Better Late than Never: Eleven Ebooks for Bilingual Press

Melinda Palacio

Photo by Nell Campbell

Last month, I received news that my 2011 novel, Ocotillo Dreams, was now available as an ebook. I pestered Bilingual Press to make my title available at the time of publication. Four years ago, it wasn't standard for University Presses to automatically publish an electronic version in addition to a hardcover and paperback. My first experience with Arizona State University's Bilingual Press was with a short story in Latinos in Lotusland: an Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature in 2008. In 2008, editor and fellow Bloguero, Daniel Olivas, did not anticipate having an electronic version of the Latino literary anthology. As a contributor to Latinos in Lotusland, I'm happy to see that there is an ebook now available. Also, Lucrecia Guerrero's Tree of Sighs was on the list, as well as Stella Pope Duarte's Fragile Night, published in 1997. However, the winner for longest wait goes to Ron Arias, whose book, Road to Tamazunchale, was published in 1987 and predates electronic media technology. While I'm glad for these electronic titles, I'm still clinging to paper bound books and do not own a special device for reading electronic books. I have a few books on my cell phone, but I can't say I've read a title cover to cover. Before receiving the following email and announcement of the new 11 ebook titles, I stumbled on the electronic version of Ocotillo Dreams by accident. 

Ocotillo Dreams

Eleven Bilingual Press titles now available as ebooks

The Bilingual Press is pleased to announce that it has released 11 of its titles as ebooks. The titles are Stars Always Shine by Rick Rivera; Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature, edited by Daniel A. Olivas; Tree of Sighs by Lucrecia Guerrero; Barefoot Heart and Corazón Descalzo by Elva Treviño Hart; Road to Tamazunchale by Ron Arias; Memories of Development by Edmundo Desnoes; Fragile Night by Stella Duarte Pope; Heart-Shaped Cookies by David Rice; Ocotillo Dreams by Melinda Palacio; and The Scoundrel and the Optimist by Maceo Montoya.

They are available through Amazon, Apple iTunes Store, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Overdrive.

The project to convert the titles to ebook formats was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

***Here's An Early Announcement. Save the Date.***

April 18, 7pm

Because April is the ever busy National Poetry Month, I thought I'd give everyone a preview of this event, curated by Marisela Norte:

Cut Along The Line: An evening of readings in conjunction with The Big Read
Saturday, April 18 | 7:00pm (doors open at 6:30) at Craft and Folk Art Museum
A small reception with the poets will follow the evening's reading
Free
In celebration of Luis Alberto Urrea's novel Into The Beautiful North, writer Marisela Norte brings together authors Luis Alfaro, Melinda Palacio and Kenji Liu for a reading of poetry and prose on the immigrant imagination, erasing borders and the great divide. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. More information can be found at www.NEABigRead.org.
RSVP requested to rsvp@cafam.org

More Reports on the Writing Life

Melinda Palacio

November Morning at Santa Barbara Pier

Fall in Santa Barbara means you might want to keep a poncho nearby in case the temperature dips below seventy. It's warm enough for flip flops, but the touch of wind keeps your feet in long boots.  Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of visiting Magdalena Torres's Chicano Studies 121 class at Santa Barbara City College. This is one of my favorite places to present my work. Professora Torres creates a welcoming atmosphere and makes sure students have questions. What I didn't expect was how enthusiastic her students would be. She had also invited students from Sociology 109: Contemporary Social Problems, to attend. True, the students from Soc 109 get extra credit for attending my presentation, but the students mentioned how much they appreciated hearing literature and meeting an author. Torres encourages the sociology students, who seemed to be experiencing poetry and fiction for the first time, to attend other classes on Ethnic and Chicano Studies the City College. She's an avid believer in learning about social problems through literature.

Chicano Studies 121 at Santa Barbara City College

In my own classes through the MFA program at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, I make students read Chicano Literature. It's hard to believe that, in some cases, they are reading Chicano and Latino authors for the first time in their well-read life. In many ways, with the banning of our books and the elimination of Ethnic and Chicano Studies in Tucson, it's not surprising that a student wouldn't have the opportunity to read an author like Luis Urrea until adulthood or graduate school.

Speaking of Luis Alberto Urrea, I was very happy to receive my contributor's copy of the NEA's Big Read Audio Guide for Into the Beautiful North. Earlier this Summer at WWNO's studio in New Orleans, I recorded my interview about the book. The CD features Jo Reed, Cristina Arsuaga, Jeff Biggers, Melinda Palacio, Ilan Stavans, Helen Thorpe, and Luis Urrea.

The NEA's Big Read Audio Guide for Into the Beautiful North

Last month, I received a generous review from a blog, featuring the poetry scene in Boston. I had the chance of attending AWP in Boston earlier this year. Thanks to the chance encounter with the editor, How Fire Is a Story, Waiting was reviewed by Joanne DeSimone Reynolds. It's also thanks to AWP that I received a teaching position through UAM's new online MFA program.

Earlier today, I had a live google hangout with three of my students to discuss their fiction pieces. The video critique is not required and not all the students chose to participate, but the three that did enjoyed the experience and wished we had thought of the great idea earlier in the semester, instead of the last three weeks of the class. Indirectly, it was thanks to Jessica Ceballos for giving me the great idea. She had a google hangout for those who couldn't physically appear at La Palabra's Avenue 50 Studio's Bluebird Reading. This is where a social media app becomes an important literary and teaching tool.

Jessica Ceballos Scheming More Poetry Events

Also, thanks to Jessica Ceballos, I had the pleasure of reading at Beyond Baroque last Sunday, November 17 with Daniel Chacón, author of Hotel Juarez: Stories, Rooms and Loops. (I'll get to hear more from Hotel Juarez, next month in New Orleans, when Daniel Chacón reads with Jonathan Kline at Octavia Books, December 9 at 6pm). The crowd at Beyond Baroque was small, but Chacón and I agree, the energy was great. We had people attend from as far as Ventura. And thanks to the talented open mic readers, such as F.A. Salinas and Beverly Collins, the event was memorable and powerful.

Daniel Shakes Hands with Everyone at Beyond Baroque