Monday, March 16, 2009

¡Latinos in Lotusland at the Librería Martínez!

WHEN: Saturday, March 28, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Librería Martínez, 1200 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92701
COST: Free with refreshments thrown in for fun!
WEBSITE: http://www.latinobooks.com/

Join us for a group reading of the landmark Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature (Bilingual Press). This collection brings together 60 years of Los Angeles fiction by 34 Latino/a writers. The contributors at this reading will include Manuel Ramos, Lisa Alvarez, Conrad Romo, Alejandro Morales, Sandra Ramos O'Briant and Victorio Barragán. The anthology's editor, Daniel Olivas, will moderate. After a reading and discussion, a signing will follow.

PRAISE FOR LATINOS IN LOTUSLAND:

"Latinos in Lotusland is a movable feast that bears witness to the incredibly talented writers that reclaim Los Angeles as their own." -- Gregg Barrios, San Antonio Express-News

"...a wonderful anthology...will surprise and delight..." -- Sergio Troncoso, El Paso Times

"Quintessential LA...but so much more." -- Callie Miller, LAist

"...a masterful collection of literature capable of seducing every reader..." -- Natalie L. Gutierrez, Tu Ciudad

◙ MORE LITERARY FUN:

Poetry/Open Mic featuring:

Lamont B. Steptoe (Author of Mad Minute, Oracular Rumblings & Stiltwalking) Winner of the 2005 American Book Award

and

ISAC GALVAN, poet and author of ELATIO

Hosted by poet Eduardo Arocho

WHEN: Monday, March 16th
WHERE: Batey Urbano, 2620 W. Division St., Chicago, IL
WHEN: 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
COST: $5.00 suggested donation

◙ One of the contributors to Latinos in Lotusland, Álvaro Huerta, just had a children's story published in the Los Angeles Times Kids' Reading Room Section. The story is called "Peanut Butter" and is described as follows: "A little kid gets picked on all the time. One day, that all comes to an end. Read more to see what happened. (Art by Andrew Huerta)"

You may read the story online here. This is a wonderful venue. One my kids' stories which first appeared in the L.A. Times was eventually published as a picture book, Benjamin and Word / Benjamin y la palabra (Arte Público Press). ¡Bravo, Álvaro!

◙ Over at ForeWord Magazine, C.M. Mayo gently reminds us to make time to write, even if all you can pull together is five minutes. She notes, in part: "Back in 2005, for my writing workshop students, and myself— for I was then struggling through some of the most daunting stretches in writing my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (forthcoming from Unbridled Books this May)—I began posting a daily five minute writing exercise on my website. These cover a variety of aspects of craft, from imagery and descriptions, to point of view, dialog, plot and more."

◙ In case you missed it yesterday, here is an exclusive interview by Gregg Barrios of award-winning author, Rigoberto González. Gregg asks wonderful questions and, as usual, Rigo offers honest, precise and thoughtful answers. They cover many topics including school reading lists, the movie Milk, coverage of YA novels, Chicano and Latino books worth reading, among many.

◙ That’s all for now. So, in the meantime, enjoy the intervening posts from mis compadres y comadres here on La Bloga. And remember: ¡Lea un libro!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your Libreria Martinez reading. Wish I could be in town for that. Blog on!