FOREWORD BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Monday’s post from Daniel Olivas…

From ForeWord’s Website:

Over the years ForeWord has had the distinct honor of acknowledging and recognizing excellence in publishing from independent presses. This year, the seventh annual, was no exception. From 1,540 book submissions to be considered for the 2005 Book of the Year Awards, an editorial team of judges narrowed the field to 604 finalists in 55 categories. Winners for Gold, Silver and Bronze will be determined by our readership of booksellers and librarians. ForeWord’s BOTYA program was designed specifically for them to share in the process of discovering distinctive books across a number of genres with judgments based on their own authority in each category and on their patron/customer interests. The winners as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction ($1500 each) will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America at the Washington Convention Center in Washington DC Friday, May 19th, 2006 from 3 - 4:30 p.m. in room 147A. The program will also feature presentations from keynote speakers and refreshments. Everyone is welcome.

So, why is this of importance to La Bloga? Well, as the poet Francisco Aragón informs us, of the 22 finalists for poetry, four are Latino/a and in fiction, one Latina:

Judith Ortiz Cofer
for A LOVE STORY BEGINNING IN SPANISH
(University of Georgia Press)

Orlando Ricardo Menes
for FURIA
(Milkweed Editions)

Luis J. Rodriguez
for MY NAME IS HUNGER
(Curbstone Press)

Rane Arroyo
for THE PORTABLE FAMINE
In fiction:

Sylvia Torti
for THE SCORPIAN'S TAIL
(Curbstone Press)

Show your support for these wonderful works of literature! ¡Felicidades a todos!

BOOK READINGS AND SIGNINGS:

◘ David Hernandez reads from his new collection, Always Danger, Winner of the Crab Orchard Award Series in Poetry. March 2 3, 7:00 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 6326 East Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach, CA 90803. Phone: 562-431-2253.

◘ A book signing will be held for Professor Tara Yosso’s new publication, Critical Race Counterstories Along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline. The event will be held on Friday, March 24, 2006, at 5:30 p.m. at the UCLA Faculty Center, Hacienda Room. For more information, email the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: From one of my favorite online literary journals, Tattoo Highway, I received this:

The editors and staff of Tattoo Highway, an online journal of poetry, prose and art, are now reading for TH/13: "Luck, Chance & (mis)Fortune." (Interpret this theme literally or figuratively, as you wish.) DEADLINE: June 1, 2006. Submission Guidelines: Our tastes are eclectic. We like fresh, vivid language, and we like stories and poems that are actually about something — that acknowledge a world beyond the writer's own psyche. If they have an edge, if they provoke us to think or make us laugh, so much the better. We strongly suggest reading a previous issue or two before submitting. Submissions may be of any length. However, we particularly welcomepoetry and very short prose or cross-genre pieces (1000 words or fewer), since they are "screen-reader friendly." However, we do occasionally publish short fiction of 2500+ words. We encourage hypertext and new media (Flash .swf) submissions, also photographs and original graphics. All readings are "blind" (authors' names and other identifiers removed). Submit up to 5 poems, prosepoems or flash fictions (500 words max), or 2 longer prose pieces. Artists and photographers should send no more than 5 images; if we'd like to see more we'll ask. While we prefer to receive work that has not been previously published, we do consider work that has appeared in small-circulation print journals. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know promptly if you place your piece elsewhere. As always, we're featuring our contest: "A Picture Worth 500 Words." How to submit to Tattoo Highway: Email submissions to submissions@tattoohighway.org as a Rich Text Format (RTF) attachment or as plain text in the body of your message, and with TH13 in the subject line. For hypertext and Flashsubmissions, provide us with an URL where we may view the work online. Send graphics in .gif or .jpg format. We reserve the right to resize large images.

GOOD BOOKS, GOOD KARMA: And I received this from a blogger friend, Debra Hamel:

Hello again! I'm writing to remind folks that the April 2006 Buy a Friend a Book Week is nearly upon us. I've updated the BAFAB site -- http://www.buyafriendabook.com/ -- so that it now includes recommendations from our latest guest reviewer, John Shors (author of Beneath a Marble Sky). The recommended books for April's BAFAB week are:

Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father

James Clavell, Tai-Pan

Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Edward Falco, Wolf Point

James Lileks, Mommy Knows Worst

BAFAB, which began life in the middle of 2005, urges visitors to celebrate four Buy a Friend a Book (BAFAB) weeks per year, in the first weeks of January, April, July, and October. The idea is simple: buy a book (from any source, used or new) and give it to an unsuspecting friend. Good karma, good books. The idea, which is catching on in the blogosphere, is meant to promote reading and to encourage people to read books they might not normally select.

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