La Bloga: Get your tickets now to celebrate Tía Chucha's Gala 2017!

The mission of Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural is to transform community in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and beyond through ancestral knowledge, the arts, literacy and creative engagement.

Tía Chucha’s began as a café, bookstore and cultural space owned and run by former Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodríguez, his wife Trini Rodríguez, and their brother-in-law Enrique Sánchez. Tía Chucha’s provides year-round on-site and off-site free or low-cost arts and literacy bilingual intergenerational programming in mural painting, music, dance, writing, visual arts, healing arts sessions (such as reiki healing) and healing/talking circles. Workshops and activities also include Mexica ("Aztec") dance, indigenous cosmology/philosophy, and two weekly open mic nights (one in Spanish, the other in English). Tía Chucha’s host author readings, film screenings, and art exhibits as well.

Tía Chucha's Gala not only allows the community to come together and celebrate our collective achievements, it also allows a celebratory space to honor those who have given to our community. Also, it provides a chance to help raise the much-needed resources to continue Tía Chucha's mission.

So, please buy your tickets now by going here. And we look forward to seeing you!

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Last Saturday, we held a wonderful book launch of my latest short-story collection, The King of Lighting Fixtures (University of Arizona Press), at Other Books in Boyle Heights. The book launch was co-presented by The New Short Fiction Series which is run by the talented Sally Shore. Sally and the actor, Alex Di Dio, performed two of my stories, and then I read one myself. Other Books still has some copies left, so if you want to support a great, independent bookstore and also want a copy of my book, drop on by. Here are a few photos from the lovely evening.