Cinco de Mayo

Manuel Ramos

CINCO DE MAYO
NEW BOOKS FROM FLORICANTO PRESS
LATINO POETS IN ILLINOIS
ROLANDO HINOJOSA GETS A CLUE
STORIES ON STAGE
LATINO BOOKS MONTH

CINCO DE MAYO
From Mexonline.com: "The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some recognition in other parts of the Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16." There is plenty of information about this holiday and the Battle of Puebla on the Net. For example, go here for a good summary - same site that has the above graphic of Benito Juárez.

NEW BOOKS FROM FLORICANTO PRESS
Floricanto Press announced the recent publication of several books, including:


Jalapeño Blues, Trinidad Sánchez, Jr., a poetry collection described as "full of heart, humor and joyful song; they are a history of Chicanos and working class struggle. They give life to forgotten souls and pay tribute to those 'unrecorded in history.'"

La Picardía Chicana: Latino Folk Humor - Folklore Latino Jocoso, José R. Reyna, "the result of thirty years of work, contains five hundred twenty-six jokes which are reproduced here verbatim from tape recordings collected in the field. ...This book represents the best of Mexican American joke tradition."

Bruno Estañol: The Collected Fiction, translation from the Spanish and preface by Eduardo Jiménez: "The narratives collected in this volume are mainly set in the State of Tabasco, during the turbulent time period running from the Mexican Revolution to the late 1950’s. ... Estañol’s skeptical, ironical and slightly philosophical brand of humor resonates with the work of such fellow Latin American writers as Juan José Arreola, Jorge Luis Borges, and Ernesto Sábato."

Go to the Floricanto site for more about new books and the backlist.

LATINO POETS IN ILLINOIS
Francisco Aragón, founding editor of Momotombo Press, will lead a panel discussion on small press publication of poetry and fiction at 4 p.m., Friday May 12th, in the Alumni Room, Old Main, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. The other panelists are María Meléndez, an associate editor at Momotombo Press, and Steven Cordova, a Momotombo chapbook author.
All three will also give a poetry reading at 8 p.m., Friday, May at Cherry Street Restaurant, 57 S. Cherry, Galesburg. The events are free and open to the public. More info here.

ROLANDO HINOJOSA GETS A CLUE


The Spring, 2006 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection has as its theme Hispanic Detective Fiction. Rolando Hinojosa graces the cover of this issue and one of the major articles in the issue is Crime and Community in the Rafe Buenrostro Mysteries by Mary Sanders Pollock. This article is introduced this way: "Rolando Hinojosa’s Partners in Crime (1985) and Ask a Policeman (1998) belong to a multivolume, multigeneric exploration of the Texas-Mexico border, the Klail City Death Trip series. Although Hinojosa’s novels defy reader expectations of detective fiction, they contribute to a broader canvas of Rio Grande Valley life, a zone of heightened danger, deep friendship, complicated history, and multiethnic community."

Other articles in this issue include Neoliberal Noir: Contemporary Central American Crime Fiction as Social Criticism by Misha Kokotovic; Crimes Present, Motives Past: A Function of National History in the Contemporary Spanish Detective Novel by Shelley Godsland and Stewart King; and Forging National Identities: The Classic Detective Story in Argentina by Gianna M. Martella.

STORIES ON STAGE
Stories on Stage is a Colorado non-profit performing arts organization that showcases local and national actors in dramatic readings of short fiction. Stories on Stage presents literary stories by writers of diverse cultural groups, read by professional actors of varying backgrounds to an audience that reflects Denver's unique community. On May 19 - 20, Stories on Stage presents the play Beyond the Border, which uses the words of Tom Tancredo, Ken Salazar, Rosa Brooks, Waldo Benavidez, Tina Griego and others to explore the complex issue of immigration and Latino identity. Denver's José Mercado (North High School's Zoot Suit Riots and One Love) brings this production to life as the director. Hollywood actors Tony Plana and Ada Maris will join local performers Adriana Gaviria, Gabriela Cavallero, and Manuel Roybal. Tickets are $25, which you can order here.

LATINO BOOKS MONTH
The Association of American Publishers Publishing Latino Voices for America (PLVA) Task Force has declared May to once again be Latino Books Month. According to the PLVA announcement, "throughout the month of May, booksellers, librarians, and others in the book industry are encouraged to promote reading among Latinos in their communities, and to raise awareness of the rich variety of books authored by Latinos that are available in both English and Spanish." Has this changed your reading life?

Later.