Monday, September 24, 2012

The Ohio State University Press announces the “Contemporary Latino Writers and Directors Series”

Frederick Luis Aldama, series editor

The Ohio State University Press proudly launches the Contemporary Latino Writers and Directors Series with Frederick Luis Aldama serving as the series editor.

Overview

The “Contemporary Latino Writers and Directors” series offers scholars the possibility of formulating an interpretive approach about a single or cluster of contemporary Latino authors (novelist, short story, poet, comic book author/artist) or directors (fiction and/or documentary). The goal of these books is to enrich our understanding of and pay critical attention to Latino authors or film directors. While there are many authors and directors we can readily identify who merit study, there are also (and in a way perhaps unforeseeable at the present time) authors and directors working today--or soon tomorrow--who will have a significant impact within Latino culture and the culture at large. Such an author or director may be the next Junot Díaz or Robert Rodriguez.

The Latino authors and directors published by the series will be assessed according to their cultural impact (present and potential), and not necessarily by the quantity of work done. Junot Díaz is a good case in point. He has published only one novel and two collections of stories, yet his impact has been huge. The same can be said of a film director like Alex Rivera who has made only one film to date, the award-winning Sleep Dealer, yet his cultural influence has been significant.

Books in the series will follow the format of a book-length essay and fall between 45,000 and 50,000 words. Each book will be organized according to major sub-headings rather than traditional chapters. They will present short, engagingly written, useful commentaries on contemporary Latino authors and film directors. While largely jargon-free, when the use of jargon is used (a short hand for a concept, for instance) the writers of the books will define it and explain its application. Theme, chronology, theoretical, or historical frameworks might be used depending on the scholar’s preference; historical, cultural, regional, even biographical information would be included where necessary. These critical studies will provide real criticism that offer readers a true understanding of either a single or series of Latino author(s) or film director (s). Each volume consists of incisive interpretive and critical commentary, historical/biographical information, and a detailed bibliography. Each book will include interviews with the author (or authors) or film director (or directors). These will not slip into hagiographies, but rather shed light on what works and what does not work according to reasoned analysis. That is, they will be interpretive and critical.

While there is no determined length to the interview section, books in the series will include interviews that do not take up more than 10,000 words. The scholar will establish the template for the interview as a last phase of the research and writing so that the questions enrich the information and analysis already presented in the main body of the book. Once again, both everything that precedes the interview and everything in the interview will aim at making the book memorable. There will be no padding. And the interviewee will be allowed to edit for clarity and eventual supplementary information.

The books in the series will be highly informative and critically interpretive in content. They will identify for a large readership the great variety of Latino authors and directors who are actively shaping Latino and mainstream culture. The series will grow with the idea that individually and collectively they will serve a wide ranging function: to make known all variety of Latino authors and directors to all variety of readers--from high school, college, to retirement.

The “Contemporary Latino Writers and Directors” series will offer accessible scholarly inquiry into one aspect (literature and film) that has become a comprehensive Latino cultural presence in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. The series will make visible the contributions of Latino creators working in the areas of literature and film.

SUGGESTED LIST OF AUTHORS

Graphic novelists:

Joe Quesada (Cuban American)
Ivan Velez Jr. (Puerto Rican American)
Frank Espinosa (Cuban American)
Inverna Lockpez (Cuban American)
Wilfred Santiago (Puerto Rican American)
Rafael Navarro (Mexican American)
Rhode Montijo (Mexican American)
Gilbert Hernandez (Mexican American)
Mario Hernandez(Mexican American)
Jaime Hernandez(Mexican American)
Javier Hernandez(Mexican American)

Mexican Americans:

Susana Chávez-Silverman
Emma Pérez
Alma Luz Villanueva
Sheila Ortiz Taylor
Denise Chávez
Xochiquetzal Candelaria
Sesshu Foster
Alfredo Véa
Cecile Pineda
Lucha Corpi
Demetria Martinez
Monseratt Fontes
Michele Serros
Belinda Acosta
Tanya Maria Barrientos
Rudolfo Anaya
Alejandro Morales
Helena María Viramontes
Alicia Gaspar de Alba
Xyta Maya Murray
Tey Diana Rebolledo
Dagoberto Gilb
John Rechy
Salvador Plascencia
Pat Mora
Alurista
Isabella Ríos
Michael Nava
Norma Cantú
Richard Rodriguez
Cristina Ibarra
John J. Valadez

Cuban American:

Matías Montes Huidobro
Gustavo Perez Firmat
Achy Obejas
John Lantigua
Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
Elías Miguel Muñoz
Ruth Behar
Aleida Rodríguez
Ricardo Pau-Llosa
Virgil Suarez
Mirta Ojito
Ana Mendéndez
Margarita Engle
Naomi Ayala
Jack Agüeros
Cecilia Rodríguez
Eric Garcia
Zoé Valdés
Cristina García
Oscar Hijuelos

Dominican American:

Loida Maritza Perez
Rhina Espaillat
Angie Cruz
Rhina Espaillat
Angie Cruz
Julia Alvarez
Nelly Rosario
Marta Moreno Vega

Puerto Rican American:

Sandra Rodriguez Barron
Martín Espada
Irene Vilar
Sofia Quintero
Giannina Braschi
Nicholasa Mohr
Abraham Rodriguez Jr.
Carmen de Monteflores
Esmeralda Santiago
Luisita Lopez Torregrosa

Latino Americans:

Ruben Martinez (Salvadoran American)
Kathleen de Azevedo (Brazilian-American)
Marie Arana (Peruvian-American)
Daniel Alarcón (Peruvian-American)
Ariel Dorfman (Chilean American)
Héctor Tobar (Guatemalan American)
Alberto Ríos (Guatemalan American)
Sylvia Sellers-Garcia (Guatemalan American)
Francisco Goldman (Guatemalan American)
Christina Henriquez (Panamanian American)
Jaime Manrique (Colombian American)
Lilia Cobbs (Colombian American)
C. Dale Young (Latino/Asian)
Sigrid Nunez (Latino/Asian)

SUGGESTED LIST OF DIRECTORS

Carlos Ávila (Mex American)
Jesse Borrego (Mex American)
Paul Espinosa (Mex American)
Gregory Nava (Mex-American)
Lourdes Portillo (Mexican American)
Alfredo De Villa (Mex American)
Hector Galán (Mex American)
Efrain Gutierrez (Mex American)
Nancy de los Santos (Mex American)
Rick Tejada-Flores (Puerto Rican American)
Marcos Zurinaga (Puerto Rican American)
Miguel Arteta (Puerto Rican American
Marcos Zurinaga (Puerto Rican American)
Frances Negrón-Muntaner (Puerto Rican American)
Judith Escalona (Puerto Rican American)
Jacobo Morales (Puerto Rican American)
Franc Reyes (Puerto Rican American)
Linda Mendoza (Cuban American)
Sergio Giral (Cuban American)
Leon Ichaso (Cuban American)
Joe Menendez (Cuban American)
Ramón Menéndez (Cuban American)
George Romero (Cuban American)
Jessy Torrero (Dominican American)
Alfredo De Villa (Mexican American)
Gustavo Hernández Pérez (Venezuelan American)
Rodrigo García (Colombian American)
Orlando Jimenez-Leal (Cuban American)
Patricia Cardoso (Colombian-American)

ABOUT THE SERIES EDITOR:

Frederick Luis Aldama is Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of English at The Ohio State University, United States, where he teaches Latino/a and Latin American post-colonial literature, film, and comics, as well as narrative theory and cognitive science approaches to culture. Prof. Aldama obtained his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1999. He received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in English from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992. For questions about the series or wish to be considered as an author for the series, you may e-mail Prof. Aldama at aldama.1@osu.edu or aldamaf@hotmail.com

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