CALL FOR PAPERS

THE KEEPING BROWN LITERATURE BOOMING PROJECT: A UNIQUE WAY TO GIVE BACK

Monday's post from Daniel Olivas...

The editors of Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature (Longman, 2005) and LatinoStories.com are accepting previously published scholarly essays, books, book reviews, and interviews that focus on U.S. Latino literature, to which contributors hold rights. The purpose of the project is to revive and keep alive scholarly and analytical works that were published in the past but may not be so easily accessible (e.g., the work is out of print or it may have been originally published for a limited audience). The editors will publish these works in LatinoStories.com and thus make these resources available to an international audience that includes faculty, students, and individuals from disadvantaged educational or financial backgrounds who cannot so easily access other sources. The ultimate goal is to promote and provide a free credible web source for the study of Latino Literature. An example of the type of work is John S. Christie's Latino Fiction and the Modernist Imagination, which was originally published by Garland Press but is now fully available on LatinoStories.com.

Guidelines: Only electronic files. Please make note of the original publication date and the name of the periodical in which the work previously appeared and/or the name of the publisher. Most journals hold only first-time publication rights, but be sure to confirm that you now hold the rights to the work. Upon publication of the work in LatinoStories.com, contributors will continue to hold the copyright. No payment but we can guarantee that this will be a rewarding and a unique way to give back and to keep previously published work from fading into unfortunate oblivion.

Submit to:
José B. González, Ph.D.
John S. Christie, Ph.D.
editors@latinostories.com
Or visit here

IGNORING BROWN FOLK: Ilan Stavans offers sharp observations in a recent San Francisco Chronicle essay entitled “What's civil rights history without Latinos?” This is the opening paragraph:

The other day, while browsing through the excellent two-volume set on the civil rights movement "Reporting Civil Rights," published by the Library of America, I was flabbergasted by a glaring absence. In that almost 1,000-page-long fiesta of journalism about a crucial period in the country's past, the presence of Latinos is nil. Not a single mention is made of César Chávez and the farmworkers. The index includes nothing about Chicanos.

It’s a pretty disturbing analysis by Stavans. Stavans, a prolific and provocative writer, is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His latest book, The Disappearance: A Novella and Stories, is coming out this month from Triquarterly.

TACO TESTIMONY: My review of Denise Chávez’s new memoir, A Taco Testimony (Rio Nuevo) appeared in yesterday’s El Paso Times. I note, in part:

Chávez is an engaging writer who has a well-honed talent for describing in intimate detail everything from human foibles to mouthwatering Mexican delicacies. She also confronts life in all its beautiful and painful permutations. This is a testimony well-worth reading.

All done. Sorry about the brevity of my post but I’ve just gotten back from vacation and I’m under the weather as well. Such is life. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadre at La Bloga. ¡Lea un libro!