Saturday, March 26, 2005

Pedacitos y Pedazos - Sabado Santo

Manuel Ramos

One Book, One Boulder, One Denver
Curious New Voices
And Yet More Best Books of 2004
Art For Easter Weekend

One Book, One Boulder, One Denver
I've already written about the selection of Sandra Cisneros's book Caramelo for the One Book, One Denver event (Pedacitos y Pedazos). So it's double cool that Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima was selected by Boulder for its One Book, One Boulder festivities, especially in light of the flap created by the high school principal in rural Colorado who banned the book (I'm Not Making Up Any Of This). What a mistake that turned out to be and what a public relations nightmare for that school.

Boulder has an interesting series of events scheduled for Anaya including An Evening With Rudolfo Anaya, April 22, 7:30 PM, St. Julien Hotel Ballroom. Tickets are free (limit 2 per person; personal pick-up only; no reservations) and until they are gone can be picked up at the main entrance desk of the south wing of the Boulder Public Library (11th and Arapahoe) starting April 12.

Rudy Anaya is another treasure of Chicano culture we should support and acknowledge while he is still with us and, apparently, writing wonderful books. I haven't read his latest yet, Jemez Spring, but it is racking up super reviews. For example, the LA Times, the Albuquerque Journal, the San Antonio Express-News.

Meanwhile, Denver moves on with its One Book celebration. I am scheduled to be on a panel that will discuss Caramelo at the University of Colorado at Denver on April 4 from noon to 1:30 PM at the Auraria Campus Student Center. Other panel participants include Angel Vigil, educator and storyteller who specializes in the traditional stories of the Hispanic Southwest and Mexico; John-Michael Rivera, author and Assistant Professor of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Cate Wiley, poet and Associate Professor of English, University of Colorado at Denver; and Margarita Barceló, Professor of English and Chicana/o Studies at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Should be a good time.

Curious New Voices
An announcement from the Curious Theatre Company (Denver) -


"This year, one of our guest instructors for Curious New Voices (the youth playwriting program) will be Pulitzer winner Suzan-Lori Parks. If you know folks between the ages of 15-21 who would be a good match for the 3 week intensive workshop, encourage them to talk to Dee here at the theatre for more details. She's at 303-623-2349 or dee@curioustheatre.org. Somehow it's really tough to get kids to apply and it's a phenomenal program.

Plus, tuition is fully underwritten this year- i.e. FREE (thanks to a matching grant from the Olsen-Vander Heyden Foundation and many individuals who have stepped up to help). They'll need to apply by submitting a short play by June 1st.

I also have a great 5 minute DVD that explains the program. If I can send one to you for your consideration to present to a class, drop me a line.

For information on Suzan-Lori Parks go here. She was the screenwriter of the recent TV adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Her Pulitzer-prize winning play Topdog/Underdog opened on Broadway with Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def in the leading roles. The Shadow Theatre will have the regional premiere of this play in June-July 2005.
Mare Trevathan
Marketing Director
Curious Theatre Company
http://www.curioustheatre.org/
303-623-2349
Playing through April 23rd:PARIS ON THE PLATTE: The Remarkable Reign of Robert Speer"

And Yet More Best Books Of 2004
These books are from Publishers Weekly's list of The Best Books of 2004. There are dozens of books listed by PW; below are the Latino-themed. The comments are from PW

Locas: The Maggie and Hopey Stories, Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics) Masterful stories about the lovers Maggie, girl mechanic, and Hopey, punk chick troublemaker, in the midst of the 1980s Southern California Chicano-youth and punk rock scene

Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary, Alberto Grando, trans. from the Spanish by Luciá Álvarez de Toledo (Newmarket) A moving, perceptive memoir recounting an eight-month-long South American tour that Granado, then a 29-year-old doctor, and Ernesto "Che" Guevara took in 1952

Infinitas Gracias: Contemporary Mexican Votive Painting, Alfred Vilchis Roque; text by Pierre Schwartz (Chronicle) Intensely moving work from Mexico City retablo master Roque and his sons; a deep introduction to a vital art of prayer.

Parenting with Pride——Latino Style: How to Help Your Child Cherish Your Cultural Values and Succeed in Today’s World, Carmen Inoa Vazquez (Rayo) For Latino parents, a primer on how to raise children biculturally, from an expert in the field.

Art For Easter Weekend

The Denver Post highlights Spanish Colonial Art, Santos and Santeros in an article that begins:"New York had the Hudson River School. Illinois spawned the Chicago Imagists. And California was home to Bay Area Figuration. But Colorado and New Mexico can lay claim to something that few other states can match - not just a movement but a distinctive, indigenous style with more than a 300-year history. Known today as contemporary Spanish colonial art, this predominantly religious work traces its roots to Spanish-controlled Mexico but took on its own distinctive look after the country received its independence in 1821."

Santeros y Santeras: Expanding Traditions

THROUGH MAY 8 Show of contemporary Spanish colonial art
Foothills Art Center, 809 15th St., Golden
FREE 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays (303-279-3922) or www.foothillsartcenter.org

Belated feliz cumpleaños a Don Benito.

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