2010 Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship

Gustavo Arellano in Denver - Ready to Take On Tom Tancredo
How Fair Is That?

November 14 - 16

¡Social Satire, Social Justice y el Chiste!

Gustavo Arellano is the newly appointed managing editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, a contributing editor of the Los Angeles Times op/ed pages, author of Orange County: A Personal History and radio host on KPFK-FM 90.7 in Southern California. He is the author of ¡Ask a Mexican!, a nationally syndicated column in which he answers any and all questions about American’s spiciest and largest minority, as well as a book by the same name, published by Scribner Press. His column is a 2006 and 2008 Association of Alternative Weeklies award winner and enjoys a circulation of over 2 million in 39 newspapers across the United States, appearing locally in Westword. He is also the recipient of the Los Angeles Press Club’s 2007 President’s Award and an Impacto Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition. Arellano is the proud son of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom was illegal.

All events are FREE and open to the public! For more info, call 303-556-3124.

Sponsored by Metropolitan State College of Denver | Campus Maps/Parking

November 14-16, 2010

Sunday, November 14
La Bienvenida – Welcome Reception
5:30 – 8 p.m. Hosted by:
Su Teatro @ the Denver Civic Theatre
721 Santa Fe Drive – Denver Please RSVP for this event online by Nov 5.
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Monday, November 15 Keynote Address and Luncheon
10 a.m. – 11:15 p.m. Keynote Address
11:30 – 12:30 p.m. Student Luncheon St. Cajetan’s – Auraria Campus
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Tuesday, November 16 ¡Social Satire, Social Justice y el Chiste! Colloquium
1 – 2 p.m.
Panel of experts: Gustavo Arellano, 2010 Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professor, Metro State; Arturo J. Aldama, Ph.D., Chair, Dept. of Ethnic Studies, CU-Boulder; Jennifer Alvarez Dickinson, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Edwards University; Adriana P. Nieto, Ph.D., moderator, Assistant Professor Chicano/a Studies, Metro State.

¡Ask a Mexican! Q&A with Gustavo Arellano
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Do you have questions? Gustavo Arellano has answers. Don’t miss this live version of Arellano’s provocative ¡Ask a Mexican! column.

Hosted by:
Fresh City Life at the Denver Public Library
B2 Conference Center – 10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Pkwy.
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Tuesday, November 16 Closing Reception
4:30 – 6 p.m. Cimarron Café – Tivoli Student Union – Auraria Campus

The Castro Professorship

The Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship was initiated in 1997 to foster multiculturalism, diversity and academic excellence at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The professorship brings renowned Latina and Latino scholars, artists and leaders of distinction to Metro State to conduct classes, seminars, performances and lectures for students, faculty and the larger Denver community.

For information please contact Mercedes Salazar at 303-556-3124 or msalaz27@mscd.edu.


And a Debate - Featuring Colorado's Favorite Know-Nothing, Tom Tancredo.

Hey but that's not all. In what is sure to be a knock-down, bloody fight to the bloody finish, Tom Tancredo and Gustavo Arellano debate the topic of - yep, you guessed it - illegal immigration.

Patricia Calhoun of Westword helped to organize this promising event, which is also sponsored by Westword, The Department of Chicano Studies at Metropolitan State College-Denver, the Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship and Su Teatro. Calhoun says that she's been anticipating this for years and now that Gustavo will be in town and Tancredo has some free time (in case you hadn't heard, he lost his bid to become Colorado's next governor even though he promised to "Stop illegal immigration cold") it finally will happen.

As quoted in Westword, the two combatants appropriately rattled their sabers:

"I've never seen a public-policy problem that could ever be solved unless you talk about it," Tancredo says. "and you can't talk about it if you're usually yelling about it."

"I look forward to debating one of the great Know Nothings of our time," Arellano adds, "and just hope that the audience will allow us to make asses of ourselves without any interruptions."

The debate is set for Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30 at Su Teatro. Check out the Westword website for details and information on tickets.

All events are free and open to the public, although there will be limited seating at some of the events and RSVPs are required. A donation of $10 is suggested for the Arellano-Tancredo debate.


Later.

Sad News, Good News, and Chile Haiku

Angela de Hoyos

Angela de Hoyos passed away on September 24 in San Antonio. The obituary in the San Antonio Express-News, by Edmund Tijerina , begins:

Among the most influential poets of the Chicano movement and in Texas literature at large, Angela de Hoyos died Thursday at her South Side home. She was 86.

“An exquisite poetic voice and one of the first Chicana poets to publish, Angela was not only significant as a writer but also as a pioneer in Chicano publishing,” writer Carmen Tafolla said.

De Hoyos' published works include the collections Chicano Poems: For the Barrio, Woman, Woman, and Arise Chicano! Her poem To Walt Whitman remains one of her most quoted pieces.

You can read the rest of the article at this link. Our condolences to the family, her many fans, and readers.

Authors in Town

Sherman Alexie
October 13, 2009 - 7:30 pm

National Book Award-winning author Sherman Alexie will read from and sign his new adult book War Dances (Grove), a heartbreaking and hilarious collection of stories that explore the precarious balance between self-preservation and external responsibility in art, family, and the world at large. Brazen, and wise, War Dances takes us to the heart of what it means to be human. The new beginnings, successes, mistakes, and regrets that make up our daily lives are laid bare in this wide-ranging and provocative new work that is Alexie at the height of his powers. Free numbered tickets for a place in the book signing line will be available at 6:30 pm; one ticket per customer in line. Seating for the presentation prior to the signing is limited, and available on a first-come, first-served basis to ticketed customers only.
Tattered Cover Book Store Historic LoDo
1628 16th St.
Denver, Colorado 80202

Reyna Grande
October 15, 2009 - 7:30 pm

Reyna Grande came to the United States at age nine to join her father, who had left her behind in Mexico for several years. She went on to become the first person in her family to obtain a higher education. She holds a B.A. and an M.F.A. in creative writing. Her first novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, received the El Premio Aztlan Literary Award in 2006 and an American Book Award in 2007. Grande will read from and sign her new novel Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square), the story of four very different women whose lives interconnect through a common passion for their Mexican heritage and a dance company called Alegría. Visit Reyna Grande’s website Tattered Cover Book Store Highlands Ranch 9315 Dorchester Street Littleton, Colorado 80129

Phoenix Noir
edited by Patrick Millikin
Akashic Press, 2009

October 3 - 6:00 pm
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
4014 N. Goldwater Blvd., #101
Scottsdale, AZ

A book launch featuring editor Patrick Millikin and contributors Charles Kelly, James Sallis, Laura Tohe, Robert Anglen, Kurt Reichenbaugh, Stella Pope Duarte, David Corbett, and Jon Talton

[from Akashic's website]
Brand-new stories by: Diana Gabaldon, Lee Child, James Sallis, Luis Alberto Urrea, Jon Talton, Megan Abbott, Charles Kelly, Robert Anglen, Patrick Millikin, Laura Tohe, Kurt Reichenbaugh, Gary Phillips, David Corbett, Don Winslow, Dogo Barry Graham, and Stella Pope Duarte.

Sunshine is the new noir . . . Phoenix: its name evokes new beginnings, a place to start over fresh, new west rising out of the ashes of the old. From its frontier origins, Phoenix has always had a dark, lawless side. It is a city founded upon shady development deals, good ol' boy politics, police corruption, organized crime, and exploitative use of natural resources. Close proximity to the Mexican border makes the city a natural destination spot for illegal trafficking of all kinds--narcotics, weapons, humans.

Modern-day Phoenix is a textbook case of suburban sprawl gone unchecked. Endless cookie-cutter housing developments, slapped up on the cheap, metastasize outward into the desert. All of the concrete and asphalt traps the heat, raising the temperature to apocalyptic extremes. What does all this mean? Crime, and lots of it.

Braided Sorrow Wins PEN USA Lit Award

Marisela Treviño Orta has been honored with the 2009 PEN USA Literary Award for Drama for her play Braided Sorrow, a haunting and poetic meditation on the missing women of Juárez, Mexico.

Su Teatro produced the 2008 world premiere of Braided Sorrow to great acclaim. The Denver Post called it "alternately haunting and beautiful." The Rocky Mountain News called it "chilling reality and artful imagining." Westword called it "gutsy." And the North Denver Tribune called it "important."

Other 2009 PEN award winners include Steve Lopez (The Soloist), Dustin Lance Black (Milk), and Elmore Leonard (Lifetime Achievement). Past winners include Ray Bradbury, Neil Simon, Rudolfo Anaya, Steven Dietz, Sandra Cisneros, Cherrrie Moraga, Woody Allen, Sarah Ruhl, Barbara Kingsolver, and Charlie Kaufman.

Treviño's amazing play (her first) had previously won the 2007 University of California, Irvine Chicano/Latino Literary Prize. Braided Sorrow was also featured in Su Teatro's 2007 New Play Reading Series, a project that illustrates Su Teatro's commitment to produce, present, and promote new and exciting work by Chicanos and Latinos from across the U.S. and beyond its borders.

2009 Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship

Metropolitan State College of Denver has announced that artist and educator Delilah Montoya is the 2009 Castro Distinguished Professor. Montoya is Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Houston. As the announcement says, her work, "grounded in the mestizo/a experience of the Southwest and borderlands, brings together a multiplicity of syncretic forms and practices from those of Aztec Mexico and Spain to cross-border vernacular traditions all of which are shaded by contemporary Native American customs and values." There are a variety of events planned during her stay on campus, October 11 -14. You can get all the details and complete agenda on the Metro State website, here.

One special piece of the schedule is that Montoya's 10’ x 8’ Photo Mural, La Llorona in Lilith’s Garden will be on display beginning in late September through the closing reception at the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services, 1033 Ninth Street Park.

One of Montoya's talks is entitled Codex Delilah, Six Deer: Journey from Mexicatl to Chicana. Montoya approaches the Spanish/Indian encounter from a mestizaje perspective. As a Chicana, Montoya is conscious of how the historical contributions of women have been undermined or completely ignored. This project attempts to correct that injustice by rethinking the traditional interpretation of the European/ Native Encounter. The narrative of this artist book is viewed from the perspective of Six Deer, a fictional young Mayatec girl from the Tutuepec region near present-day Mexico City. From her home to the nuclear weapons laboratories in New Mexico, the codex details Six Deer's journey of enlightenment.

All events free and open to the public. To RSVP to any event or to find out more information, please contact Mercedes Salazar - msalaz27@mscd.edu or 303-556-3124.

The Castro Professorship
The Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship was initiated in 1997 to foster multiculturalism, diversity and academic excellence at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The professorship brings renowned Latina and Latino scholars, artists and leaders of distinction to Metro State to conduct classes, seminars, performances and lectures for students, faculty and the larger Denver community. Richard T. Castro Distinguished Professors have included the following luminaries:
• Cherrie Moraga, playwright, poet, essayist and educator
• Carlos Fuentes, novelist and diplomat
• Carmen Lomas Garza, artist and author
• Ana Castillo, novelist and poet
• Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers vice president
• Richard “Cheech” Marin, actor and art collector

Chile Today

In honor of the recent chile harvest, the beginning of fall, and the misunderstood relationship many of us have with chile - Jalapeño, Serrano, Bolita, Güerita, Ancho, Anaheim, even Red Peter - here are a few lines of affection for my favorite condiment.

1
My jalapeño
picked fresh from the garden
bites back with hot teeth.

2
I have sweated, cried
burned lips and scorched throat.
It must be true love

3
Love hurts and love burns.
Such a demanding lover.
Chile with all meals.

Your turn. Post a few words to La Bloga's comments, poetic or otherwise, haiku or not, about your relationship with chile. Make them picante pero sabroso.

Later.

Bits and Pieces

THE COLORADO BOOK AWARDS were announced on October 8. The winner in the History category was The Life and Times of Richard Castro: Bridging a Cultural Divide by Richard Gould (Colorado Historical Society). Gould's book tells the story of a Colorado political leader who was beaten by the police as a young man. Years later his house was bombed and he was shot by political rivals. Castro eventually served as a state representative. He died at age 44 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Other nominees for the Colorado Book Awards included aaron a. abeyta for Rise, Do Not Be Afraid (Ghost Road Press) in the Fiction category, and Guillermo Vidal for Boxing For Cuba: An Immigrant's Story of Despair, Endurance & Redemption (Ghost Road Press) in the Creative Non-Fiction category.

FROM LIBRERIA MARTINEZ: "Join the Friends of the Signal Hill Library to welcome guest authors, Margo Candela, Mary Castillo, Reyna Grande, and Jamie Martinez Wood who will discuss their fictional accounts of the Latina experience from three different perspectives. Margo Candela, will discuss More Than This, a unique falling-in-love story; Ms. Castillo's book, Switchcraft, is a spirited romantic comedy about two best friends who share a life-changing trading places experience. Reyna Grande's work, Across a Hundred Mountains, tells the story of a small group of undocumented immigrants and makes their struggles and humanity real to the reader. Jamie Martinez Wood's debut novel, Rogelia's House of Magic, is about three different 15-year old girls who find friendship and special powers as they are trained by a wise old woman. This free program is sure to be a thought provoking evening."

October 20, 7:00 - 8:30 PM, Signal Hill Park Community Center, 1780 E. Hill Street, Signal Hill, CA


A DOZEN ON DENVER, the Rocky Mountain News' project to celebrate Denver's (and its own) 150th birthday with fiction by Colorado authors, has planned two events for November where the twelve authors and their stories will be featured. On November 14 at 5:00 PM, the News will announce the winner of its writing contest (the 12th writer and story) during a reception and general party. All of the participating authors are expected. The party will take place in the lobby of the Denver Newspaper Agency, 101 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver (303-954-5000). Then, on November 22 at 2:00 PM, the Tattered Cover Book Store (Colfax Avenue store) will host an event to honor A Dozen On Denver where all of the authors' books will be available for signing. These events are free and open to the public. In the spirit of the celebration, and to publicly demonstrate your support for an excellent idea from the Rocky Mountain News, I urge those of you who can attend either or both of these events to show up and join in the literary fun.

THE POWER OF ONE - As part of the Aurora Public Library's Power of One series, five authors will conduct a panel around the general theme of the series: the power that one word, one image, one perspective or one moment can have on all around us. Authors include Margaret Coel, Christine Goff, Robert Greer, RT Lawton, and Manuel Ramos. The program is set for October 26 at 2:00 PM at the Aurora Public Library, 14949 E. Alameda Parkway, Aurora, CO. 303-739-6634.


JAMES CRUMLEY - Finally, and belatedly, I wanted to note the passing of a great American writer, James Crumley. Mr. Crumley died on September 17. His death has been noted by many others with praise and admiration, feelings shared by his readers from around the world.

The New York Times repeated this quote in its obituary: Though Mr. Crumley’s books attracted a devoted readership, they were never best sellers. He was philosophical about this.“I’m not middlebrow and middle class,” he said in the Dallas Morning News interview. “Sure, I’d like it if more people read the books. My children would like it. My ex-wives would like it. But that’s just not what I’m about.”

Crumley's best-known work, The Last Good Kiss, is considered an American crime fiction masterpiece. It opens with these famous lines:

When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.

That's all I got this week.

Later.