Join us February 23 for the virtual book launch of the latest book from Daniel A. Olivas, “How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected Stories”

 

VROMAN'S LIVE PRESENTS DANIEL A. OLIVAS,

IN CONVERSATION WITH PROFESSOR ÁLVARO HUERTA,

DISCUSSES HOW TO DATE A FLYING MEXICAN

DATE: FEBRUARY 23, 2022

TIME: 6:00 P.M.

This is a virtual event and will take place on Crowdcast
Register for FREE ahead of time to save your spot and get an email reminder!

EVENT LINK FOR REGISTRATION

During the pandemic and in the wake of his father's death, Daniel A. Olivas set upon the task of reviewing almost 25 years' worth of his short stories that had been published in various collections or as parts of novels. Our strange times seemed to call for this type of introspection and examination. He found that many of his narratives fell within the world of magic, fairy tales, fables, and dystopian futures. This review also revealed that many of his fictions confronted—either directly or obliquely—questions of morality, justice, and self-determination while being deeply steeped in Chicano and Mexican culture. Olivas decided to choose his favorite tales from the many scores of stories that populated his published works. He added to the mix two recent stories—one dystopian, the other magical--both of which confront the last administration's anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies.

The result is How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected Stories (University of Nevada Press). Though his books have been taught in colleges and high schools across the country for over two decades, this collection brings together some of his most unforgettable strange tales that will be enjoyed, again, by his fans, and anew for readers who have not, as yet, experienced Olivas's distinct—and very Chicano—fiction. A literary critic once called Olivas a "literary marvel." These stories, collectively, offer ample support for this declaration.

Praise for How to Date a Flying Mexican

Featured by Poets & Writers magazine as a new and newsworthy book.

“Prompted by tragedy—the death of his father and the pandemic—Olivas revisits decades of writing to produce this collection of new and previously published stories. Olivas’s work is surreal, dystopian, critical, and introspective, ultimately moving into contemporary political rhetoric.”
—Alta Journal

“Throughout all of his stories, there are strong Chicano characters, who embody tales that range from the laugh-out-loud funny to the heartbreaking. A timely retrospective from an important voice in Latinx literature.”

—Wendy J. Fox, BuzzFeed 

“Daniel Olivas loves to tell stories and his writing reflects that joy. Every story is told with a wink and a smile, encouraging you to follow along for the ride. His humor not only brings levity to matters of life, death, and human treachery, but it is also a stylistic choice that Olivas has mastered. These stories aren’t so much about the interiority of its characters, but about the mythical, magical mundanity of our lives—Olivas’s style perfectly expresses this contradiction.”  
—Maceo Montoya, associate professor of Chicano/a Studies, University of California, Davis, and author of Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces

“From gritty realism to mythic and sci-fi speculative, Olivas dishes up an exquisite feast of short fictions filled to the brim with small and outsized everyday struggles—and failures. Through it all, we feel the mischievous wink and wry smile twinkle of an author whose . . . skills clear new space for us to breathe again in the richness of Latinx ways of life.”
—Frederick Luis Aldama, award winning author and Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at University of Texas, Austin 

“This kinetic new collection of stories is exuberant and poignant, filled with the homegrown details of Latinx life as well as a kind of cheerful, saucy magic.”
—Yxta Maya Murray, law professor, Loyola Law School and author of The World Doesn’t Work that Way, but It Could: Stories

“Olivas has the voice of both an ancient and modern storyteller. He is very deft and sure with language. The stories make a significant contribute to the Latinx community and beyond.”
—David Kranes, professor emeritus of English, University of Utah, and author of Keno Runner, Abracadabra, and Performance Art: Stories

***

If you can’t make the Vroman’s Bookstore event, visit my events page for other opportunities including a virtual event at Skylight Books on February 26 where I will be in conversation with writer and educator, Lorinda Toledo. You may register for this Skylight Books event here.

Book launch, cover art, meeting Eloy Torrez, and #LatinoHeritageMonth

By Daniel A. Olivas

As shown by the beautiful flyer that heads this post, my latest short-story collection, The King of Lighting Fixtures (University of Arizona Press), will officially enter this world on Mexican Independence Day at Other Books in Boyle Heights. And as I’ve also noted before, as a lifelong Angeleno who grew up in Koreatown and whose father lived in Boyle Heights for a portion of his childhood, the venue for the launch is particularly special.

The book launch is co-presented by The New Short Fiction Series which is run by the talented Sally Shore. In other words, actors (Alex Di Dio and Daniel Vasquez) will be reading a few selections from my collection, so this will make the evening that much more special. And the event is FREE! Visit the Facebook page for more information.

In November, I will be launching my debut poetry collection, Crossing the Border (Pact Press), which Melinda Palacio wrote about a couple of weeks ago in a thoughtful review. More on that birthday later.

So far, we’ve received two wonderful pre-publication reviews (click the links to read the entire reviews):

"Assured and perceptive, offering a view of another Southland from Chandler’s and Didion’s."

—Kirkus Reviews

Olivas's "bold insistence on leaving a few seams visible, a few threads frayed—even on pulling the rug away entirely—makes the book resound as a fascinating exploration of both the art of storytelling and the ways in which fiction echoes the messiness of life."

—Foreword Reviews

As they say, you can't judge a book by its cover. But in this case, I wonder if that's true. Last Friday, I got to meet the great artist, Eloy Torrez, at the retrospective of his work that just started at Plaza de la Raza. The exhibition will run September 8 to October 21, 2017. Eloy’s wonderful painting ("El rey de la risa") adorns the cover of my book, so it was that much more special to meet him (and that painting) in person. We also got to meet his wife and documentary filmmaker, Juliane Backmann.

Daniel Olivas and Eloy Torrez

"El rey de risa" by Eloy Torrez adorns
the cover of "The King of Lighting Fixtures"

Eloy Torrez and Juliane Blackmann

And here is a small sampling of some of the remarkable art by Eloy Torrez that you will see when you visit this exhibition at Plaza de la Raza:

And finally, I want to thank the wonderful folks at the University of Arizona Press, my blurbers (Manuel Muñoz, Susan Straight, and Ilan Stavans), the press’s hardworking Rose Brandt, mi familia, La Bloga, Other Books, and everyone else who helped get make this book a reality. For other updates, visit my website.

International Latino Book Awards 2015 La Bloga Winners

¡Felicidades!  Congratulations!

La Bloga writers had great success at the International Latino Book Award this past Saturday, June 27, at San Francisco. The awards were given during the American Library Association Conference. 

Best Poetry Book - One Author – Spanish

HONORABLE MENTION

Syllables of Wind | Sílabas de Viento, Xánath Caraza; Mammoth Publications ; Mexico, Chicana-indiguenous Mexican

Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book

HONORABLE MENTION

Things We Do Not Talk About, Daniel A. Olivas; San Diego State University Press; USA Chicano

Best Youth Latino Focused Chapter Book

FIRST PLACE 

Letters from Heaven, Lydia Gil; Arte Publico Press; born in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents 

Best Latino Focused Children’s Picture Book

FIRST PLACE

¡Jugemos al Fútbol y al Football!, René Colato Laínez; Santillana USA Publishing Company; El Salvador 

To to see the complete list of winners visit, https://app.box.com/s/wbx8o2beavfo1gf1apvqp8hyco4afo8l

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books 2015

Aprirl 18 & 19, 2015

USC Campus

Free Admission

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has evolved to include live bands, poetry readings, chef demos, cultural entertainment and artists creating their work on-site. There’s also a photography exhibit, film screenings followed by Q&A’s and discussion panels on some of today’s hottest topics.

La Bloga Blogueros at the LA Festival of Books

Kaya Press hosts Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez and Daniel Olivas for a poetry reading at noon on Saturday, April 18, Tent #380: http://t.co/501nJCMfqu

René Colato Laínez will be singing books at the East West Discovery Press, Booth 503 on Sunday, April 18 from 1:00-3:00 pm

To see the complete schedule of readings and events visit 

http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Premios Actitud El Salvador

Muchas gracias for all your votes. The last day to vote is today, April 15. I am in the category "Personalidad conActitud." Click in the link. They will ask for your email address. Then, they will send a code to you email address that you will need to finalize the vote. Nuevamente, muchas gracias.

http://laprensadelosangeles.com/premiosactitud2015/perfilnominado.aspx?categoria=11#René

Run into a Piñata If You Doubt a Golden Age in Latino Literature

Melinda Palacio

Are we experiencing a Golden Age in Latino Literature?

On the heels of La Bloga's debate of whether or not we are experiencing a Golden Age in Literature comes the clincher in form of a NY Times article, "Young Latino Students Don't See themselves in Books" by Motoko Rich. 

In Cuba, kids clamored to pose for a photo with me in front of Fusto's art studio.

In my own experience, I can say that it wasn't until college when I read my first Latina author, Sandra Cisneros. She was the one token voice that one of my professors at UC Berkeley had assigned. With the recent 25th anniversary edition of House on Mango Street, it's safe to say that generations of readers around the world have grown up reading her. However, while there are more Latino and Latina authors being published by small and larger houses, many self-published, we could do better.

The gold is not raining down on Latino authors. Only a handful of us have the name recognition and off-the-chart sales such as Sandra Cisneros and Junot Diaz. I will be the first to raise my hand high and hope to be anointed by the holy literary spirit and simply write without having to make marketing my work a companion occupation to writing.

This year, my first novel, Ocotillo Dreams, has garnered two awards. I am extremely grateful and fortunate that fellow Bloguero Daniel Olivas nominated me for the prestigious PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature.

Melinda Palacio and Daniel Olivas at the PEN Oakland Awards Ceremony

I have learned much from my numerous attempts to follow in the footsteps of Olivas, one of the hardest working writers I know (and he is a lawyer by day). Olivas taught me that if I wanted more of my stories, poetry, and books accepted for publication, I needed to read books in my field and become an expert in my market. An important lesson in reading. Through his book reviews with the El Paso Times and the Los Angeles Review of Books, Olivas also promotes the work of other Latino writers. 

The fact that he has published six books with respectable small presses should mean that agents and publishers knock on his door constantly and that he his bombarded with requests to visit schools and universities and could honor such requests because he could quit being a public defender and live off of his royalties.  A personal Golden Age, but not one that brings the type of gold that a best seller brings or a book featured in the New York Times or on NPR's Fresh Air.

UCSC student, Gabriela, was thankful to finally recognize herself in the works of Juan Felipe Herrera, Javier O. Huerta and Melinda Palacio.

I don't have a day job, but I try to stretch my honorarium dollars to visit as many schools and venues as possible because of the readers who thank me for my words, thank me for visiting their school, thank me for sharing my stories. A golden year? I am grateful to be included in the discussion of authors and poets and their writing. My books have not made those coveted holiday must-read list or garnered best-seller status. However, it is certainly a Golden Age when Juan Felipe Herrera is named California Poet Laureate, and he endorses my new poetry book, How Fire Is a Story, Waiting. The march continues and when I am feeling as if I am the only one who hears the tree falling in the forest, I will heed the advice of Juan Felipe Herrera and run into a piñata.

Juan Felipe Herrera contemplates explaining the joys of running into a piñata to UCSC students last week.

AAAAhhhhhJaiiii, hua hua hua!

Melinda Palacio

One of the first Latinos in Lotusland readings at Cal State L.A. 2008
with Reyna Grande, Daniel Olivas, Danny Romero, Helena Maria Viramontes, Lisa Alvarez, and Melinda Palacio

Consider yourself lucky for not being able to hear my grito; it's loud. If you are really curious, come by the Autry tomorrow for a pre-grito and celebration of Latino Heritage month with a reprise of your favorite anthology and mine, Latinosin Lotusland: an Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature, Saturday, September 15 at 2pm at the Autry Museum in Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

September snuck up on me. It's cool breeze taunted the shortened hours of sunshine. This month can't seem to make up its mind. Here in Santa Barbara, we've had beautiful, beach-weather days and cold, foggy, outright down pouring rain. September rolled around and I even forgot to update my website. I know there's at least one La Bloga reader who missed the small announcement I had in my post two weeks ago, in August, when I announced my upcoming memoir writing workshop at Sowing of the Seeds in Tucson last Saturday. women knew what to do and were very receptive to the memoir writing workshop I gave. It was a pleasure working with them.

Reading from Latinos in Lotusland in 2008

However, all of the success I've enjoyed with my writing, including posting for La Bloga, would not be possible without the support of our Lotusland editor, Daniel Olivas. Before he joined La Bloga, Daniel accepted my first published short story. I was determined to be in the anthology. I didn't know much about the publishing world, but somehow I knew that being including in an anthology of Latino writing would help me achieve my goals. I sent Daniel three short stories until he replied and said he loved, "The Last Time," the short fiction that launched my career. In 2006, I had one poem published and one short story accepted for publication. I used these credits to apply to the PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellowship in 2007. By the time the anthology was finally published in 2008, I had dozens of short stories and poems published. But I always remained in awe of our editor, Daniel Olivas, who had published several books. Gracias, Daniel. He didn't know it at the time, but he helped launch my novel Ocotillo Dreams and my new poetry book, How Fire Is a Story, Waiting.

I've asked some of the contributors, many who will be part of tomorrow's celebration to offer some words about their Lotusland experience and how they first met La Bloga's Daniel Olivas.

Latinos in Lotusland, Bilingual Review Press 2008

Editor of Latinos in Lotusland, Daniel Olivas

First, some words from La Bloga's Rudy Ch. Garcia:

Gente! Please give your attention to these few words, no le hace que no pueden ver mi cara chida.

On the occasion of another Calif. Lotusland event I so wish I could attend, in my absence, please consider giving Daniel Olivas one chingaso round of applause [perdóname]. I don't ask that you do this simply because he is the Lotusland editor. Or for doing the great editing that might make it a classic. Nor do I ask you only recognize him for his own fine literary work. To mix my metaphors, please give him a hand because of his role como un sembrador de una onda nueva en la literature chicana, y las obras latinas.

In a period when the concept of Chicano literature was already struggling to break into genres that had been the province of non-Latinos, Daniel had created his own, and, through this anthology, he editorially embraced others' speculative cuentos that were not usually thought of as "our" literature. By doing so, he imparted appreciation and respectability to escritores nuevos who risked exclusion because they were judged to be: "not literary enough." I am but one contributor whose writing career was boosted by my few pages in the anthology. And now I understand que uno de los días mejores fue cuándo encontré a nerdy looking, prieto attorney de Califas who wanted to join La Bloga. My life, and those of others, will never be the same. Que viva Daniel Olivas!

signed by Rudy Ch. Garcia, un-shamefully self-promoting his first novel, The Closet of Discarded Dreams

Next from Rebel Girl, Lisa Alvarez

Lisa Alvarez

The call I saw for Latinos in Lotusland motivated me to take a look at what I had - part of a novel set in and around Los Angeles that had been languishing.  I chose a chapter, "Sweet Time," that seemed to stand alone and sent it off to Daniel who accepted it almost immediately.  I was surprised. I had not submitted work in quite awhile and was drifting a bit.  Inclusion in the anthology encouraged me to look once again at my work and, while I eventually abandoned the novel my Lotusland contribution is taken from, I embarked on a project that I feel much more strongly about: a series of connected short stories set in 1980s Los Angeles that profile a circle of female friends, all political activists trying to do the right thing.  The stories start in the 80s and end in the here and now, with my once punk rock artist activists growing older and try to reconcile their past idealism with their present.

The collection is tentatively titled "Ocean Park" after the painting series by Richard Diebenkorn.  I am interested to see if a writer can do a bit of what Diebenkorn does so well on canvas - capture a time, a light, a mood, a community.  Two of the stories have been published so far, one in the Santa Monica Review and the other in Faultline. 

From Sandra Ramos O'Briant

Sandra Ramos O'Briant at the Patricia Correa Gallery
Latinos in Lotusland Book Party with Bilingual Press

I met Daniel on Zoetrope; we'd reviewed short stories for each other.  He put out the call for his anthology in 2006, I think.  Being part of it enriched my life. Not only did I have the opportunity to participate in readings, but I met interesting writers and became part of a community.  The book is used in university classes and students have written to me about "Lana Turner Slept Here."  At the time of publication, I'd had a few stories published, but I was working on The Sandoval Sisters, and wrote short stories to challenge myself.  I've had over 20 short stories published since then, and that novel is now a reality.  My main concern in submitting to his anthology was whether my story would be "Latino" enough.  Believe me, that's a legitimate concern for a kid growing up in Santa Fe with a Mexican mother, but O'Briant for a last name.  "Prove it!" was the chant I heard on the playground and in school hallways.  There's not enough space here, nor would my description pass censorship laws, to explain how I tried to prove myself back then.  But, in the here and now, I do it with my writing.  My characters evolve, as does Joe Salazar in "Lana Turner Slept Here," as do the The Sandoval Sisters, as do I.  

Sandra Ramos O'Briant

www.thesandovalsisters.com

The Sandoval Sisters' Secret of Old Blood (La Gente Press, September 2012)

From El Professor, Michael Jaime-Becerra

Michael Jaime-Becerra

For me, Latinos in Lotusland continues as a wonderful mosaic, a validation of the richness and diversity in our stories and in our storytellers.  Gratitude always to Daniel Olivas, the editor with both the vision and the energy to bring it all together.

I had met Daniel a few years prior to Lotusland and had also invited him to read at UCR as part of our Writers Week conference.  This was 2004 or 2005.  

As I recall it, when he put out the call for submissions, I was in the middle of writing my second book and I didn't have anything ready for public viewing yet.  Daniel graciously agreed to include a reprint from Ladies' Night, my first book.

--Michael Jaime-Becerra  

Join Daniel Olivas, Michael Jaime-Becerra, Lisa Alvarez, Sandra Ramos O'Briant, Estella Gonzalez, and Melinda Palacio at the Latinos in Lotusland panel at the Autry, Saturday, September 15 at 2pm. 

Countdown to Publication...

Two months until the release of How Fire Is a Story,Waiting. 

New York Days Ahead...

If you find yourself in New York at the Brooklyn Book Festival, September 23, I will be at the Las Comadres Booth from noon to 2pm, along with Reyna Grande, Lucrecia Guerrero, and Toni Margarita Plummer. Join the Party. The next hour includes a reading by Luis Alberto Urrea.

Las Comadres y Compadres Writers Conference, October 6, 2012 New York

On October 6, aspiring writers can purse and polish their own dreams of publishing their novel, collection of stories, memoir, or book of poetry at the Las Comadres y Compadres Writers Conference in New York, held at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, Brooklyn. Registration for writers and vendors is now open for the conference. I will be on a poetry panel.

on Daniel Olivas's latest book

Some nice news: the March issue of Los Angeles Magazine offers a nice review of Daniel Olivas's forthcoming novel (out March 24) The Book of Want:

“The first novel from L.A. writer (and California deputy attorney general) Daniel A. Olivas focuses on Belén, the deceased, cigarette-puffing matriarch of a Latino family who continues to meddle in her daughters’ affairs through their dreams. Olivas, who also edited the anthology Latinos in Lotusland, grew up in Koreatown and Pico-Union, and sets much of the fanciful story near his old haunts. His brand of magical realism has a sense of humor about itself, and he succeeds in harnessing the genre’s unique ability to expose what’s beneath the surface.” — Wendy Witherspoon, Los Angeles Magazine

Writing news - por dónde quiera

Characters of Color

Over at Crossed Genres, "The magazine of science fiction & fantasy with a twist", they're accepting stories of Characters of Color. From their website:

People of color are dramatically underrepresented in speculative fiction. So for our second annual oversized end-of-year issue, we’ve chosen Characters of Color as the theme. All main characters must be characters of color. This applies to both fiction and artwork. We will consider submissions from everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity-–what we’re looking for are characters of color. Everyone is encouraged to submit their work!

The stories do not have to focus on the character’s ethnicity, but it must be clear from the content/context of the story that the MC is a character of color. We are not interested in stereotyped, derogatory or racist caricatures. (This does not mean that you can’t address issues like racism and stereotyping in your stories.

This is a double-sized issue. We’re looking for about 10 stories for the issue! We’re also interested in articles, comics, artwork, reviews, interviews, etc. so long as they’re about the theme. We have our cover art but otherwise we’re open to almost anything. Submissions for Issue 24 accepted until 11:59 pm US EST on September 30.

I'll even help you out with one of my ideas-I'm-never-going-to-use: A black Obama who's really white--and I'm not just talking politically. For more info, go here.

More than a nickel

And over at my alma mater CU-Denver, the lit mag Copper Nickel--that has yet to accept a story of mine--announced:

"Our next contest will open for entries on January 31, 2011. The fiction judge will be Daniel Alarcon. The poetry judge will be Kevin Prufer."

It'll cost you to submit ($15), but the winner receives $1000, plus publication. So, if you think Alarcon might like one of your stories, submit away! Info available on their website, here.

Writing fellowship

And from C.M. Mayo comes this message:

"I hope this finds you well. I thought you might find this fellowship of this interest for yourself and/or for announcement on La Bloga. I can recommend VCCA very highly-- I've been several times (so, alas, I am ineligible for this fellowship!). I know they'd be really happy to see more applications from California.
Saludos,
Catherine

You have only 4 days left and if you can't read the ad copy, go here for more info.

Anywhere but . . .

And last, comes this from Bloguista Daniel Olivas:

"Friends, Some nice news. Lyn Miller- Lachmann reviews my short-story collection, Anywhere But L.A. in the Times-Union as part of a broader essay on stereotyping."

To read this fine piece, go here.

Es todo, hoy
RudyG