu Girls in college, I’ve been interested in Arté Publico Press. When I started writing for children, one of my dreams was to be published by their Piñata children’s imprint. So, when my agent Stefanie Von Borstel brought me the offer for Butterflies on Carmen Street, I jumped at the chance to work with Gabriela Ventura and the folks at Arté Publico!

Are there any secrets during the book making of this book that you would like to share with us?

No secrets, but there was a delightful surprise. While making the final edits to this manuscript, I was invited to do a school visit in Tuscon, Arizona. The librarian and students surprised me with Painted Lady butterflies they had raised from caterpillars. They wanted me to do the honor of setting them free, so I had the pleasure of standing in a garden and watching a butterfly take is first flight from my finger!

What is your next book about?

I several books forthcoming, some fiction and some biography. I am especially excited about my forthcoming book Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, (HarperCollins Rayo, 2010), to be illustrated by Joe Cepeda, which explores a friendship that changed our nation.

Visit Monica at www.monicabrown.net



Monica Brown, Ph.D. is the author of award-winning bilingual books for children, including My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising), which was awarded the Américas Award for Children's Literature and a Pura Belpré Honor. Her second picture book, My Name Is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral/Me llamo Gabriela: La vida de Gabriela Mistral (Luna Rising) shares the story of the first Latina to win a Nobel Prize. Her other books include the newly released Butterflies on Carmen Street (Arté Publico Press) and My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: La vida de Gabriel García Márquez, a Junior Library Guild Premier Selection. Chavela and the Magic Rainforest Chicle (Luna Rising), Pelé, King of Soccer (HarperCollins Rayo), and Side By Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez (HarperCollins Rayo) are forthcoming. Monica's books are inspired by her Peruvian-American heritage and passion to share Latino/a stories with children.


Monica Brown is an Associate Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, specializing in U.S. Latino Literature and Multicultural Literature. She also writes and publishes scholarly work with a Latino focus, including Gang Nation: Delinquent Citizenship in Puerto Rican and Chicano and Chicana Literature; and numerous scholarly articles/chapters on Latino/a literature and cultural studies. She regularly speaks at conferences and book festivals across the country including the Northern Arizona Book Festival, The Texas Book Festival, The Miami Book Festival and the National and California Associations of Bilingual Educators.

She is a recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship on Chicano Cultural Literacies from the Center for Chicano Studies at the University of California. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Flagstaff, Arizona.

AN INTERVIEW WITH JUVENAL ACOSTA BY ERIC B. MARTIN

The writer, poet and essayist Juvenal Acosta grew up in Mexico City—or, to be precise, on its northern fringe, in the 50s suburban experiment called Satellite City, a massive collection of cul de sacs, strip malls, and single family homes. As a teenage poet, he used to drive late night laps to the heart of the big D.F., where he was invited to join a cultish group of writers who called themselves the “infrarealists” and included Roberto Bolaño, among others. Instead, a few years later, he immigrated to the U.S., finding his way to San Francisco where his first work was in construction.

Today, two decades after he first arrived in the United States, he is the author of three novels including The Tattoo Hunter and The Violence of Velvet; Chair of the Writing and Literature department at California College of the Arts; and editor of contemporary Mexican poetry anthologies published by City Lights Books. He has also published journalism, book reviews, and three books in collaboration with artists, entitled Paper of Live Flesh, Tango of the Scar, and Tauromaquia, a mixed-media essay on bullfighting.

ERIC B. MARTIN: You have a unique position, in many ways, as a Mexican living the U.S., with a PhD in Literature, a coveted academic job, novels in print in both English and Spanish. Where do you see yourself in the 21st century spectrum?

JUVENAL ACOSTA: I’m in a position of privilege at this point in my life. I’m a member of the American middle class, I have a teaching job that I like, an academic background. At the same time, in the eyes of this society, I am a Mexican, and that gives me a point of view that I can’t put aside very easily. I wouldn’t trade it. But I need to figure out what I’m going to do with it. People will always think of me as a Mexican writer.

MARTIN: Are you?

ACOSTA: After I wrote three novels in the U.S that somehow deal with my life here, it became evident to me that even though I was writing in Spanish I was not writing quote “Mexican” novels. That I was doing something else. Yes, I’m still a Mexican writer, but these are American novels as well, that happen to be written in a language that is not English.

What I know is that I’m not writing what people are writing in Mexico. And I’m not writing what people are writing in the U.S. So I think this is a unique opportunity to do something that’s original and fresh. And I don’t know if it’s always good, but it doesn’t look like anything else that I’ve seen.

MARTIN: How could you describe that progression in your work? You started out as a poet.

ACOSTA: I am still injecting poetry into my fiction books, but I have no interest in publishing poetry anymore. I immerse myself in a particular form and explore it. In that way, I have moved from the philosophical novel, to the sort of thriller-like novel in my second, to a satirical novel in my third, now I would like to do something different.

MARTIN: What led you to the novel as a form?

ACOSTA: The novel is a very good vehicle for exploring ideas. Unfortunately, there are a lot of writers who believe that the fact they are addressing ideas can be interpreted as a sort of betrayal of storytelling. And I don’t think that there needs to be a conflict of interest. I love the detective novel, and I have noticed that many crime writers are dealing with philosophical issues as well, but they are just not telling you what they are doing.

My first novel deals a lot with the anguish of sex, death, the tension of desire. You have a lot of that in a good mystery novel. Take James Cain, in the Postman Always Rings Twice. That is a great influence on my writing, because he is dealing with the relationship between good and evil, loyalty, faithfulness, betrayal and so on, only he does it without the pretension of ideas.

MARTIN: In terms of the noir tradition as an influence on your work, does that also apply to film?

ACOSTA: The influence of film in my work is very big. When I sit down to write a story, I am almost seeing it the way I see one of my favorite filmmakers’ work. I would love to be able to write a novel that reads and provides the reader the same kind of experience he gets when he sees a film by Kieslowski, or to give the reader an experience equivalent to watching a film by Emilio Fernandez or Louis Malle.

One of the things about film noir, in particular, is the really intimate relationship between place and character. Film noir is all about the look, it’s not about the story. Light and darkness. How the spectator reacts to that particular environment. Film teaches you economy of language. You cannot spend too much time on something that is not relevant.

MARTIN: Mexican filmmakers seem to have a vision that people are responding to right now. And yet, unlike writers, no one seems to expect them to tell only “Mexican” stories. Why do you think?

ACOSTA: I think Hollywood is more sophisticated than the publishing world, which really wants an author to be “Mexican” or “Latin American”. I had that experience when my novel was rejected by a U.S. press because they didn’t think it was Mexican enough.

MARTIN: What did that mean?

ACOSTA: You know, they probably wanted me to explore the barrio. Everyone puts down Hollywood but they in a way are giving us a great lesson in dealing with these filmmakers as filmmakers and not Mexicans. What does it mean to be a Mexican writer, a Guatemalan, or a South African writer?

The era of identity driven writing is hopefully coming to an end. Women needed to address some issues, Blacks needed to address other issues, Latin Americans needed to deal with their own set of images. Yet, it’s never been like that, historically—if you look at great writers from other cultures, they just dealt with life, with the issues that are pertinent to life itself, and not some particular national or ethnic identity. I mean, you don’t read Tolstoy because he’s Russian. He just happens to be Russian.

Yet we write books that are profoundly Russian or profoundly Mexican. Rulfo is Rulfo because he is Mexican. Borges is Borges because he is Argentinian. But that need not be the criteria for reading a short story or a novel.

MARTIN: What is the criteria? Why would anyone read another novel rather than a memoir, non-fiction, or watch a movie, or go online, etc.?

ACOSTA: We complain a lot about people not reading, but I don’t think this has ever been a world where readers are the majority. I actually feel quite optimistic about the connection we have with books in general. I think that people read a lot. Even if we complain that people don’t read the right books or they are very interested only in genre fiction, well, the fact is that Oprah Winfrey chose Cormac McCarthy as her book of the month, and now thousands of housewives in the suburbs are reading Cormac McCarthy for the first time. So I’m hopeful. The whole Harry Potter phenomenon is great. I haven’t read any of the books but maybe I should. Hopefully I can learn something from J.K. Rowling. That wouldn’t hurt.

[La Bloga thanks Eric B. Martin for this interview with Juvenal Acosta. Martin’s most recent book is The Virgin's Guide to Mexico: A Novel (McAdam Cage).]

INTERVIEW WITH AARON A. ABEYTA

Aaron A. Abeyta is the author of three books, Colcha (University Press of Colorado), As Orion Falls (Ghost Road Press), and most recently the novel, Rise, Do Not Be Afraid (Ghost Road Press).

Abeyta received his MFA from Colorado State University and currently teaches at Adams State College. Abeyta is the recipient of the 2001 Colorado Book Award and the 2002 American Book Award. Other awards include a fellowship from the Colorado Council on the Arts and a Grand Prize from the Academy of American Poets.

Abeyta has work published in An Introduction to Poetry (10th ed.), Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, & Drama (8th ed.), The High Country News, The Dry Creek Review, S.O.M.O.S., Mountain Gazette, Chokecherries, Colorado Central Magazine, and various other journals. He lives in Antonito, Colorado, where he can be close to his roots and family.

Abeyta’s newest book, Rise, Do Not Be Afraid (Ghost Road Press), is a poetically haunting examination of one small town, Santa Rita, as it suffers through the ravages of time and change. Abeyta says that the book “is about the struggle of a community and its people and their attempt to find redemption and meaning while constantly being surrounded by loss. Despite this loss, the characters of the book seek salvation in the only place they know, the interstices of love, faith and nature.”

Abeyta kindly agreed to answer a few questions for La Bloga.

DANIEL OLIVAS: Your previous two books were poetry collections. What prompted you to write a novel?

AARON ABEYTA: I didn’t set out to write a novel. In truth, since most of my poetry has a very narrative thread anyway, I initially sat down to write a poem. My process for poetry, at least at the draft stage, is very let it all out, left to right, full margins and then go back and cut and cut. In this instance, however, I liked the feel of what I had written and it became a chapter in the book. As for making it into a novel and not just a chapter, I had heard about writers that sit down and write every day (that’s definitely not me) but I thought, what the heck so I sat down the next day and wrote another chapter. Eventually I wrote Monday – Thursday with a goal of one chapter per day with revisions and rewrites every night. It was some sort of mad push, but it turned out okay because I was happy with the results.

OLIVAS: The novel's structure is not traditional but, rather, it moves freely back and forth in time as it also moves from character to character. Why did you structure your novel in such a way?

ABEYTA: The easy answer here is also, fortunately, the truth. I wanted the novel to reflect my influences and those influences are very deeply rooted in the oral tradition. Specifically, the ability to hear one story from several different people on several different occasions with the details eventually filling themselves in. In short, I wanted the novel to read as though you were getting the story from multiple perspectives, i.e., from voices past and present.

OLIVAS: Is Santa Rita a real place or is it representative of small towns in southern Colorado or elsewhere?

ABEYTA: Santa Rita is very real, a village in northern New Mexico about 1 mile from the Colorado Border. My dad used to take me there when I was a kid. Even as a boy I thought the place was beautiful and somehow mythical. You asked earlier what prompted me to write a novel, it was a return trip to Santa Rita, as an adult now, and finding that the road into Santa Rita had been blocked and padlocked, no trespassing signs everywhere. The fact that the place had been bought up by outsiders and that original inhabitants could no longer go there without a key was, honestly, a big wake-up call for me. In the fate of Santa Rita I began to see parallels with other small towns in New Mexico and southern Colorado. So, to answer your question, Santa Rita is real and representative of small towns.

OLIVAS: There are supernatural and biblical elements in your novel. Do you consider it to be in the tradition of "magical realism" or do you reject such categories?

ABEYTA: I don’t reject such categories, but I do believe that there is no such thing as myth if the storyteller is good. As for the tradition of magical realism, I could think of much worse traditions to be associated with. When someone mentions the novel in the same breath as 100 Years of Solitude, it is a great honor for me and I truly appreciate such connections.

OLIVAS: The Bible's influence on your novel is readily apparent especially in your chapter titles. Why did you decide to use the Bible as your touchstone?

ABEYTA: The Bible, yes, huge influence, but most of the influence came from the Gospel of Luke. I chose Luke for several reasons, but the most evident was that my abuelita used to tell me that Luke’s was a gospel of mercy. I didn’t know what that meant, but as an adult I began to understand. If you look at corresponding passages from the other gospels you’ll see that the translator uses the word “perfect” whereas Luke uses “merciful.” Case in point, Dismas the good thief, who died with Christ. Luke is the only one who mentions him in a positive light. In fact, Luke saw to it that Dismas entered into heaven. With Dismas and Luke playing in the back of my mind I chose chapter titles/gospel passages where mercy was evident (at least to me) and used them as the base from which the chapters emerged. I wanted the characters and Santa Rita to be treated mercifully, despite their failings. I guess you could say that all the characters have a bit of Dismas in them, but are redeemed by some form of mercy, rather than perfection. I hope all that made sense. It made sense to me, but sometimes that doesn’t count for much.

OLIVAS: What was your process in writing this novel? Did you have anyone read early drafts?

ABEYTA: I think I already answered the first part of this question, but as to the second part...my wife, Michele and my mom were about 24 hours behind me, i.e., I would write something on a Monday and they would read it on Tuesday. Their input was invaluable because it allowed me to verify that I was on the right track with people who knew Santa Rita and some of the people that I based characters on. Once I had their stamp of approval I knew I could continue with the next chapter. I know that having your wife and mom as readers would seem to register about a 0.0 on the objectivity scale, but they were very honest and helped me a lot.

Later, once the entire manuscript was done, I asked a few other people to help. Most of them were very positive, but I did get a few comments about the names of the characters being too difficult. Another reader told me the plot structure was not good. With no offense intended toward those readers, I knew I had done what I set out to do when I received those comments. I didn’t want a plot structure that was predictable and I wanted people to see the beauty in the names of the characters. No offense to the Jennifers of the world but I liked names like Nonnatusia.

OLIVAS: Who are your literary influences?

ABEYTA: Loaded question...here’s a very short list in no particular order: Pablo Neruda, Yehuda Amichai, Sandra Cisneros, Sherman Alexie, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Cesar Vallejo, Ernest Hemingway, and Tim O’Brien. There are so many other authors I really look up to that I feel bad not having a list 100 names long, but the ones I did mention all write stuff I identify with on a human and spiritual level and that’s what I wanted for this book.

OLIVAS: What do you teach? Does teaching help you as a writer?

I teach at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. My two specialty areas are creative writing and Chicano Literature, but I also teach Ethnic & Minority Literature. As for the second part of your question, I think it’s the other way around. I think writing helps me as a teacher, mainly because I put a lot of emphasis on being a reader and the connection between reading and writing. Anyway, as writer I feel like I can get a bead on what other writer’s are trying to do and therefore convey those things to my students more readily.

ABEYTA: What do your friends and family think of your writing?

I don’t have any friends. Just kidding. My family and friends are very supportive and both are a great source of material. On one occasion my mom had given me some material which then turned into a poem for my first book. A while after it was published my aunt came up to me and very seriously asked me “where are you getting your information?” I thought that was funny, but it reinforces my earlier point about the same story from different perspectives.

OLIVAS: Thank you for spending time with La Bloga.

◙ On Friday, September 14th, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa officially kicked off theCity’s Latino Heritage Month celebration. Latino Heritage Month will include a creative writing contest and a poster competition. For more information about Latino Heritage Month 2007 and upcoming events, please visit http://latino.lacity.org/. Of particular note (for La Bloga readers) is the fine children’s bibliography compiled for Latino Heritage Month which you can see here. The list includes many of La Bloga’s friends such as Luis Rodriguez, Max Benavidez, Gary Soto, Ofelia Dumas Lachtman, and others. Also, for an events calendar which includes book readings, go here.

◙ ONE BROWN BOOK, ONE NATION READING PROGRAM: In commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month, LatinoStories.com has launched a “One Brown Book, One Nation” reading program to highlight Latino literature across the United States. After extensive review, the inaugural selection is The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. The Devil’s Highway is the true story of a group of 26 Mexicans who attempted to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border on foot into the desert of southern Arizona and only 12 survived the journey. Published in 2004, The Devil's Highway was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction the following year.

“The ‘One Brown Book’ project arises out of the need to highlight literature by the largest minority group in the U.S.,” said Dr. Jose B. Gonzalez, Professor of English, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and co-founder of LatinoStories.com. “The idea for the project came to me out of a need to make readers of the U.S. aware of the power and beauty of Latino literature.”

The nationwide committee which selected Urrea’s book was composed of Vincent Bosquez, president of the Society of Latino and Hispanic Writers of San Antonio; Marcela Landres, editorial consultant and publisher of Latinidad (NYC); and elena minor, editor of PALABRA A Magazine of Chicano and Latino Literary Art (LA). You may contact Dr. Jose B. Gonzalez at 860.444.8612; jgonzalez@latinostories.com.

◙ The new issue of Tu Ciudad is now available on your newsstands. For its September “Passport L.A." issue, readers will find a guide with local shops, restaurants and entertainment for a Latin-themed adventure in Southern California. With recommendations for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela, readers can explore all that the Southland has to offer for an international excursion. Pick it up. Better yet, fill out this handy-dandy, secure form and subscribe!

◙ The El Paso Community College Salute to the Arts, Literary Ripples Committee and PaPaGaYo Literary Center will sponsor an evening and a day with Kathleen Alcalá, author of Treasures in Heaven and The Desert Remembers My Name. The public is invited to meet the author at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the college's Administrative Services Center, 9050 Viscount, for a reception and book-signing session. The event is free. Alcalá, an award-winning author now teaching creative writing in the Pacific Northwest, will also read and sign books at a scholarship fund-raising luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 28, also in the Administrative Services Center. The luncheon costs $10. Information: Richard Yáñez, 831-2630, or Jeanne Foskett, 831-2411.

◙ Gus Chavez of Defend the Honor Campaign is asking for a boycott of Ken Burns’ book and DVD on World War II. For more information on the boycott, contact Chavez at guschavez2000@yahoo.com. You can also read this article from Forbes concerning the boycott. Here is the text of Chavez’s September 11th boycott announcement:

Friends,

Earlier today, September 11, I bought the book THE WAR: An Intimate History 1941-1945 by Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward, a 451 page publication with hundreds of photos, illustrations and extensive bibliography. The coverage given to White Americans, Japanese Americans and African Americans throughout the book is extensive and well done.

After reviewing the book cover to cover I have come to the conclusion that the book, like the film documentary, is totally devoid of the WWII Latino and Latina experience.

Findings:

Introduction - No Latinos or Latinas (Photo of Ken Burns’ father - Robert)

Written text - No Latinos or Latinas

Photos - No Latinos or Latinas

Illustration Credits - No Latinos or Latinas

Acknowledgments - No Latinos or Latinas

Extensive bibliography - No Latinos or Latinas

Index - No Latinos or Latinas

Film Credits - No Latinos or Latinas

There is only one reference to Mexicans when describing the population of Sacramento. It states: "The city had been the gateway to the Gold Rush and the Western anchor of the transcontinental railroad, and it was home to some 106,000 diverse people -- including Mexicans, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino Americans." Other than this one reference to "Mexican," Latinos are excluded in THE WAR. It is incumbent for us, the Latino and Latina community, to send a strong economic message to the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Ken Burns, Geoffrey Ward and PBS that we will not spend our hard earned money on publications or films that excludes us from our nation's historical memory.

◙ All done. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadres at La Bloga. ¡Lea un libro! --Daniel Olivas

Saving History

Manuel Ramos



LATINO WRITERS AND JOURNALISTS
Jamie Martinez Wood
Facts on File, 2007

This book profiles more than 150 writers and journalists, beginning with Oscar Zeta Acosta and ending with Val Zavala. It has been nominated for the Carter G. Woodson Book Award, which honors the most distinguished social science books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States. The purpose of this award is to encourage the writing, publishing, and dissemination of outstanding social science books for young readers that treat topics related to ethnic minorities and relations sensitively and accurately.

Designed for grades 9 and up, the book is an intriguing collection of interview answers (the author interviewed more than 50 writers for this project), research results, and the author's personal opinions about the writers, their works, and their impact on Latino culture and sociology. Several photographs are sprinkled through the book, including pictures of literary icons such as José Martí, Jovita González, María Amparo Ruiz de Burton, and Fray Angélico Chávez. The writers are poets, playwrights, screenwriters, children's book authors, journalists, editors, publishers, and novelists.

The essentials of a good reference work are here: biographical details, lists of published works, additional sources for further information, and a chronological explanation of each writer's role in Latino literature or journalism. The book is a good place to start when digging into the background of a particular writer, and it will lead to other sources and much more information.

Some of Wood's comments surprised me. These zingers are not in every profile (short essay, really) but periodically she writes something totally unexpected from a book of this type. For example, she notes that Oscar Acosta's "roller coaster, insatiable hunt for acceptance in life from others and through his writings points to the need to bridge alliances rather than to focus on what separates ethnicities and people." Or, how about this regarding Geraldo Rivera: "Widely misunderstood and often criticized for overt emotions and sensational tendencies, Rivera is a passionate, tenacious journalist who has been honored with more than 150 awards, including 10 Emmys."

Wood's other books include titles such as The Wicca Cookbook (Celestial Arts, 2000), The Teen Spell Book: Magick for Young Witches (Celestial Arts, 2001), and The Hispanic Baby Name Book (Berkley, 2001). Now, doesn't that make you curious?

LIBRERIA MARTINEZ
The friendly folks over at Librería Martínez are having a great September with several signings and author events at the Santa Ana (CA) store. They are Celebrando Septiembre, according to a note from Ruebén Martínez. Ruebén's message ends with this announcement, which happens to deal with the book I just reviewed:

"And finally, on Thursday, September 27 at 6:30 PM, we're culminating the month with a Latino writer extravaganza! Jamie Martinez Wood will be presenting Latino Writers and Journalists and there will be 10 distinguished writers and journalists joining the celebration: Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Ana Nogales, Ph.D., Josefina Lopez, Julio Moran, Pat Mora, Ruben Martinez, Yasmin Davidds, Yvette Cabrera, the legendary newscaster/journalist Frank Cruz will be the MC for the evening and we are pleased to have our very special guest, Magdalena Beltran-del Olmo. Fijate no mas! Can you believe it? This is sure to be an unforgettable event!"

I agree, wish I could be there. Find out more about the bookstore and this month's activities at this link.

Librería Martínez, 1110 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92701 714-973-7900

THE LITTLE ROCK NINE
On October 2 (5:30 PM - 7:30 PM), at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library of the Denver Public Library, Iliff School of Theology will introduce the Heroes and Sheroes: the Story of the Little Rock Nine exhibit. As part of the 50th Anniversary of the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, this exhibit is an interactive journey through the history and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement. The exhibit captures the heritage of the Little Rock Nine in three stages: The Need for Change; The Courage to Take a Stand; and The Cost and the Prize. The exhibit includes memorabilia that children can touch and feel. More about this important exhibit here.

Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton St., Denver. Contact: Greta Gloven, 303-229-8042

Later.

Más de Don Samuel Beckett -- Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett: All That Fall, Act Without Words, Krapp's Last Tape, Cascando, Eh Joe, et al

These twenty-nine short plays of Beckett’s struck me with their raw literary power. Beckett is a poet first and his plays reflect the stripped down language of poetry, its ability to telegraph a world of emotion and content with the least amount of words. His work reduces theatrical action to its most minimal form, generating vast amounts of meaning from the smallest gesture. I attempt in my own work to infuse movement with meaning that deepens the text or becomes, in conjunction with music, the tool by which the narrative is communicated.

The constant theme running through all these short pieces is impermanence, loss, and kind of regeneration. Everything disintegrates into something else and the major struggle of existence is finding a way to cope with this. Most of Beckett’s characters deal with it through cynicism and bitterness or through the false sense that they have control over the situation, which can turn on a dime into despair and inertia.

In a performance trilogy I've been working on, I'm trying to address the illusion of childhood safety, a safety that can be shattered in a instant. REM/Memory introduces the audience to that disintegration at the most personal, most physical level. The woman in the piece tries to unsuccessfully deal with the incest wound much like a Beckett character, through bitter sex, alcoholism, and emotional brutality, reaping a harvest of despair as a result. Bury The Bones attempts to portray the depths to which that wounding is not merely personal, but endemic to the culture. We witness violence as powerless voyeurs day in day out, and learn to inure ourselves to it, its prominence a staple of popular culture. It's alluring, the way these staples have elements of pleasure fused to it. I'm not immune--I love the so-called ‘action’ genre, the adrenaline rush. Frankly, I seek it out, even though I feel both attraction and repulsion. In working with this material, I try to exploit my own reaction to violence, reveal it as shared currency with audiences, and explore its implications with others in discussions post performance.

Where there's divergence in Beckett’s world view and my own centers around my belief in the power of spiritual transformation as both process and end. In the trilogy's finale, there is literally and figurative a resurrection. The means of that rebirth for me is a woman-centered cosmology, one with its origins in a sensibility of sensuality, bounty, feminine bonding and relationship. Using the structure of the Catholic mass, I hope to draw the audience into a later discussion of communal spirituality, the use of ritual and the value of theater in the development of such a practice. It's not my intent to proselytize the audience regarding a specific religious belief, however. I'm interested in drawing audiences into a shared experience where their own hunger for spirit can be experienced and fed, their own desire for transformation.

Reflecting again on the technical value of this book, the importance of spare language and tight, potent imagery is reinforced. Less is more, as the old adage goes, and is the hallmark of Beckett’s literary genius. For all the bitterness of his characters, there's still a strong sense of humor for the human predicament. I try to bring humor to bear as well, ironic humor, perhaps, graveyard humor certainly, but a humor that communicates a sense of life going on in the worst circumstances.

A Beckett play is poorly mounted when there's no balance between comedy and despair. If played too slapstick, then the weight of the human condition dissipates and Beckett's meaning losses it’s force. If played too heavily, the hopefulness that is subtly woven through his language gets lost, and he's seen as no more than a bitter and cynical playwright with a chip on his shoulder. The key for actors and directors is in finding the true wants of each character and acting them as real actions, alive in the moment. The language will take care of itself without the need for over or underacting. Ultimately, Beckett should be read as poetry, with all the sensuous, subtle nuance of the best poetics, not a TV sitcom.

ISBN-10: 0802150551
ISBN-13: 978-0802150554

Lisa Alvarado

Interview With Author Amy Costales About Her Picture Book Abuelita Full of Life/ Abuelita llena de vida

René Colato Laínez



Thank you Amy for this interview. You are a prolific writer and I admire your work. How did you come with the idea for this book?

An editor once asked me to write a story about Day of the Dead, which indirectly led to Abuelita Full of Life (Luna Rising). My own personal experiences with death did not lead me to a picture book. As for Day of the Dead, my kids and I do make an altar every year. We do invite some friends over to add to our altar and make tamales. For me it is a reassuring way of accepting death, and it is a day to remember our dead. But our traditions are kind of our own. They aren’t something I grew up with. None the less, I played with the suggestion in the back of my head.

Great the editor gave you an idea, the seed. When did you start watering and taking care of it?

One morning I saw my daughter wrapped up in an afghan my mom made and a possible story came to me. It struck me that one day my mother will not be with us and we will be left with these pieces of her, the afghan she made and the recipes she shared. I decided to write about a grandma who teaches her granddaughter some Mexican traditions, like keeping an altar. The grandma dies, and the little girl makes her an altar. Then she wraps herself up in her grandma’s blanket and sits in front of the altar. Eventually the blanket feels like a hug from her grandma, and the girl senses that her grandmother will always be with her, even in death.

Except that I never wrote that story. I wasn’t moved to write about death. Not now. And trying to create feelings I didn’t have wasn’t working for me. But the grandma topic stayed in my head.

Many times authors write “in their heads” instead of paper or computer, until the ah ah! moment. When did the seed bloom into a flower?

It was watching two grandmas with their grandkids that gave me the idea of writing about a lively grandma. Two summers ago I was visiting a friend. His mom had just arrived from Mexico. I was amazed at how well she could keep up with her grandkids and by the long walks she took with them. She was about the liveliest woman I had ever seen. I knew right then that I was going to write about a lively grandma. A couple of weeks later another grandmother told me about moving from Mexico to Oregon and sharing a bedroom with her little granddaughter and telling her stories at night. I thought about the lively grandmothers I know, including my own mother. And I thought about my daughter’s grandmother in Mexico, who has helped rear twenty-some grandchildren. I started writing ideas. This was a story I could relate to.

Do you have a family full of Life?

Writing about extended family appeals to me. When my daughter was little and I was in college we always lived with my sister or my parents. They helped with babysitting and money. My daughter and I lived with family until she was in second grade and I had my first teaching position. My sister was a second mother. My father was a father figure.¡ Pero mi mamá! She cooked, sewed, played, helped with homework, sang and baked. When it came to my daughter, my mom had a special touch. She was an Abuelita who was very full of life. I had a story.

What was the process from manuscript to publication for ABUELITA FULL OF LIFE?

I struggled to get my manuscript into a structure I liked. I had chunks of writing but they were not tied together. My neighbor, Ginger, helped with the idea of repetition. I repeated the line “Abuelita was already old when she came to love with José and his family” and added a detail that stressed her old appearance with each repetition. I wanted her appearance to contrast with her liveliness. Finally, I sent a manuscript called Abuelita Was Old to Luna Rising.
Luna Rising accepted the manuscript, but Theresa Howell had hesitations about the implication of death being near. She wanted me to stress the lively qualities of the grandmother as much as I had stressed her age. That led to repetitive lines about the grandmother being lively, having power when she speaks, and arms that hug tightly. In addition, Theresa suggested putting the story in present tense and changing the title. Abuelita Was Old became Abuelita Full of Life. In this edited version, life is stressed.

The Abuelita in the story is a treasure, un tesoro. How do you feel now that this great book is published?

I feel deeply satisfied whenever I read Abuelita Full of Life. It is a story that evokes something familiar to me and I love the illustrations. Martha Avilés tenderly captured a wrinkled woman with swollen hands but a spry cumbia step. I hope to be that kind of Abuelita one day.

How are your readers reacting with the book?

I think this book appeals to many readers because I see people’s eyes light up when they see it, and then they stop and tell me about their Abuelitas.


Amy Costales has lived in Spain, Mexico, Thailand, and India, but recently returned to the United States with her family, where she is a Spanish teacher. As a little girl she shared her adventures with her super best friend, Clara. They inspected tadpoles, looked for counterfeit money, planned pet parades, and climbed Clara’s oak tree. One day they had a fight over magic potion and Amy Costales had to learn how to apologize to her super best friend. Nowadays she shares her adventures with a dog named Gracie, a kitten named Lola, and her children, Kelsey and Samuel.

RENÉ IS BACK

Piñata Books will publish my sequel for I AM RENÉ, THE BOY/ SOY RENÉ, EL NIÑO. Now René is back and will work to have his two last names, just like in El Salvador. At school, they call him René Colato. But what happened to his Mamás beautiful last name? René is not a complete boy by being only René Colato. In RENÉ HAS TWO LAST NAMES/ RENÉ TIENE DOS APELLIDOS, René will show his teacher and classmates the beauty of having two last names and two lovely families.

Another de rigueur title, writers...

This Year You Write Your Novel
by Walter Mosley. NY: Little Brown & Co., 2007.
ISBN:0316065412 9780316065412


Michael Sedano

I suppose the number one reason to read Walter Mosley's self-help book for would-be novelists is the "Also by Walter Mosley" page opposite the title page. Ten Easy Rawlins books, thirteen not-Easy fiction titles, and three nonfiction, not counting the present volume. A second reason to read Mosley's words of friendly advice is by reading this book you can kill time not writing that novel this year. Luckily, Mosley's compacted seriously good advice into a small package.

Mosley's first lines give one a heap of motivation, even if one is already a published novelist, I would guess. Mosley writes, "Here I will give you all the knowledge I have about writing, and rewriting, fiction." And the last lines, on page 103, just prior to an eight page index: "That's it--everything I know about novel writing in less than 25,000 words. The work is up to you."

This little how-to book offers an hour and half or so of fascinating reading and collegial good will. Mosley constantly reminds his reader about that one year thing. "Every character we meet in this year's novel must have something uniquely human about them" he tells us in the discussion of character development. Again, "Depending on the demands of your story, you may have either similes or metaphors--or both--in your novel (the one you are writing this year)" he notes in the section on showing and telling using rhetorical tropes. And earlier, the famous novelist observes, "My advice is that you use the third-person narrative to write your novel (this year). But of course you will do as your heart tells you to."

No one can force you to sit down and write. Nor to write well. Mosley's first and enduring advice that he returns to at the final page is write every day for a set amount of time. Not that the novelist takes a prescriptivist stance. He distinguishes between the intuitive or unstructured writer who discovers her character, story, motives in the process of laying down the words, and the writer who outlines and crafts a story with so much precision that a reader could ask, "what's going to happen to Lester at the end of the story?" and the structured approach novelist will be able to explain in exact detail what's going to happen in the parts that he hasn't yet written. (Mosley shifts the personal pronoun from "he" to "she" to the occasional "they", as a way of escaping gender bias).

Although Mosley doesn't take a stand on which of these two approaches--structured v. intuitive--works better, his discussion put me in mind of Ana Castillo's talk at IMIX Books in early August, when Castillo described her discipline of writing every day and knowing what was going to happen next in The Guardians, and how her novel would end. I contrast this to Graciela Limon, who, queried why she is so damn tough on her female characters, like Jocasta Ana Calderon, relates, I don't know, I have to wait for my characters to tell me.

Writers and teachers of writing will find This Year You Write Your Novel a provocative resource for exploring bifurcations like the above, and for Mosley's explanations. The novelist doesn't take the Mt. Olympus approach saying to his audience, "take my word for it" when he makes a stand. Sometimes, his explanations fall back on the ineffable, "Details will devour your story unless you find the words that want saying." Le mot juste, and ay 'sta la detalla, isn't that? But more often, Mosley's insights are, if not explict, at least lucid and accessible. For example, the segments on showing and telling clearly illustrate what these phrases mean, apart from the apparently eponymous content of the words themselves:

"Lance Piggott was a large, violent man. His secretary, Verna-Mae Warren, avoided him whenever possible."

That's telling. Now read, in part, what showing looks like:

"Lance Piggott had a great bulbous face, with black pinpoints for eyes and pasty white skin. He spoke in short bursts like a semi-automatic weapon. the bloated leather of his shoes seemed about to burst open from the pressure of his bulging feet. Monsieur Piggott was indeed an explosion about to happen. His secretary, Verna-Mae Warren, would lean away from him whenever he apporahced her desk or stomped up to her side..."

Mosley will surprise some reader-writers when he talks about the level of detail effective writing requires. He uses a term that some will react to as pejorative: pedestrian. It's all those tiny details of the everyday--pedestrian stuff--that give a character and story enough life to engage a reader and have them turn the page: "The accomplished writer achieves this level of realism by using language that is active and metaphorical, economically emotional yet also pedestrian." He illustrates this per se as well as modeling it throughout the text.

As he starts wrapping up the work, Mosley addresses one of two key issues facing the hungry writer, ignoring the second. The first is writing workshops. "I'm not sure if they are necessary for anyone. Trial and error is how we learn. Workshops are based on failed experiments. You bring in your story or chapter, and everyone, regardless of his or her level of expertise, weighs in on what you did right or wrong." The benefit of a workshop experience, at any rate, what Mosley finds most useful, "was what people, especially the instructor, said about the problems in other students' work" because the writer's ego isn't at stake listening to another's critique, but likely has the same problems.

Mosley doesn't raise what strikes me as the elephant in the room. The writing contest. Mosley admits that getting published requires a literary agent. Winning contests might attract attention, who knows? But how many $20 and $50 entry fees does it take for a writer to discover she has a talent for writing checks? Mosley's own career evidently begins with a bolt out of the blue, "I was studying writing at CCNY when my mentor there, Frederic Tuten, gave the manuscript for Devil in a Blue Dress to his agent. She agreed to represent me. This certainly does not make me an expert on publishing strategies."

Ragged claws upon a ragged ocean writers, let's call this Freshman English, would benefit greatly from reading This Year You Write Your Novel. Composition teachers could readily adapt Mosley's pointers to help kids develop a sense of excellence in term papers, on the theory of "today the term paper, tomorrow..." After all, a teacher can lecture endlessly on Aristotle's canon of invention, arrangement, style, delivery, memory, as the essence of any communicator's method. Building on classical truths, such a teacher can then go on to deconstruct Strunk and White, then toss in a few papers from rhetoric and composition societies. Wonderful stuff all that. Yet, any healthily skeptical kid is going to chafe under the weight of all that theory. Voilá a 100 page book by a hugely accomplished novelist who cherry picks key details that fit somewhere in the profe's syllabus. Go ahead, kids, listen, take notes, ask your TA good questions, study those text books, that's called "telling". Then read the Mosley text, that's showing. Put them together, have a good story, a consistent narrative voice, and ... quien sabe. "The rest is up to you".

"If I knew how to write a great novel, I'd just write the novel instead of telling you about it," goes an old refrain. Walter Mosley, who's written several great novels--A Little Yellow Dog is my personal favorite--turns that bit of folk wisdom on its ear and in the process has crafted an excellent, readable book about a process that, shucks, here I'll give Walter Mosley the last word: "you will write a novel that works. This process will transform you. It will give you confidence, pleasure, a deeper understanding of how you think and feel; it will make you into an artist and a fledgling craftsperson. Maybe it will do more."

Pues, ay 'sta. An inspiring work from one of Unitedstates literature's giants. And here we are, the first Tuesday of September, a day like any other day, except, we are here. See you next week.

ate, mvs

Blogmeister's note: La Bloga's blogueras and blogueros were delighted to learn the president of the Modern Language Association said some interesting things about La Bloga. The address of the association's president recently came to market in this PDF. We appreciate the notice.

A BOOK TO BE READ BY ALL

Book Review

By Daniel Olivas

The Diary of Petr Ginz: 1941 – 1942

Edited by Chava Pressburger
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
180 pp.; $24 hardcover

I attended grades one through eight at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Los Angeles during a time of great unrest in our country – the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., police brutality against war protestors during the Chicano Moratorium. Yet one of my strongest memories is reading excerpts from Anne Frank’s diary. I remember being moved by the words of that remarkable little Jewish girl with large eyes who hid from the Nazis for two years. I also remember the horror of learning that the Nazis eventually found Anne and her family and that she died in a typhus epidemic that ran through the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Anne’s diary spoke to this Los Angeles classroom across the decades, across an ocean, across cultures, across religions.

And that little Chicano boy never could have imagined that someday he would grow up and fall in love with a Jewish woman, marry in a temple, convert to Judaism and send his son to a Jewish day school for eight years.

But what did Anne Frank’s story offer me and my classmates at that time? The nuns who set the curriculum knew. While it is pretty near impossible to comprehend the annihilation of millions, Anne Frank offered us a face, one child to whom we could relate. And of course the questions came. Who would want to kill this little girl? Will it happen again? Could it happen to us?

Atlantic Monthly Press now brings us the English translation of The Diary of Petr Ginz: 1941 - 1942 which, as with Anne Frank’s diary, puts a face on the Holocaust through the words and artwork of a precocious teenager. Simply put, this book should be read by everyone.

Petr was a Czech Jew, born in 1928, and who died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz at the age of sixteen. His diary had been lost for sixty years but resurfaced in 2003. Petr’s sister, Chava Pressburger, edited her older brother’s diary entries which cover the eleven months before Petr’s deportation from Prague to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Also included are poems, an excerpt from one of Petr’s unfinished novels, articles from Vedem (a weekly magazine Petr started in Theresienstadt), as well as linocuts, sketches and watercolor paintings. There is little doubt that if Petr had survived, he would have developed into an accomplished writer and artist.

Petr’s entries recount the daily routine of a teenager attending school and spending time with friends and family. But interspersed amongst the quotidian details are observations that illustrate the tightening Nazi noose: “In the morning I did my homework. Otherwise nothing special. Actually, a lot is happening, but it is not even visible. What is quite ordinary now would certainly cause upset in a normal time. For example, Jews don’t have fruit, geese, and any poultry, cheese, onions, garlic, and many other things. Tobacco ration cards are forbidden to prisoners, madmen, and Jews.”

And there are poems with lines such as these: “Today it’s clear to everyone / who is a Jew and who’s an Aryan, / because you’ll know Jews near and far / by their black and yellow star.”

Yet, despite all this, Petr loved to play pranks and possessed a wicked sense of humor as shown by this observation written on April 20, 1942: “Every building has to hang out a swastika flag, except for the Jews, of course, who are not allowed this pleasure.”

Aside from his writings, Petr’s artwork is noteworthy for its detail and sophistication. There is an eerie 1943 watercolor entitled “Ghetto Dwellings” that captures a foreboding atmosphere that would be difficult to replicate in words.

Petr had a particular love for the linocut which requires great control over the tools needed to carve images into small pieces of linoleum, a process similar to making woodcuts. In one of his Vedem articles, Petr describes this art form: “As the entire linocut technique shows, a linocut is the expression of a person who does not make compromises. It is either black or white There is no grey transition.”

In another Vedem piece, Petr explains that even in the squalor and deprivation of the Theresienstadt concentration camp, creativity can thrive: “The seed of a creative idea does not die in mud and scum. Even there it will germinate and spread its blossom like a star shining in the darkness.” Petr proved this to be true as he founded a magazine and continued to write and create artwork while in the camp.

Also included in this book are photographs of Petr and his family. There is one from February 1933 of Petr and Chava holding hands, walking toward to the camera, both dressed in thick coats, knitted caps and scarves to protect them from the Prague winter. The five-year-old Petr has a determined look in his eyes, lips tight with purpose, as he leads his younger sister along the city street. Petr’s face is the face of all children whose lives were cut short by the Nazis. And it is a face that implores us to remember two essential words: Never again.

[This review first appeared in the Jewish Journal.]

◙ BOOK READING: Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Whereabouts Press). Edited by C.M. Mayo

WHEN: Wednesday, September 12th at 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at New York University
ADMISSION: Free

Reading and discussion of Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion, an anthology of Mexican fiction and literary prose with works by some of Mexico's best-known authors. With editor C.M. Mayo, writers Monica Lavin and Pedro Angel Palou, and translators Harry Morales and Daniel Shapiro.

Read more about this book and its many outstanding contributors by clicking here.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU is located at 53 Washington Square South (between Thompson and Sullivan Streets)

For more information please call 212-998-3650 or visit: www.nyu.edu/kjc.

This event is part of Celebrate Mexico Now, a citywide festival of contemporary art and culture.

"This delicious volume has lovingly gathered a banquet of pieces that reveal Mexico in all its infinite variety, its splendid geography, its luminous peoples. What a treat!" --Margaret Sayers Peden, editor, Mexican Writers on Writing (Trinity University Press)

◙ Ilan Stavans reviews The Art of Political Murder (Grove) by Franciso Goldman, which is a journalistic look at the 1998 murder of a Guatemalan bishop in the aftermath of the country's 30-year civil war. Stavans notes, in part: “At its core, the book feels strangely empty. Goldman doesn't make use of his wonderful descriptive talents, as he does in his fiction, and most of the principals drift in and out of sight without leaving a trace. They are parts of a clockwork he's committed to dismantling in front of our eyes, much like the boy who learns how things work by taking them apart: The effort is educational but the result is inoperable.”

◙ As noted earlier on La Bloga, Junot Díaz’s long-awaited second book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead Books), continues to make a critical splash. Yesterday, in the El Paso Times, Rigoberto González reviewed the novel observing, in part: “Known as a master of the short story form, Díaz now can claim the same for the longer narrative. His writing is fast-paced and humorous; his characters and depictions of Dominican lives are complex and compassionate…”

And Susan Straight reviewed the novel for the Los Angeles Times: “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is panoramic and yet achingly personal. It's impossible to categorize, which is a good thing… Díaz's novel is a hell of a book. It doesn't care about categories. It's densely populated; it's obsessed with language. It's Dominican and American, not about immigration but diaspora, in which one family's dramas are entwined with a nation's, not about history as information but as dark-force destroyer.”

Keep checking in on La Bloga for more on Díaz’s novel…

◙ Over at Luna, a journal of poetry and translation, Rigoberto González reviews Blind Date with Cavafy by Steve Fellner (Marsh Hawk Press) noting: “Fellner’s deadpan delivery disarms the reader (The poem ‘Judgment Day’ opens matter-of-factly with 'The line is long.'), but he never fails to reel the true sentiment of his poems back in. And by the end of the book, though even the funnier lines don’t seem as funny anymore because the pain underneath has surfaced fully, the reader will come to appreciate and trust this ‘funny man’…”

◙ Social commentator and author, Mark Dery, offers this wry meditation on the “cuisine” of Taco Bell for Salon.com:

“I'm having a señor moment. Dinner tonight is the unthinkable: a Taco Bell Original Taco and Burrito Supreme, abominations that haven't profaned this chowhound's palate since I was a kid in Southern California, birthplace of fast food. I'm committing this foodie felony partly because I'm à la recherche du whatever: the goldenrod-and-avocado-colored memories of my '60s-'70s youth, when dinner out, more often than not, meant Taco Bell…”

I admit to being interviewed and quoted for Dery's piece. He also quotes the artist Perry Vaquez of whom I've written here on La Bloga.

◙ GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES: OnePageStories is a new online literary quarterly that publishes fiction, memoir, and personal essay under 1,000 words. Its anniversary magazine, OnePageStories Journal, will circulate each fall (beginning 2008), offering the stories and essays from its website in print, along with contest winner profiles, interviews, photographs, and more. Professor Linsey Abrams, novelist and Director of the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at the City College of New York, inspired this project, and Irene Ramirez, Graphic Designer and Artist, made the endeavor possible. My connection? I have a little story included in the debut issue entitled “Mateo.” Check it out and consider submitting.

◙ All done. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadres at La Bloga. ¡Lea un libro! --Daniel Olivas

Boulder, Bozeman, Austin, Albuquerque

Manuel Ramos

DÍAZ IN BOULDER
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead, 2007) has picked up more buzz than my old transistor radio. Example -- The N.Y. Times review raved that the novel is "a wondrous, not-so-brief first novel that is so original it can only be described as Mario Vargas Llosa meets Star Trek meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West. It is funny, street-smart and keenly observed, and it unfolds from a comic portrait of a second-generation Dominican geek into a harrowing meditation on public and private history and the burdens of familial history." And that's just the first two sentences of the review.

As noted by Daniel Olivas in his Bloga post last week, Time Magazine also loved the book and concluded that it was "astoundingly great."

Díaz is scheduled to read and sign at the Boulder Book Store on September 20 at 7:30 PM. Here's the publisher's take:

"This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today.

"Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuk -- the curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

"Díaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot Díaz as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time."

Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80302, Tel: 303-447-2074



VIRAMONTES IN BOZEMAN
Another book on fire is Helena María Viramontes' Their Dogs Came With Them (Atria, 2007). The author has made several appearances recently as a result of the book's publication. Example -- The Montana State University News Service announced: "Well-known Chicana writer and activist Helena María Viramontes will be the first speaker in the Borderlands lecture series, sponsored by Montana State University's College of Letters and Science and the Bozeman Public Library. Her talk, titled Border Culture: The Streets of East L.A. will take place at 7:00 PM on September 27 at the Bozeman Public Library. All lectures are open to the public and will be followed by a reception with the speaker.

"Viramontes, whose most recent book is titled Their Dogs Came With Them [reviewed by La Bloga here], has written extensively on the experiences of Chicano and Chicana farm workers in the U.S. She grew up in East Los Angeles, one of eleven children born to parents who met when they were working as farm laborers, and spent many childhood summers picking fruit in northern California. A professor of English at Cornell University, she published her first novel-- Under the Feet of Jesus --in 1995 and has also written several collections of short stories. She won the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature in 1995."

Read more about this lecture series and the Viramontes event by jumping to this page. La Bloga's interview of Viramontes is at this link.

CERVANTES IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO
On September 13th, 4:00 PM, Lorna Dee Cervantes accepts the 2007 Balcones Poetry Prize for her volume of poetry Drive: The First Quartet (Wings Press, 2006), at Austin Community College, Rio Grande Campus Mainstage Theater. This is a free event and is open to the public. The Balcones Prize is sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Division.

Then, Cervantes goes down the road to San Antonio's Esperanza Peace & Justice Center for a reading/performance on the 14th, 7:00 PM. Then back to Austin to participate in the opening of the new Mexican American Cultural Center on September 15.



SÁENZ IN ALBUQUERQUE
Benjamin Alire Sáenz reads and signs In Perfect Light (Rayo, 2005), on September 13 at 6:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 17701 4th Street SW, Albuquerque, NM. Free in the Sálon Ortega.

Also at the NHCC, and part of the Big Read series (La Bloga, August 10, 2007), Healing with Herbs & Rituals: A Mexican Tradition by Eliseo “Cheo” Torres. September 12th 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM call 246-2261 x 148 to register. Here's some of the official announcement of this program:

"One of the great traditions of folk medicine and healing in the Southwest is Mexican Folk Healing, and the fact that this is a tradition that has largely been transmitted as oral history makes it all the more remarkable.
...

"The presentation will include a brief description of the “hot” popular herbs and other traditional herbs and their usage for illnesses such as hypertension, stress, arthritis, etc.

"A central element in Rudolfo Anaya’s novel Bless Me Ultima is the healing and protective work done by the curandera, Ultima.

"'There was a bitter taste in my mouth. I remembered the remedy Ultima had given me after my frightful flight from the river. I looked at my arms and I felt my face. I had received cuts from tree branches before and I knew that the next day the cuts were red with dry blood and that the welts were sore. But last night’s cuts were only thin pink lines on my flesh, and there was no pain. There was a strange power in Ultima’s medicine.'
- Bless Me Ultima, page 25."

______________________________________________________
And now, for something a little different, I present one man's view about this crazy world. This piece was written by a pal, and I thought I would lighten up the week by posting it (don't shoot the messenger.)

Ironic, Oxymoronic, Spumoni or Why Can't a Paradox Save My Life?
By De La Ventana

As I lie here on my deathbed waiting for the lights to go out and wondering what is at the end of the tunnel of light, I watch the sunset high in the mountains. I await that long lonely trek of solitude to that better place with millions of other souls.

I sat up in my reclining years to take stock of my life as a chicken rancher. I have often reflected in the dark as I lie awake half asleep in my bed.

As a young man I was promiscuous so that others might remain chaste. I joined the army, killed thousands in foreign lands so that we can continue our way of life. I have been enlightened by infomercials and touched by the blind.

I rushed through my life. "Haste" was my second middle name, "Pokey" was my first. I was on my high school year book staff but I dropped out my freshman year. My mother is Finnish. My father is from Mexico, here illegally. He couldn't swim. I only have one brother, he's a half-brother.

His name is Nelson. Nelson went to college and was in the Weather Underground. He now lives in a pent-house. Everyone in my family were world-class marathon runners. I took up the sport late in life. I was the first in my family to finish last. It was almost a penultimate achievement.

My love life? I was the man women loved to hate. In the army, I was a fighter not a lover. I loved to fight. In the army, they told me "hurry up and wait." I fit right in. I got a dishonorable discharge. I thought they were asking me to rejoin. I was disgraced.

Chickens are my only friends except for Nelson who was a conscientious objector, but he wasn't chicken.

I didn't date much because I couldn't dance so I listened to music. I would waltz over to the record shop to pick up big band music recorded live so that I could listen to it alone.

When I divide my life into its parts, the sum total isn't all negative. I'm positive I was a failure but I can't dwell on the negatives. Sure I got high with low-lifes. Sure when I got busted my crooked attorney straightened me up when he fixed the trial. Life isn't just black and white. That's what Sister Negra Blanca told me she read in the newspaper. You can't judge a book by its cover in the used book store. Don't judge! In prison, people come in all stripes unless they're issued blue scrubs. Your boss puts pants on one leg at a time just like you do or at least that's what she says. I once worked for Paul McCartney's second wife.

So now I watch daytime dramas. Why doesn't the fat lady ever sing on a soap opera? They don't want it to end.

Yo soy Chicano. I am a Mexican-American who loves two countries that don't love me. I am a mere mortal, but I could go on forever about that, so I just stop for now...and go.

Later.

Carlos Mock, Tales of Papi Chulo and More

Carlos Mock is a fixture in LGBT, Latino, and fiction circles here in Chicago, and now, nationally. He is a physician, novelist, blogger and social commentator. Take a look at his bio, some of the rave reviews, and our conversation that follows.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a middle class family. Grew up in the San Francisco/Santa María suburb of San Juan and attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola prep school where upon graduation escaped to The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Then proceeded to attend the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan where he obtained a Doctor in Medicine degree in 1980.

After an internship in New Orleans and a four-year obstetrics and gynecology residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago he went to work in the private practice in the Chicago suburbs until 1996. Currently, he shares life in Chicago with his life partner, Bill Rattan, and their dogs Mellow and Mocha. Mock is very active in the LGBT community by being on the board of two organizations; Equality Illinois and Orgullo en Acción, and maintains a travel website at: The Pink Agenda. He has five blogs at CTMock and Latino Odyssey, News Summary, Chicago News, and Pink News. Mock publishes a quasi-weekly newsletter with links to articles on a wide range of topics including Finance, Politics, and LGBT news.

Currently Editor of the Floricanto LBGT Latino Line. Floricanto Press, recognizing the void in today’s LGBT Latino Literature, is launching its new line. For that purpose he's been hired to be their Editor coordinating the series. We're interested in creating a network of Latino LGBT writers that will help sell books for each other. Therefore, Floricanto will go through the process of getting the books recognized nationally through the LAMBDA Literary Foundation Awards (Lammies), The Publishing Triangle Awards, and the American Library Association LGBT Roundtable Stonewall Awards. The press will have two titles ready for publication this summer.


Floricanto Press:

Telephone
415 552 1879
Fax
702 995 1410
Postal address
Floricanto Press/ Inter American Development Corp.
650 Castro Street, Suite 120, Suite 331
Mountain View, California 94041-2055
Electronic mail
General Information: info@floricantopress.com
Sales: sales@floricantopress.com
Customer Support: cs@floricantopress.com
Webmaster: wm@floricantopress.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'd be remiss if I didn't direct you back to the work of this renaissance man. Join me in looking at the critical acclaim for Mock's writing, as well as that conversation I promised.


Lambda Book Report Review, June 28, 2006

This book is mislabeled: Borrowing Time (Floricanto Press) is billed as a Latino sexual odyssey, but it is not. Instead, it is a wonderful story of love and compassion, growth and resolution, mourning and acceptance, and about family - the one you were born in, and the one you make.

Carlos T. Mock has written an engaging book about growing up gay in Puerto Rico, and how it affected the life of the protagonist, Juan Subirá-Rexach. Yet, it is a story of a gay "everyman." Anyone self-aware of themselves and their sexuality at an early age has faced many of the same dilemmas, and made choices - some of which were good, some not so much, as Juan describes.

The tone of the book is the studied reflection of a man facing his maker and his making. It begins with a vivid description of a hospital horror. Not the kind of scene involving dismemberments and gore, but the mind-numbing, full-of-excruciating-pain type that seems to be without surcease, a purgatory of pain that does not allow any escape. In that kind of agony, the only resort is inward, to the steps that led to the torture that results from a failing body due to AIDS. Mock's description captures this hopelessness when Juan states that he is defenseless: "not life nor faith, nor any of the structures that surround me, nothing...nothing more than fear. What experiences are left? Death, nothing else."

But do not get the wrong impression. This is not some morbid book about death and dying; it's not the main storyline. Borrowing Time has delightful anecdotes about the first baby steps taken in self-recognition of being "different" from other kids and how this occurred on the Enchanted Isle. Macho in Puerto Rico is not just a mannerism; it is a way of life that is very different from Ozzie and Harriett. Being outside of that machismo mandate is both revealing and staggering to Juan, who knows internally it is okay to be feeling "those" feelings, but sees a very different reaction from those around him - especially his father. Mock addresses this problem with strength and self-worth; it is a joy to behold.

The story also delves into unconditional love, and observations from the lofty angle of painful remorse. Juan is able to see things through the focused lens of time, and thereby finds nuggets of truth: "For the first time in my life I learned the silence that is required to really talk to a loved one.” That "walls are either to protect what is inside, or to hide the fact there is nothing there." Or, that "love is like a clear stream; you don't know it's there till there's an impediment." And a favorite, "a relationship is judged on how well you travel together." Each of these observations comes from a life well lived and the recognition that the gifts and treasures given without end are "borrowed."

Most of the book is in leitmotif, and is an easy, fun read. For anyone who has had time to reflect on and assess where they have been and where they are going, and recognize the bullion of joy to be found, this is a must read.

ISBN 0-915745-54-2


The Windy City Times: 2007-01-10, Copyright

Chicagoan Carlos T. Mock is a doctor and his new novel, The Mosaic Virus (Floricanto Press, paperback, edited by Katherine V. Forrest) , makes full use of his medical background to create a tale of murder and intrigue during the early 1980s.

Mock, who is well-known as a supporter of GLBT, AIDS and Latino causes in Chicago, has set his newest book in the Vatican, the U.S., and Cape Town, South Africa, as he sends readers around the world in search of the cause of a mysterious virus killing priests—a virus that is strikingly similar to the new plague just being discovered among gay men in the U.S.

Jesuit Priest Javier Barraza is our hero, trying to fight against repressive Catholic ideas as well as his own longing for a childhood sweetheart--a woman now working for the FBI. The two met as teenagers in Argentina, and Special Agent Lillian Davis-Lodge has made sure she meets up with her friend again years later as they both search for the truth. The book is full of intricate medical details, but it is not too intense for someone who does not understand the inner workings of a virus. We follow Barraza and Davis-Lodge as they try to unravel an onion of power and deceit that goes all the way to the White House and the Pope--starting with World War II and ending in 1983. Mock has used actual history as a backdrop, adjusting timelines and some facts to fit his fictional story, but that does not take away from the mystery and suspense.

The Mosaic Virus works by presenting intriguing ideas that work precisely because they could be true. The best science fiction works when it is just one layer away from the reality we all think we know. And, in fact, there have been theories professed by activists that the HIV virus itself could have been a man-made virus that simply moved beyond its initial intended targets and use. Mock even involves former Nazi scientists living in Cape Town, experimenting with a new group of subjects, Blacks in Apartheid South Africa.

In the "real world" just this past weekend, the Vatican's pick for archbishop of Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus, resigned after admitting he had worked with the Polish Communist-era secret police, according to The New York Times. There are many empires of power Mock tackles in The Mosaic Virus, but despite so many conspiracy theories, Mock has managed to write an accessible story of a parallel universe that just might not be parallel after all.

ISBN-10: 0915745798


The Windy City Times: 2007-08-22, Copyright

Chicagoan Carlos T. Mock is a political voyeur. He writes frequently on blogs and in newspaper columns about a wide range of gay and mainstream topics, and he has a special interest in Latino gay issues. He has written about his Puerto Rican identity in Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey, and published The Mosaic Virus, a novel about an AIDS-like virus and the Catholic Church.

Mock’s newest work, Papi Chulo, (Floricanto Press) is similar to The Mosaic Virus in that it takes historical facts and massages them into a work of fiction, this time about the island of Puerto Rico and its fractured identity. Mock’s love of his native land is evident throughout Papi Chulo. His own hopes and dreams for his people ebb and flow with the tragic tides of history. He is cynical about political leaders and passionate about the people, some who are clearly modeled after inspiring heroes in his own life.

Mock’s background in medicine is also evident in Papi Chulo. One of the primary characters, María Rexach, becomes a pioneer in women’s health and the right to choose abortion. Born in 1900, we follow the path of both María’s own life and the life of her nation as it comes under control of the United States, and fights for its own life for more than a century.

We meet the real and imagined political leaders of the last century as they squabble and sometimes succeed in bringing rights to the island. We see how identity issues plague generations of people, as some move to the mainland and lose touch with their home, and as islanders dismiss them as not true Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans born on the mainland have an especially hard time with identity issues.

The novel is not a “gay novel” in the typical sense. However, it does include gay characters, and the sensitivities of the book are informed by an author who is both pro-choice and out.

There is a risk in creating an alternative universe, where some facts remain and others are altered to fit the vision of what the author wants to occur. The real people may be upset, but Mock clearly states at the beginning of the book that this is a work of fiction, even though some facts are real. Incidents of revolutionary violence ( to push for independence from the U.S. ) , political intrigue, funding of the Contras or even the Stonewall Riots of 1969 are used as backdrops for a multi-layered story about the potential of a people and the dreams of a nation.

Mock’s own antipathy for self-interested leaders is clear throughout the novel, but he uses the stories of individuals like María, her friend Clara Rodriguez, her children, her friends and others to show the pain through the eyes of people, making the history more accessible and the imagined reality all the more desired. As Mock would attest, if novelists ran the world, it would be a whole lot better place.

ISBN-10: 0979645700

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

1. Tell us more about your personal professional odyssey...physician to writer to editor. It seems a very left brain/right brain journey....

First of all, I am not your typical doctor. My major in college was Latin American Literature. My thesis was on Gabriel Garcia Márquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude), the Colombian Nobel laureate. I love magical realism and I'm prone to write that way.

Then after 11 years as an OB Gyne, where I was working over 100 hours a week, I was diagnosed with HIV in 1996, I stopped working. For a few years I just traveled and partied, thinking I was going to die.

A divorce, a new lover, a new lease on life. What to do? I was driving my new boyfriend crazy because I could not lay still. So one day he ordered me to sit down in front of the computer and start typing all the stories I have told him. That became book one--a magical realistic memoir.

2. Do you think there is a Latino queer aesthetic different from mainstream queer sensibilities? If so, what would you say are its major features?

Just as the African American population, the Latino population has a hard time admitting that they are gay. Lot's of men in Puerto Rico are on the down low. Puerto Rico has the highest percentage of new cases in the USA. We are ruled by the three dogmas of the Puerto Rican Society:

Machismo - where as a top is not gay but a bottom is (really!)

Religion - 95% Catholics who are dealing with guilt and deception. Strong morals that place men on top, women way low and homosexuals even lower in the social strata. Unfortunately HIV positive men/women are at the bottom of the scale

Family Traditions – you do not leave your home until you get married (lots of activity in the outdoors) and you are supposed to reproduce so that your family name does not die. (The biggest thing my mother holds against me – but then again she prays the rosary for fun)

3. How would you describe the ways you hope your writing, your activism impacts the Latino community? The LGBT community?

Latinos and Puerto Ricans have lost their sense of identity. We are taught by the white man to assimilate or you will not get ahead. In the process we do not know who we are anymore. In Puerto Rico I’m looked as an Americano, here I’m seen as a Latino. When I first came to Chicago I learned of the concept of “Safe Space”. Safe space is a place where a Latino man or woman can feel safe and does not need to “cover” for the white man to pass as a member of our society.

4. What would you say are the themes that run through your fiction? Can you give La Bloga readers a glimpse into your writing process?

I love historical fiction. I love taking a history, research the time, the real characters and then introduce “my characters” to interact with the real ones. Sometimes history needs to be bent to accommodate the story, but I am fully aware that I’m writing fiction so who cares? As long as you enjoy my book I’m happy.

5. You've recently joined Floricanto Press as an editor. Can you talk about that and what you see as the direction you hope to offer?

Floricanto Press, recognizing the void in today’s GLBT Latino Literature, is launching its new line. For that purpose I’ve been hired to be their Editor coordinating the series.

Floricanto is interested in creating a network of Latino LGBT writers that will help sell books for each other. Therefore, Floricanto will go through the process of getting the books recognized nationally through the LAMBDA Literary Foundation Awards (Lammies), The Publishing Triangle Awards, and the American Library Association GLBT Roundtable Stonewall Awards. We will have two titles ready for publication this summer.

Felice Picano edited my work, Papi Chulo: A Legend, A Novel, and the Puerto Rican Identity and Leo Cabranes-Grant’s Three plays-Puerto Rican Scenes. Felice also wrote an introduction to both of these works for Floricanto’s new line. I envision all of the participants meeting somewhere in the US once or twice per year so we can help sell each other’s work. The LGBT Latino market is untapped.

We are working closely with Emanuel Xavier. He will be soliciting submissions from around the country so that we can have the first Modern Anthology of Latino LGBT Poetry: Mariposas. We anticipate a Summer of 2008 release.

What I can offer is an outlet for LGBT Latino voices that are looking to be heard.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mark your calendario....

Join Raúl Niño for a reading of his chapbook, Book of Mornings


Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 6 pm

Rogers Park Branch
6907 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60626
312-744-0156

Lisa Alvarado

Workshops-Conferences-Book Fairs

René Colato Laínez

F1rst Pages Conference and Revision Retreat (October 27-28, 2007)
F1st Pages Conference

Featuring some of the most experienced names in the business among them our own Adriana Dominguez.


The title of her workshop is The Latino Explosion! - So You Think You Know the Latino Market? A Close-Up Look

Workshop Preparation:

You must be familiar with the Latino/Spanish publishing industry and know what the Pura Belpre and Americas Awards are and who has won them. In addition, come prepared to talk about what genre you want to write in and whether your work will be English, Spanish or Bilingual.

In a group critique session, you will participate in a creative discussion of your peer’s manuscripts. You will receive the manuscripts ahead of the conference and should be familiar with them in order to participate effectively in the workshop. All names will remain anonymous.

Pre-Conference Assignment [Due no later than October 8th]:

Adriana Dominguez will review complete picture books, and the first 10 pages, with a synopsis, of middle-grade and young adult novels. Adriana does not publish nonfiction so please do not submit nonfiction manuscripts. All manuscripts submitted will ultimately be addressed as part of a group workshop with Adriana.

Who is Adriana Dominguez and what is she looking for?

While HarperCollins has a number of imprints to which the mainstream author has access, take a look at Rayo, an imprint of HarperCollins, which opens the door of this major publisher to Latino authors. Hence, Adriana Dominguez is looking for “…originality, a keen awareness of the qualities that make a good children's book, and for Rayo in particular, background: I am very interested in material written by Latino authors in Spanish, English, and bilingually.”

Having worked with many noted Latino authors, such as Lulu Delacre of Rafi and Rosi fame and the writing team of Alma Flor Ada and Isabel F. Campoy, this is a prime opportunity for Latino authors with Latino themed stories to not only meet the Executive Editor of the fastest growing imprint in the Latino children’s book market, but to learn how to break in and get published in a tough market.

If you are looking for a crash course in publishing, this is not the workshop for you.

Adriana says, “I’d like to reach a happy group of folks who have been published (ideally), or authors who are familiar with the basic publishing process and have made sincere attempts to get published and want feedback.”

Take a look at www.f1rstpages.com- If you are looking for someone to critique your work before sending it to editors, this could be the place for you. Also, in this webpage, you can find good information about children’s literature genres: picture book, early readers, middle grade, and young adult.



THE 2nd ANNUAL BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL – It’s coming - September 16, 2007! Be There.
www.brooklynbookfestival.org.

The second annual Brooklyn Book Festival will take place at historic Borough Hall on Sunday, September 16, 2007. Last year’s inaugural festival was a tremendous success, featuring 10,000 visitors, 80 publishers and presses from across the country, and readings and discussions by renowned authors.

The festival has quickly established a reputation for presenting innovative and exciting programming. This year, A.M. Homes, Pete Hamill, chef David Bouley, Mary Gaitskill, Uzodinma Iweala, George Saunders, children’s author/illustrator Mo Willems, George Packer, Ana Castillo, Alisa-Valdes-Rodriguez, Colson Whitehead, Reverend Run, Gloria Naylor, Stephen Carter, actor Mike Farrell and Jim Carroll are among the many authors who will grace the stages and reading rooms of the festival.

Hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at historic Brooklyn Borough Hall, outdoors on its beautiful plaza, and at the nearby Brooklyn Historical Society, the day-long festival showcases local and national retailers, publishers, authors and literary organizations.

Multiple stages and indoor venues will feature adult and children’s programming, spirited panel discussions and spoken word performances.

Festival partners include Brookyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Brooklyn Public Library, Housing Works and the National Book Foundation. Sponsors are Target, the Independence Community Foundation and Time Out New York.




Orange County Children's Book Festival (September 29 & 30, 2007)
http://www.kidsbookfestival.com

The Orange County Children's Book Festival is two daylong interactive family festival that invites children of all ages to experience the magic of books, encourages literacy, promotes the community and supports children's charities. With numerous book vendors on display, multiple stages for author and illustrator presentations, entertainment, and panel discussions - there’ll be something for everyone! An abundance of children activities such as face painting, clowns, musicians, readings, drawings, etc. will be offered and there will be lots of food, drinks and fun for the whole family. The festival is free to the public and will be held each year.

Review: Ana Castillo. The Guardians.

The Guardians. A Novel.
NY: Random House, 2007.
978-1-4000-6500-4

Michael Sedano

Now that Ana Castillo has left Chicago for southern New Mexico's lonely ranchitos, she's also left behind her normally strong older woman character. Carmen la Coja, the one-legged flamenco dancer of Peel My Love Like an Onion, captivates her younger lover until he's no longer amusing and she locks him out of her high-rise apartment. In The Guardians, Regina's low self-esteem keeps her clumsily in the path of an ardent younger swain. They kiss, but that's the limit of their physical intimacy.

Regina's incompetency comes as quite a surprise, since so often a Castillo woman stands as a model of independence and growth, like la coja. But then, rural New Mexico presents its own set of challenges for Regina and the writer: Hardscrabble farming, limited job horizons, complications of la frontera for the characters. Sadly, Castillo allows herself to be trapped by the lurking conventionality of evil coyotes and gang members, turning the story into a mere thriller.

Not that The Guardians is a disappointment, far from it. The early chapters express affectionate involvement with a middle-aged woman eking a living on sandy plots, supplementing one's income with wild-haired schemes and a big heart. The plot wends its way into the Juarez murders of thousands of women, mixing it with immigrant smuggling, narcotraficantes, and evil coyotes. Borrowing from another Juarez murders novel, Alicia Gaspar de Alba's Desert Blood, one of the key characters is kidnaped by the sex torturers, but unlike Gaspar de Alba, Castillo shies away from the gruesome details.

A four-voice novel, Castillo supplements Regina's narrative with nephew Gabo, would-be lover Michael, and Michael's WWII veteran cantinero grandfather. Regina is the stunning redhead teacher's aide, Michael the chongoed middle school historian who's dated every woman on the faculty with no results. Gabo's torment at his father's disappearance complicates his deterioration into madness. The blind abuelo if not quite a blind Tiresias is often the voice of common sense who keeps as even a keel as their circumstance permits.

They make an unlikely team of detectives. Worse, the camaraderie among them is never fully developed. And, as with any detective story, a lot of what happens is completely predictable, but Castillo serves up a couple of good surprises. The fun comes from letting the characters do their thing and see what happens when the dust settles.


Notes of a Distracted Driver

Traffic clogs to a stop just across the intersection. I stop at the yellow light, tensing that the driver too close behind me may be thinking to synchronize both of us running the light. Across the street, thronged pedestrians lean urgently against the traffic, expecting to dash out to catch the connecting bus pulling up just now.

A pig hauler has halted in the snarl. A sixteen wheel trailer, forty feet of meat hauled by a big rig diesel. The aluminum box heads to Farmer John, a mile down the street. Everything but the squeal.

The aluminum sides of the trailer reflect the dull morning light in a swath of grey. Perforations checker the sides, bulging here and there with pinkish-brown bristled flesh. The light changes. My lane advances faster than the pigs'. I catch up just as traffic slows again and I begin to stop. Up on the second level a pig snout prods the air up there. I hope it is sweeter than the exhausted contamination that keeps my windows tightly up. Still, I hit the window switch. One-handedly, I switch on my camera, point in the right direction, and shoot.

Both lanes come to a dead halt. The pig pulls back its snout, looks up at the brightness of the western sky, and smiles at the glory of the coming day.

Sweet 15: Custom That May Be Itself Coming of Age

Book review by Daniel Olivas

Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA

By Julia Alvarez
Viking, $23.95 (hardcover)

More than halfway into her provocative and engaging nonfiction Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA (Viking, $23.95 hardcover), Julia Alvarez acknowledges that she harbored some fears in tackling this coming-of-age ceremony for Latinas turning 15.

"I would sometimes scare myself sick thinking of what would happen if I didn't fall in line and praise this important tradition of nuestra cultura," she confides. "The Malinche fear of betraying my own people to the conquistador culture hangs heavy on my heart -- Malinche being the indigenous woman in Mexico who supposedly betrayed her people to Cortés."

Alvarez's fears were unfounded.

To be certain, she does not shy away from some of the tough questions raised by quinceañeras: How much money should a family spend on it? Is it nothing more than an antiquated ritual from a time when a man felt compelled to present his daughter to eligible bachelors in the best light possible? And why does gang violence too often follow quinceañeras?

Alvarez's exploration of the "quince" is not meant to be scientific. Rather, the award-winning author freely blends statistics with personal observations as she throws herself into all aspects of this rite of passage. We follow Alvarez to Queens, where she interacts with young women and others as she tries to discover both the historical roots and the modern significance of quinceañeras. In the process, Alvarez becomes a virtual member of one family by driving a group of teenagers on emergency quince errands and offering opinions about dresses and other important matters.

Alvarez's return to the Queens of her youth brings up strong memories growing up and attempting to make sense out of life in the United States while maintaining her Dominican heritage. In some of the book's more moving and enlightening passages, she recounts struggles with becoming an independent, successful woman: friction with her parents, two failed marriages, going to school, choosing a career, marrying again.

"Maybe younger women -- younger than me, say, and I'm now in my mid-fifties -- know all of this from the get-go because they've been raised by women of my generation and so have absorbed this knowledge with mother's milk; it can be done -- being your own person."

But Alvarez finds evidence to the contrary.

She recounts the efforts of several women who want to turn the tide of the all-too-common scenario of girls enjoying their quinceañeras only to get pregnant and drop out of school in a year or two.

Ana María Schachtell founded the Stay-in-School Quinceañera Program, which, according to Alvarez, "could well become a model for such programs elsewhere." Each year, Schachtell organizes workshops for about three dozen 14-year-old girls and boys, who get to meet and learn from community leaders, artists, dancers and writers.

Alvarez observes: "What is inspiring about Ana María's program, which is in its eighth year, is that it takes the tradition of the quinceañera, acknowledging its power as a coming-of-age ceremony, but recasts it with new content, including a strong emphasis on education."

The young women we meet through Alvarez's research are vibrant and interesting. And, in truth, they're not unlike most teenagers, who simply want to enjoy life and celebrate milestones with family and friends.

In the end, Alvarez's book is a captivating and fascinating "behind the scenes" peek at quinceañeras. We are honored to be invited into the lives of these young women for a brief moment as they stand -- eager and hopeful -- at the cusp of adulthood.

[This review first appeared in the El Paso Times.]

◙ I received the following e-mail from Daniel Alarcón regarding a fundraiser in response to the recent devastating earthquake in Peru:

You're invited to a party next Wednesday, September 12, at VELVET, 8 p.m. till closing. We’re raising money to support the victims of last month’s earthquake in southern Peru. We’re asking a $10 donation, but no one will be turned away. Please be as generous as possible. We’re hoping to raise $2,000. All funds will be donated to OxFam. I'll be spinning música criolla, samba, salsa, etc., and later on DJ Flavor Fav will hook up the Rock en Español and 80s hits. VELVET is located at 3411 MacArthur Blvd. at 35th Avenue in Oakland's Laurel District, right near the old Farmer Joe's. We'll open at 8 p.m. and will stay until the past person leaves.

For more information, go to the OxFam International website.

◙ Writing for BlogCritics, Sandra Ramos O'Briant reviews HBO’s Big Love, which, if you don’t know by now, is a drama/comedy about polygamy. Ramos O'Briant's work has appeared widely and her short stories have been anthologized in Best Lesbian Love Stories of 2004 (Alyson Publications), Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature (Bilingual Press, forthcoming 2007), and What Wildness is This (University of Texas Press, 2007). Her book reviews have been published on La Bloga and Moorishgirl.

◙ As noted before on La Bloga, Helena María Viramontes and Manuel Muñoz made a joint appearance at the Los Angeles Public Library recently. Well, it is now watchable on LA36 at:http://www.la36.org/aloud/aloud.html.

◙ Alma García is one of the winners of this year's Rona Jaffe Writers Foundation Awards ($25,000.00). García is working to complete her first novel, tentatively titled Shallow Waters, which follows the harrowing year in the lives of the DuPre and Gonzalez families in El Paso, Texas, after Rose DuPre, wife and mother, disappears. She received her M.F.A. from the University of Arizona, and her stories have appeared in Narrative and Passages North, among others. Her Writer’s Award will allow García to write full-time for two years and complete both her first novel and her second, which she has begun to research and also takes place in the Southwest. She lives in Seattle, Washington. Readers can also read one of her short stories, “The Great Beyond,” at Narrative Magazine, in the archives (free registration is required). It's at http://narrativemagazine.com/.

◙ Rigoberto González will be writing for the Poetry Foundation every third day for the next six months. Check it out and feel free to comment!

◙ Just a little note on the upcoming West Hollywood Book Fair which will be held on Sunday, September 30th. I will be moderating a panel on writers who blog. This is the official listing:

TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG
(11:00am-Noon)
Adrienne Crew, Margo Candela, Kevin Roderick, Mark Sarvas
Moderator: Daniel Olivas
Book Signing at Skylight Books booth

Many friends of La Bloga will be appearing…I’ll do a longer post as we get closer to the date.

◙ As I noted last week, you are invited to a special planetarium screening of Gronk’s BrainFlame, the West Coast premiere of an extraordinary animated short in 180-degree projection.

WHEN: Saturday, September 8, 2007

WHERE: Glendale Community College, Planetarium and Science Center, 1500 North Verdugo Road, Glendale 91208

BrainFlame Screenings: 2:00 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:00 pm, 3:30 pm

Art exhibit on BrainFlame and signing of the new book Gronk (UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press) reception: 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm.

This weekend, Agustin Gurza reviewed BrainFlame which includes some very interesting background on the genesis of the project as well as some choice quotes from Gronk.

Screening ticket reservations required. Please reserve early, limited seating. Please RSVP for a specific screening by Sept. 4th: Bryan Robinson (310) 825-7716 or brobinson@support.ucla.edu.

◙ All done. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadres at La Bloga. ¡Lea un libro! --Daniel Olivas