Altar Girls To Chicano Blues

Manuel Ramos

AWARDS
A recent press release announced the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association 2007 Regional Book Awards.

The Awards will be presented and the authors will speak at a banquet at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin, TX on March 30, 2007. The banquet is open to the public.

The 2007 Regional Book Award for Adult Fiction is Cottonwood Saints, Gene Guerin, UNM Press. This book recently also was awarded the Premio Aztlán.

The Spirit of the West Literary Achievement Award will also be presented at the banquet. This Award is given to an author whose body of work captures the unique spirit of the Mountains & Plains region. This year's winner is Linda Hogan, a Chickasaw poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and activist. Ms. Hogan is widely considered to be one of the most provocative and influential Native American figures in the contemporary American literary landscape. She is the author and editor of numerous books including The Woman Who Watches Over the World: A Native Memoir; Power; Solar Storms; Intimate Nature: The Bond Between Women and Animals; The Sweet Breathing of Plants: Women Writing on the Green World. Mean Spirit was the recipient of the 1991 MPIBA Regional Book Award in the category of Fiction. Ms. Hogan has also been the recipient of an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, an NEA grant, a Lannan Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among many others. She is currently a professor of Native American studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association is a non-profit association formed over 40 years ago with the primary purpose of supporting independent bookstores and raising awareness of the value of independent businesses within our communities. The Regional Book Awards were instituted in 1990. For more information or to order tickets for the banquet in Austin, TX, visit the website at www.mountainsplains.org or call 1-800-752-0249.

As noted by UNM Press, Cottonwood Saints "chronicles the lives of a New Mexico woman and her son, Michael. Margarita Juana Galvan was born in a lumber camp in 1913 and is brought up like a little princess in her grandparents' hacienda. In contrast, Margarita's adult life is spent in depression-ridden Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Told through Michael, Margarita's story embodies the challenges faced by an intelligent, independent-minded girl maturing in a man's world. Margarita and her family's lives intersect with the prominent events of the century: the influenza pandemic of 1918, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Depression, and World War II.

Based on the life of Guerin's mother, Cottonwood Saints connects the lives of the poorest citizens of New Mexico to the local power structure."

EVENTS
Tia Chucha's 5 Year Anniversary Celebration
The website for Tia Chucha's Cafe & Cultural Center includes a message from Luis J. Rodriguez about the ongoing struggle to preserve the center and all that it stands for. Here's some of that message:

"This is a time to come together, strategize, and work to keep Tia Chucha's viable as a cultural center while we explore our options. We will not give up. We will find a temporary space; we will also curtail our retail operations while we concentrate on our programming, events, outreach, fundraising, and growth."

Part of the fundraising strategy includes an upcoming anniversary party. The details:

February 17
12737 Glenoaks Blvd., #22Sylmar, CA 91342
Live Performances, Presentations, Guest Speakers, Food, Raffles, Vendors, Book Sale

12 - 5pm
*Children's Author Reading w/ René Colato Laínez
* Teatro
*Shadow Puppet Show
*Children Songs

5-11pm
Performances by:
*Big Joe Hurt
*Alfredo Hidalgo
*Noxdiei
*El Vuh
*Mezklah
*Very Be Careful
*Aztlan Unearthed
*Hijos De La Tierra

Come and celebrate -- and help out at the same time.

Líbrería Martínez February Schedule
This from Rueben Martínez of Líbrería Martínez:
"Greetings,
We are very excited to start February off with two fantastic events for our young adult audience and our teachers. Michele Dominguez Greene will present Chasing the Jaguar, the first book in a series featuring a modern day Mexican-American teenaged sleuth. We will also be hosting a reading of the book Bridge to Terabithia. The Walt Disney movie - with the same name - will be released on February 16th. Parents, bring your children and teachers, recommend these events to your students. - Rueben Martínez"

Presentation/Workshop and Book Signing
Michele Dominguez Greene Chasing the Jaguar
Santa Ana Location
1110 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92701
714 973 7900
Thursday, February 8, 2007 6:30 PM

Lynwood - Plaza Mexico Location
11221 Long Beach Blvd., Suite 102 Lynwood, CA 90262
310 637 9484
Thursday, February 22, 2007 6:30 PM

Bridge To Terabithia Reading
Santa Ana Location
February 10, 2007 1:00 PM
Featuring Radio Univision personality Marcela Luevanos, narrating the book. There will be a raffle for books, posters and screening passes for children to watch the movie.

YOU'RE NOT INDIAN, YOU'RE NOT MEXICAN
You're Not Indian, You're Not Mexican is the title of a new book by Vivian Delgado, who will speak Tuesday, February 13, at the Word Is Out Women's Bookstore, 2015 10th Street in Boulder, CO. The book, whose author is of Yaqui descent, discusses various indigenous identities, common stereotypes, legal status and other factors impacting the lives of indigenous and immigrant populations. No time noted in the announcement I saw -- call the bookstore at 303-449-1415.

ALTAR GIRLS
February 16, 2007 – June 10, 2007
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday February 16, 5pm-9pm
Museo de las Americas

861 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
HOURS: 10am-5pm Tuesday-Friday, 12-5pm Saturday-Sunday

CLOSED MONDAYS Phone: 303.571.4401

Altar Girls examines women’s complicated attributes of sanctity and strength viewed from historic legends and traditional media to post-modern insights and materials. The juxtaposition of women saints with contemporary views of coming-of-age girls conveys the fundamental female aspects of purity and courage. Whether they are inspired by the women of the heavens or the young women of this world, the artists of Altar Girls offer stunning depictions of the miracle of the feminine.

Artists in this amazing exhibit include:
Charles M. Carrillo (New Mexico), Marie Romero Cash (New Mexico), Alex Chavez (New Mexico), Gloria Lopez Cordova (New Mexico), James M. Cordova (New Mexico), Lawrence Cordova (New Mexico), Flavia Da Rin (Argentina), Meggan DeAnza (Colorado), Monica Dower (Mexico), Teresa Duran (Colorado), José Raul Esquibel (Colorado), Martha Varoz Ewing (New Mexico), Roxanne Shaw Galindo (Colorado), Goldie Garcia-Star (New Mexico), Gustavo Victor Goler (New Mexico), Roberto Gonzales (New Mexico), Grupo Mondongo (Argentina), Nicholas Herrera (New Mexico), Estela Izuel (Argentina), Sylvia Martinez Johnson (New Mexico), Cristina Kahlo (Mexico), Judy Varoz Long (New Mexico), Felix Lopez (New Mexico), Mario Prieto Lopez (Colorado), Marion C. Martinez, (New Mexico), Ronnald Miera (Colorado), Christina Miller (New Mexico), Judy Miranda (Colorado), Carolina Rodríguez (Colombia), Carlos Santisteven (Colorado), Catherine Robles Shaw (Colorado) and Jerry Vigil (Colorado)

21st ANNUAL VALENTINE'S DAY OLDIES DANCE - TRIBUTE TO RANDY GARIBABY
February 11, 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM at the Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe Street, San Antonio. Tickets are $20 pre-sale and $25 at the door. MC is Wild Bill Riley and the music includes Ernie Garibay & Cats Don't Sleep; Sauce Gonzales & the Westside Horns; Michelle Garibay-Carey & Planet Soul; Rocky Hernandez & the OBG Band; Stone Groove with Randy Garibay, Jr.; and more.

DOCUMENTARY FILM PROJECT - WESTSIDE RHYTHM & BLUES
Chicano filmaker Efraín Gutiérrez is making a documentary of the origins and history (30s through the 90s) of the San Antonio Westside Rhythm & Blues sound, with a focus on Chicano Bluesman Randy Garibay. Efrain is looking for photos, video or film and he is willing to make copies of these items for his project at the Guadalupe Theater on February 10 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM or February 11 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

OPPORTUNITIES
Oceanview Publishing is currently accepting submissions of book-length adult fiction and non-fiction from new and established authors. Send a 750-word synopsis and the first 30 pages of the manuscript by email and follow the guidelines on the publisher's website. Reviews take 90 days.

Authors Ink Books will accept email queries but sample chapters will be accepted only in hard copy. By mail, send a query letter with the first three chapters, or 50 pages of printed text plus a chapter by chapter summary. Six weeks turnaround. Check the website for more details.

Finally, in the spirit of this little guy:


Later.