“Tinta negra, Black Ink, Tinta Nera, Μαύρη μελάνη” by Xánath Caraza

“Tinta negra, Black Ink, Tinta Nera, Μαύρη μελάνη” by Xánath Caraza

 

Xanath Caraza

Tinta negra

 

por Xánath Caraza

 

Llueve en el fosforescente verde matutino.

Descubro entre la cibernética tinta negra,

entre un desconocido norte que es mi sur,

palabras entretejidas con miedos,

sentimientos disfrazados de distancia,

muros metálicos dividen dos países,

dos corazones, madres e hijos,

padres y hermanos, pasado y presente.

 

¿Qué nos hace diferentes?

 

Somos manos que escriben,

que trabajan, limpian y guían

en la oscuridad más grande.

 

¿Qué es una frontera?

 

Límites creados,

culturas forzadas

a darse la espalda.

 

Llueve en el fosforescente verde matutino.

Descubro entre la tinta negra

de esta pantalla de luz artificial,

los hombres y mujeres sin nombre

que apenas dejan rastro de su existencia

en los desiertos. 

 

Anónimos seres que nunca

serán reclamados.

 

Esperan las madres orgullosas

a los hijos e hijas tragados por

la flamígera arena del desierto.

 

Rojo atardecer llena mi pantalla

y la tinta negra empieza a sangrar.

 

 

Xanath Caraza

Black Ink

 

Translated by Sandra Kingery

 

It’s raining in the phosphorescent greenness of daybreak.

I discover in the cybernetic black ink,

in an unknown north that is my south,

words interwoven with fears,

emotions disguised as distance,

metallic walls dividing two nations,

two hearts, mothers and children,

fathers and siblings, past and present.

 

What makes us different?

 

We are hands that write,

that work cleaning and guiding

in the darkest dark.

 

What is a border?

 

Created limits,

cultures forced

to turn their back.

 

It’s raining in the phosphorescent greenness of daybreak.

I discover in the black ink

of this screen of artificial light,

nameless men and women

who barely leave a trace of their existence in the deserts. 

 

Anonymous beings who

will never be claimed.

 

Proud mothers awaiting 

sons and daughters swallowed

by the scorching desert sand. 

 

Red twilight fills my screen

and the black ink begins to bleed.

 

 

Xanath Caraza

Tinta Nera

 

Tradotto da Andrea Garbin

 

Piore nel fosforescente verde mattutino.

Copro nella cibernetica tinta nera,

in uno sconosciuto nord che è il mio sud,

parole intrecciate con paure,

sentimenti mascherati da distanza

muri metallici dividono due paesi

due cuori, madri e figli

padri e fratelli, passato e presente.

 

Cosa ci rende differenti?

 

Siamo mani che scrivono,

che lavorano, che puliscono e guidano

nell’oscurita più gande.

 

Cos’ è una frontiera?

 

Limiti creati,

culture forzate

a voltarsi le spalle.

 

Piove nel fosforescente verde matutino.

Scopro dentro la tinta nera di questo

schermo di luce artificiale,

le ombre e donna senza nome

che a stento lasciano una traccia della

lore esistenza nei deserti. 

 

Esseri anonimi che non saranno

mai reclamati.

 

Sperano le madri orgoliose

dei loro figli e figlie inghioltiti dalla

fiammoggiante sabbia del deserto.

 

Il rosso crespuscolo riempie

il mio schermo e la tinta nera

cumincia a sanguinare.

 

Xanath Caraza

Μαύρη μελάνη

 

Translated to the Greek by María José Martínez Rodríguez and her students: Angelikí Patera, Stella Panagopoulou, Katerina Apostolaki, Varvara Asouti, Tatiana Basakou, Timoklia Dougali, Afroditi Papatheodorou

 

Βρέχει στο λαμπερό πράσινο του πρωινού

ανακαλύπτω ανάμεσα στη μαύρη μελάνη του κυβερνοχώρου

ανάμεσα σ’ έναν άγνωστο βορρά που είναι ο νότος μου

λέξεις υφασμένες με φόβους

αισθήματα μεταμφιεσμένα από απόσταση μεταλλικά

τείχη διαιρούν δυο χώρες

δυο καρδιές, μητέρες και παιδιά

Γονείς και αδέρφια, παρελθόν και παρόν

 

Τι μας κάνει διαφορετικούς;

 

Είμαστε χέρια που γράφουν, που εργάζονται

καθαρίζουν και οδηγούν στο πιο μεγάλο σκοτάδι

 

Τι είναι τα σύνορα; Όρια φτιαχτά

πολιτισμοί πειθαναγκασμένοι να γυρίζουν την πλάτη

βρέχει στο λαμπερό πράσινο του πρωινού

ανακαλύπτω ανάμεσα στη μαύρη μελάνη αυτής της

οθόνης με τεχνητό φως τους άνδρες

και τις γυναίκες χωρίς όνομα που μόλις

 

αφήνουν ίχνη της ύπαρξης τους

στις ερήμους. Ανώνυμα πλάσματα

 

που ποτέ δεν θα αναζητηθούν

οι μητέρες περήφανες περιμένουν τους

γιους και τις κόρες που κατάπιε η φλογισμένη

 

άμμος της ερήμου. Κόκκινο σούρουπο γεμίζει την

οθόνη μου και η μαύρη μελάνη αρχίζει

να ματώνει.

 

Tinta negra / Black Ink

Author:  Xánath Caraza

Publisher: Pandora Lobo Estepario Press (April, 2016)

 

Tinta Negra / Μαύρη μελάνη

Author: Xánath Caraza

Publisher: Pandora Lobo Estepario Press (2019) (Spanish-Greek)

 

Cover art by Silvia Santos

 

Tinta negra / Black Ink by Xánath Caraza received Honorable Mention for ‘Best Book of Poetry in Spanish-One Author’ for the 2017 International Latino Book Awards

 

Xanath Caraza

APPLICATION FOR MACONDO WRITERS WORKSHOP 2026

For more information and to apply visit, 

https://macondowriters.com

 

 

Workshop applications/registration for the 2026 workshop are now for everyone. All essential information is detailed in the application form which is made available on this link, https://macondowriters.com/workshop/

 

MACONDO WRITERS WORKSHOP 2026

JULY 20- JULY 26, 2026

TRINITY UNIVERSITY

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

The Macondo Writers Workshop is an association of socially-engaged writers working to advance creativity, foster generosity, and serve the community. Founded in 1995 by writer Sandra Cisneros and named after the town in Gabriel García Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, the workshop gathers writers from all genres who work on geographic, cultural, economic, gender, and spiritual borders. An essential aspect of the Workshop is a global sense of community; participants recognize their place as writers in our society and the world. We are also seasoned writers who demonstrate a professional or master’s level of writing. Qualified applicants must meet both criteria. Excellent writing does not excuse poor community spirit; vice-versa, an impressive record of community involvement does not excuse poor writing. Macondo is a gift we give to one another, with willing hands and open hearts. 

The deadline to submit your online application and non-refundable registration fee is February 22, 2026. Accepted participants will be notified by April 1, 2026.

Looking Back To Move Forward

Thirteen Years Later

by Thelma  T. Reyna  

Oil painting by @ Victor Cass

 

These harrowing times feel familiar to me.  Our basic human and Constitutional rights are assaulted daily by federal agents deployed by Trump. In 2013, I wrote a book titled Life & Other Important Things (only published one author’s copy). The book addresses issues in our nation at that time, when President Obama was at the beginning of his second term, with the GOP in control;  and Trump was active on the sidelines. It’s a collection of excerpts from my published writings, print and online. Here are some:

 

A nation that systematically, arbitrarily denies to a class of citizens its Constitutional rights to equal protection under the law, and equal access to the rights that other citizens enjoy, is a nation in danger of losing its soul. 

                                                                                                            ••••

 

Ideologues evidently believe that if they tell their lies often enough, consistently enough, with all the ideologues agreeing to cite the same script, like banging a giant drum that deafens rationality, the people will believe them, and the ideologues' policies will prevail. They'll win because their lies won….The only antidote is education.

                                                                                                            

••••

 

When the people unite and speak out together against injustice, discrimination, greed, and inhumanity, the perpetrators of these ills will eventually listen. It's silence that perpetrators crave, silence from those who suffer at their hands. 

••••

 

Our nation is at a dangerous crossroads: ….Conservative legislators say that the poor must give up more. Now Social Security is targeted for partial dismantling, and Medicare is in the Republicans' bulls-eye for termination and deliverance to corporate control. Now school funding is gutted, and children are packed like sardines into decaying buildings. Now poor children's food is taken away, and poor mothers' healthcare and family planning are stripped as well. Women's sovereignty over their bodies is stolen. Brilliant, motivated students who happen to be poor are excluded from colleges due to termination of grants and other funding that could have helped them improve their lives. Now our environment is also being delivered to corporate control so they can do with it as they wish: pollute, poison, ignore...whatever is best for their bottom line. Our nation is headed to a more dire bankruptcy than the economic one we face: bankruptcy of humanity.

 

••••

 

When millions of voices roar together--­the voices of old and young, rich and poor, gay and straight, middle class and disadvanta­ged, men and women, brown, black, yellow, red, and every other color in the spectrum--­it's a mighty roar indeed! Again and again, history has proven, in nation after nation, that the power of the people marching in the streets, united in their rejection of oppression­, cannot be overcome. It may take time, and it may take bloodshed, . . . but the magnitude of the people's collective voice is difficult to nullify.

 

••••

Looking back to 2013 now, it’s also harrowing to realize how history repeats itself, how injustice recycles itself like the proverbial bad penny coming back, how slow meaningful change can be…how fragile and vulnerable democracy is. But we the people must always believe that solidarity in defending our freedoms is a viable alternative. The march goes on.

                                                                                          

Chicanonautica: Sacrificing for the Aztec Empire with Chano and Cantinflas

  

by Ernest Hogan

I think we need a break from all the infernal politics and shameless self-promotion, so why not some chatter about a weird Mexican movie?

I was scrolling down Facebook when I saw a photo of Cantinflas—(I shouldn’t have to explain who he is, but kids and gringos may not have heard of him) a famous Mexican comedian—posing like he was carrying the Aztec Sunstone. From the size of it it could have been the real thing. It was from a movie with a tantalizing title: El Signo de La Muerte.

I Googled it. It was directed by Chano Urueta—a favorite of mine. And it was on YouTube. Sometime I want to make a blood offering to this wondrous age . . .

Once again, Chano delivered. 

It’s a pulpy tale shot in shadowy black&white from 1939. A professor has a cult and underground teocalli (they use the word) where he’s sacrificing virgins to Quetzalcoatl as part of a ritual to “resurrect the Aztec Empire.” Fun!

And some peculiarities:

Cantinflas, and Mendel (first name Manuel) --looks like a Charlie Chaplin wannabe--have star-billing, their names appear before the title, but seem to be included as an afterthought. They never interact with the rest of the cast, and if their scenes were all cut, the plot would remain intact. The way it is with a lot of lucha libre movies, of which Urueta also directed his share. You can imagine the producer saying (in Spanish, of course), “This crime thriller needs something. Call Santo and Blue Demon!”

The only thing that’s missing is a nightclub scene where we’re treated to an entire song and dance number.

During the sacrifices, the virgins’ breasts are bare. Taboos about nipples were different across the border back then. The breasts are also quickly splashed with blood–that was probably chocolate syrup, which would have come in handy for a different kind of ritual.

Also, a bourgeois matron exclaims how wonderful it would be to be sacrificed to the gods!

There are also scenes where actual Aztec artifacts–the Sunstone, the Grand Coatlicue, and others–are shown.

If that weren’t enough, in the inserted comedy scenes, Cantinflas bamboozles Mendel--who plays a typical bumbling investigator--by demonstrating magic powers that are not explained or figured into the story.

So, it’s not just a fun oddity, but has cultural significance, too!

I keep thinking that it would have been better with some additional scenes in which Cantinflas turns out to be an avatar of Quetzalcoatl (or maybe Tezcatlipoca) who has his own ideas about resurrecting the Aztec Empire.

Maybe a remake is in order.

Ernest Hogan is getting ready for the release of his latest story, “A Wild and Wooly Road Trip on Mars,” (another adventure of Paco Cohen, Tejano/Martian mariachi) in Xicanxfuturism: Gritos for Tomorrow / Codex II. 

A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez

Written by María Dolores Águila 

*Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

*Language: English

*Print length: 304 pages

*ISBN-10: 1250342619

*ISBN-13: 978-1250342614

*Reading age: 8 - 12 years

Based on the true story of Roberto Alvarez and the Lemon Grove Incident, this vivid and uplifting middle grade debut novel in verse about one young child's courage to stand up for what is right, and the determination of the Mexican community is perfect for fans of ESPERANZA RISING and INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. 



WHEN INJUSTICE GROWS, RESISTANCE BLOOMS.

Twelve-year-old Roberto Alvarez is the youngest of his siblings, born on United States soil. He’s el futuro, their dream for a life away from the fire of the Mexican Revolution.



Moved by anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican propaganda, the Lemon Grove school board and chamber of commerce create a separate “Americanization” school for the Mexican children attending the Lemon Grove Grammar School. But the new Olive Street School is an old barn retrofitted for the children forced to attend a segregated school.



Amid threats of deportation, the Comité de Vecinos risk everything to stand their ground and, with the support of the Mexican Consulate, choose Roberto as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the school board in this vivid and uplifting novel in verse based on true events.



From award-winning author María Dolores Águila (Barrio Rising) comes an inspiring novel in verse set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and Mexican Repatriation, based on the true story of the United States' first successful school desegregation case, two decades before Brown v. Board of Education ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

Review

John Newbery Honor Book 


Pura Belpré Honor Book 


Jane Addams Children's Book Award Winner 


Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction Winner 


NCTE Charlotte Huck Children's Book Award Winner 





“This impeccably researched account imparts timely, heartening messages about community activism that will resonate.” ―Publishers Weekly



"This National Book Award longlisted title is both a history lesson and a spotlight on a century of advocacy by the Latino community in the United States." ―Shelf Awareness

"

This well-written story of underexplored history makes a large impact . . . sure to entrance readers.” ―School Library Journal

About the Author

María Dolores Águila is Pura Belpré Honor and John Newbery Honor-winning author from San Diego. Deeply inspired by Chicane history and art, she seeks to write empowering and inclusive stories about everything she learns. She also loves drinking coffee, browsing the bookshelves at her local library, and spending time with her family. She is the author of the critically-acclaimed picture book, Barrio Rising, illustrated by Magdalena Mora, and the award-winning middle-grade novel in verse, A Sea of Lemon Trees.