2008 Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation Award Winners

San Antonio, TX -- September 19, 2008 -- The Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation is pleased to announce winners of the 2008 Foundation Award: poet Sheryl Luna (El Paso, TX) and writer Kristin vanNamen (Plano, TX) were each awarded $5,498.

Poet: Sheryl Luna was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She currently lives in Lafayette, CO where she teaches at The University of Colorado at Boulder. A graduate of Texas Tech University, she earned a doctorate in contemporary literature from the University of North Texas and a M.F.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso. She also holds a M.A. in English from Texas Women's University. Her collection of poetry Pity the Drowned Horses won the first Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize at the University of Notre Dame. The collection was profiled in "18 Debut Poets Who Made their Mark in 2005" by Poets and Writers Magazine. Ms. Luna was a semi-finalist for the Nation's "Discovery Prize," a finalist for the National Poetry Series, the Perugia Press Prize and the 2006 Colorado Book awards.

Writer: Kristin S. vanNamen is currently earning her doctorate in Humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas. She earned her MA in Humanities, Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and her BA in Women's Studies at the University of Kansas. She is the author of Glorie in a Small Town, and her short story collection, Sorrow Causes Crazy, explore ritualistic traditions and rites of passage through humorous narrators who are distinctly Southern and oftentimes proud of their status as small-town outcasts. Ms. vanNamen has taught Creative Writing at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and was recently short-listed for a Glimmer Train prize.



The Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation was created in 2000 to honor the memory of Sandra Cisneros' father, an upholsterer. "My father lived his life as an example of generosity and honest labor," Cisneros has written; "Even as he warned us to save our centavitos, he was always giving away his own. A meticulous craftsman, he would sooner rip the seams of a cushion apart and do it over than put his name on an item that wasn't up to his high standards. I especially wanted to honor his memory by an award showcasing writers who are equally proud of their own craft."

The Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation invites a panel of nominators to recommend writers from across the writing disciplines who were born in Texas or who currently reside in Texas. Recipients are selected for exhibiting both exceptional talent and a profound commitment to their chosen form of expression.

The 2008 judges were poet Wanda Coleman, writer Lois-Ann Yamanaka, and San Antonio Library Director, Ramiro Salazar. Past judges have been journalists, memoirists, anthropologists, poets, historians, essayists, and novelists--including Edwidge Danticat, Linda Hogan, Dr. Antonia Castaneda, John Phillip Santos, Dagoberto Gilb, Dr. Arturo Madrid, Dr. Norma Elia Cantú, Dr. Carmen Tafolla, and Rubén Martínez.

[The Foundation does not accept individual solicitations, nominations, or funding requests.]


For more information contact:
Irma Carolina Rubio, Coordinator
Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation (ACDMF)
735 E. Guenther Street
San Antonio, TX
Phone- 210.534.0517
Email- acdmfoundation@yahoo.com
www.sandracisneros.com/foundation.php

Victor Villaseñor's Book Tour

Best-selling author goes on tour to promote his memoir, Crazy Loco Love


Crazy Loco Love marks Villaseñor's return to Arte Público, the independent press that published the best-selling Rain of Gold, which established the author as a literary force.

Villaseñor launched his latest work at the Barnes & Noble Arboretum in Austin, TX on September 21, 2008, and then set course on a national tour to promote Crazy Loco Love.

See below for a list of cities where Victor will appear.

Fall 2008 Tour Schedule:

California

Coronado
Thursday, Sept. 25, 7:00 p.m.
Bay Books

Encinitas
Saturday, Sept. 27, 1:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble (Encinitas Town Center)

West Hollywood
Sunday, Sept. 28, 1:00 p.m.
West Hollywood Book Festival

Santa Ana
Thursday, Oct. 2, 7:00 p.m.
Martinez Books

Chula Vista
Saturday, Oct. 4, 3:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble (Otay Ranch Town Center)

Lynwood
Sunday, Oct. 5, 3:00 p.m.
Martinez Books

Carson
Monday, Oct. 6, Time TBA
California State University Dominguez Hills

San Diego
Sunday, Oct. 19, 3:00 p.m.
The Grove at Juniper & 30th

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 7:00 p.m.
San Diego LGBT Center
Women's Resource Center - Library

Carlsbad
Thursday, Oct. 23, 7:00 p.m.
Carlsbad City Library Learning Center

Riverside
Friday, Oct. 24, 6:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble (Galleria at Tyler)

Palm Springs
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2:00 p.m.
Latino Books y Más

Pasadena
Sunday, Oct. 26, 4:00 p.m.
Vroman's Bookstore

Sacramento
Saturday, Nov. 8, 7:00 p.m.
La Raza Galeria

Sunday, Nov. 9, 1:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble (Arden Faire)

Los Angeles
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m.
East Los Angeles Library

Long Beach
Thursday, Dec. 4, 7:00 p.m.
Cultura Latina Bookstore

Imperial Beach
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 6:30 p.m.
Imperial Beach Branch Library

New Mexico

Albuquerque
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble (Coronado Mall)

"Readers will find Crazy Loco Love a departure in a new direction, for now the author, revisiting his late-adolescent self, becomes exceedingly interested in matters of the flesh."
-Kirkus Reviews

"Crazy Loco Love solidifies Villaseñor's status as an enchanting Mexican American storyteller. What makes this memoir so intriguing is that he isn't afraid to bear his soul and serve up every aspect of his life under the powerful, grueling lens of self-examination. Though readers may feel they know Villaseñor through his earlier works, this book gives us young Victor- defiant, rebellious and sexually charged- and the results are simply fascinating." -San Antonio Express-News