SPOTLIGHT ON SARA CAMPOS

Monday’s post from Daniel Olivas…

Sara Campos is an MFA candidate at Mills College. An immigration lawyer for over 15 years, she weaves many immigration themes into her writing. She is a multi-genre writer whose fiction and poetry is either forthcoming or has been published in St. Ann's Review, LongStoryShort, PenWomanship and NewVersesNews. Her op-ed pieces have been published in the San Francisco Examiner, The San Francisco Daily Journal and The Recorder. She has also published book reviews in Water Bridge Review and BeyondChron. Her most recent short story is “Domingo” which appears in the winter 2006 issue of St. Ann’s Review. (Pictured: cover of new issue.)

NUEVO LIBRO: Rigoberto González reviews Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano's collection, Santo de la Pata Alzada: Poems from the Queer/Xicano/Positive Pen (Evelyn Street Press), where the “speaker” of these poems “traces the ache of familial rejection, the loss of faith, and the triumphs and failures of same-sex relationships.” González adds that this collection, “with its brazen title, risk-taking subject matter and colorful vocabulary, is in fact a touching book—a young poet's story of his exile from home and church, and his arrival to a family and faith in a community no less valuable or valid than the one he lost.”

CON TINTA CELEBRATION IN AUSTIN, TEJAS: Con Tinta, a coalition of Chicano/Latino cultural activists, poets and writers, is hosting a pachanga in Austin on Thursday, March 9, 2006, at Doña Emilia's South American Bar and Grill. The evening (6:00-8:30 p.m.) will feature award presentations to two of our veterano writers, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith and raúlrsalinas. The Quetzal Quill Reading Series will feature Diana Marie Delgado, Brenda Cardenas, and Lorna Dee Cervantes. Admission is free. The Public is invited. Open buffet/Cash bar. (Donations are welcomed.) The first-time event will coincide with the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference. This year’s conference will include over thirty panels and readings featuring a diverse community of Chicano/Latino voices: Francisco Aragon, Norma Cantu, Lisa D. Chavez, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Blas Manuel de Luna, Christine Granados, Dagoberto Gilb, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Carolina Monsivais, Alberto Rios, and many others. This gathering in Austin is part of Con Tinta’s community outreach efforts. The collective’s mission is to create awareness through the cultivation of emerging talent, through the promotion and presentation of artistic expression, and through the collective voice of support to our members, our communities, and our allies. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Richard Yañez, Con Tinta Advisory Circle member, at theclica@hotmail.com.

NEW BLOGGER: Reyna Grande has just started her own blog. Grande’s first novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, will be published this summer by Atria Books. Also, Grande will be one of the guest authors at the Chica Lit Club Festival in Miami on May 19 to 21, 2006. Visit the Festival's website for more information.

SOMOS PRIMOS: The March issue of Somos Primos is out. Edited by Mimi Lozano, Somos Primos is dedicated to “Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues.”

KEEP ON HUMMIN’: Luis Alberto Urrea’s magnificent novel, The Hummingbird's Daughter (Little, Brown), is a finalist in fiction for the Pacific Rim Voices Kiriyama Prize. It's the 10th annual award. The real news is that Urrea is the first author ever to be a finalist for the award in both fiction and nonfiction. You can read more at http://www.kiriyamaprize.org/.

MISSISSIPPI REVIEW (ONLINE) CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Accepting submissions now
Theme: Mexico/Cortos (Short Films)
Edited by Peter Theis
Fiction, Maximum 1500 words
Format: Microsoft Word or RTF files
Submissions end: March 25, 2006
Issue publication: April 2, 2006
Submissions to Peter Theis

From the editor: “There are approximately 20 million Mexicans living in the United States and over 1 million U.S. Citizens living in Mexico, but how much do most of us know of life in Mexico? Vendors selling steaming lamb heads in the markets of Xochimilco. The town clown who rides his bicycle backwards and knows all the sexual adventures of everyone in the area, including nuns and priests. The ugly, short, charismatic man who made rain with a Volkswagen engine on mountain tops. The turtle reserve and the freshly baked chocolate nut bread on the beach in Mazunte. Major U.S. banks urging violent ‘elimination’ of the Zapatistas to benefit those in the ‘investment community.’ We want to see strong, clear, difficult, terrifying, strange, humorous, and unexpected stories featuring, set in, and/or about Mexico, preferably stories that might lend themselves to short film.” For more information, visit MR's guidelines.

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