Friday, April 17, 2009

Tomás Rivera Conference, Lovato/Domingo Tribute, Hit List Schedule

TOMAS RIVERA CONFERENCE

Michael Sedano reported on this conference last week on La Bloga, and he mentioned his role in the conference including his important gift of photographs. The conference deserves another post; here's language from the conference website. Notice the prominence of Señor Sedano.

The 22nd Annual Tomás Rivera Conference will Feature Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos’ film Under the Same Moon and will be screened at the event celebrating Chicano Latino literature and arts. Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos, who wrote Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna), will be the keynote speaker at the 22nd annual Tomás Rivera Conference on Friday, April 24, at the University of California, Riverside. Among the highlights of the annual event are an art installation of a life-size car made of burlap, My ’61 Ford, by Adán Avalos, an exhibition of previously unreleased photos of Rivera and other Hispanic writers by Michael Sedano, screenwriting workshops by Villalobos, and the screening of Villalobos’ Under the Same Moon.

All events will be held on the UCR campus, and are free and open to the public. Parking costs $6.

The 2009 conference has as its theme From the Fields to the Stars and commemorates the 25th anniversary of the death of Tomás Rivera, a Chicano poet, educator and UCR’s chancellor from 1979 to 1984. He was the first Hispanic and first minority chancellor in the UC system, and also, at 43, the youngest person ever appointed to lead a UC campus. He died in 1984 after a heart attack.

"So many things have come together for this most heartfelt conference in honor of the 25th anniversary of Rivera’s passing – the availability and genius of Ligiah Villalobos, the daring of Adán Avalos, the new script by Carlos Cortés, the generous photography collection donated by Michael Sedano and the hard-working Tomás Rivera Conference Committee, the engine of this program. And, of course, Mrs. Concha Rivera’s vision," said Juan Felipe Herrera, Tomás Rivera Chair in creative writing and conference organizer. "Each hour of the conference day will be a star for all to see."

Conference events start at 8 a.m. when Adán Avalos will begin the installation of his life-size burlap car in the lawn area outside the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Building, where most conference activities will take place. Avalos, the son of farm workers, recently was the resident artist at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, Calif.

At noon, the Flor y Canto (Flower and Song) Chicano Literature Festival archives will be inaugurated in Special Collections and Archives on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library. Rivera attended the first Flor y Canto National Chicano Literature Festival held at University of Southern California in November 1973. An original photo collection will be displayed featuring images of Rivera and other early Chicano writers at that groundbreaking festival. Michael Sedano, the donor and photographer, will be present.

Villalobos will conduct three screenwriting workshops from 1 to 4:15 p.m. in the Interdisciplinary Building screening room. The sessions will focus on the structure of the half-hour comedy, the one-hour drama and the full-length screenplay. Villalobos has been the head writer of the Nickelodeon series Go, Diego! Go! and previously directed all television production and development in South America for The Walt Disney Co.

A 5 p.m. reception outside Interdisciplinary 1020 will include music by local guitarist Hector Ceballos. Activities will move inside at 6:15 p.m. with Carlos Cortés, UCR professor emeritus of history, performing an original dramatic solo in homage to Rivera, followed by a screening of Under the Same Moon. A question-and-answer period with Villalobos will follow.

NERUDA POETRY FESTIVAL KICKS OFF WITH TRIBUTE TO POET PIONEERS

Su Teatro's Tenth Annual Neruda Poetry Festival had a soggy opening night as another spring storm moved into Colorado - rain expected to turn into snow - but a little moisture couldn't dampen the spirits of the audience. We listened to excellent readings of the works of two pioneers of Chicana poetry: Flor Lovato and Margie Domingo. Truly, we shared an inspiring evening with the actors from Su Teatro who did the readings, giving new life to poems and word art, some of which were written decades ago. The two poets confessed that hearing their works read by someone else was a "liberating experience" and a "beautiful event." Margie thanked Tony Garcia, Su Teatro's Artistic Director, for "not waiting until we died" to do the tribute, and Flor revealed that writing her spirited poetry back in the day when the Chicano Movement was in its beginning stages in Colorado, "saved her life."

Margie Domingo and Flor Lovato


















Actors and Poets: Cindy Cordova, José Guerrero, Joaquin Liebert, Tony Garcia, M
argie Domingo, Valerie Castillo, Jamie Lujan, Flor Lovato. Not in photo: Angel Mendez Soto and Manuel Roybal.



SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR HIT LIST



Straight from Arte Público Press, here is the list of scheduled events, so far, for readings and signings for Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery. I may be biased, but I have to say that there's some pretty good stories in this book - you really should get a copy, then take it to one of the events to listen to a few of the writers read from their stories and answer questions from readers. If you don't know about Hit List, browse through recent issues of La Bloga; there are at least four interviews with contributors to this anthology.

Friday, May 8, 2009 - 6:30 pm
Murder By The Book

2342 Bissonnet Houston, TX 77005
713-524-8597
David Thompson bustedflushpress@yahoo.com
Participating authors confirmed:
Sarah Cortez, Lucha Corpi, Rolando Hinojosa

Thursday, May 14, 2009 - 6:00 - 8:00pm
East Harlem Cafe
1651 Lexington Ave (@ 104th St.) New York, NY 10029
Aurora Anaya-Cerda La Casa Azul Bookstore lacasaazulbookstore@gmail.com
Participating authors confirmed: Richie Narvaez, Sergio Troncoso, Liz Martinez, Carlos Hernandez

Saturday, May 16, 2009 – 3:00 PM
The Mystery Bookstore 1036-C Broxton Ave Los Angeles , CA, 90024
800-821-9017
contact@mystery-bookstore.com
Participating authors confirmed: LM (Linda) Quinn and S. Ramos O’Briant

Thursday, May 21, 2009 – 7:30 PM
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue Denver, CO 80206
Charles Stillwagon, Event Manager, 303-436-9219 ext: 2736 or charles.stillwagon@tatteredcover.com
Participating authors confirmed: Mario Acevedo and Manuel Ramos

Thursday, May 21, 2009 – 6:30 – 8 pm
Mysterious Book Shop
58 Warren St New York, NY 10007
Ian Kern ian@mysteriousbookshop.com
Participating authors confirmed: Sergio Troncoso, Carlos Hernandez, Richie Narvaez, Sarah Cortez, Liz Martínez

Thursday, May 21, 2009 – 5 pm
The Twig Book Shop
5005 Broadway San Antonio, TX 78209
Dinah @ 210-826-6411, Dinah.thetwig@yahoo.com
Confirming authors to participate: Arthur Muñoz and Bertha Jacobson

Saturday, May 30, 2009 – 3:30-4:30 pm
Author Signing
BookExpo America
Javits Convention Center
Author Autographing Area, Table 1
Participating Authors Confirmed: Richie Narvaez, Sergio Troncoso, Carlos Hernandez



Es todo - do your part to stimulate the economy - buy a book.
Later.

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