Chicanonautica: Poetry and/or Violence in La Gallera

by Ernest Hogan

The cover snagged me like a fishhook through an eyeball. Blazing red, black, and yellow. Screaming roosters. Fighting cocks. I had to pick it up.

 

It was La Gallera by Ramón Palomar. In español. The blurb called him “el James Ellroy español” and compared him to Jim Thompson. Hmm. Could it be something that could help me in my never-ending struggle to improve my Spanish?

I checked it out and read it with the SpanishDictionary.com ready on my phone. And enjoyed it.

Set in Spain—there’s a lot of joder rather than chingar—in the year 2000, it recalls a simpler time before smartphones, and cocaine was more organic than the synthetic drugs of our troubled era. 

Gallera, according to SpanishDictionary.com means either “coop” or the feminine version of gallero, a fondness for cockfighting, a cockfighting fan, or breeder of fighting cocks. Though there is a woman who gets sexually aroused by cockfights in the first chapter, the title seems to refer to the coop, in a literal and metaphorical sense. Like the Mexican film genre—search in YouTube for movies with gallero or gallo in the title—the point is that people have a lot in common with roosters in the ring.

Rather poetic. As Alejandro Jodorowsky said, “Violence is poetry.”

 

La Gallera could be called noir (French for black—why not negro?) but leans more to the conjoined hardboiled literary subgenre. The movies are remembered more than the books. Sigh. Polamar has a James Ellroy/Jim Thompson feel for crime and criminals. Spain provides a lot of fresh elements to the mix. There’s a Puerto Rican colony. Words used in odd ways are probably underworld slang. The coke dealers are Columbian but the irony of the New World invading the Old isn’t made apparent. Even back in 2000, American pop culture references abound. 

The description of a woman’s breasts as being like Flash Gordon rocketships is worthy of Raymond Chandler.

More fresh blood glittering in the sun than midnight shadows and neon reflected in dark, rain-slicked streets.

It gave me my crime fic fix, while showing me a few new things. Maybe it was that it was in Spanish but it seemed like surrealist poetry—without the hot-blooded Hispanics, surrealism would have been mostly dull exercises in Freudian/Marxist theory. Acts of violence become Luis Buñuel scenarios, but it may not be the intent.

I will be looking for more of Palomar’s work. I’ll recommend them to “you nameless assholes who don’t understand Spanish” as William Burroughs so delicately put it. That is if they're ever translated.

He may end up suffering the same fate as Paco Ignacio Taibo II, which reminds me, I should reread some of his detective novels . . .

La Gallera would make a great movie, but if Norteamericano corporate entities continue to dominate “Hollywood” (that is no longer a physical place), Anglo sensibilities that allow roosters to be sacrificed only to the likes of Colonel Saunders wouldn’t want to invest in it, but maybe some futuristic Santeria will have us living on Planet Gallera in a few years.

Ernest Hogan commits literary mayhem. His latest book is a Guerrilla Mural of a Siren’s Song: 15 Gonzo Science Fiction.

Memento Mori

Studs Terkel, prize-winning author and radio broadcast personality was born Louis Terkel in New York on May 16, 1912. His father, Samuel, was a tailor and his mother, Anna (Finkel) was a seamstress. He had three brothers. The family moved to Chicago in 1922 and opened a rooming house at Ashland and Flournoy on the near West side {LISTEN}. From 1926 to 1936 they ran another rooming house, the Wells-Grand Hotel at Wells Street and Grand Avenue. Terkel credits his knowledge of the world to the tenants who gathered in the lobby of the hotel and the people who congregated in nearby Bughouse Square, a meeting place for workers, labor organizers, dissidents, the unemployed, and religious fanatics of many persuasions. In 1939 he married Ida Goldberg and had one son.

Terkel attended University of Chicago and received a law degree in 1934. He chose not to pursue a career in law. After a brief stint with the civil service in Washington D.C., he returned to Chicago and worked with the WPA Writers Project in the radio division. One day he was asked to read a script and soon found himself in radio soap operas, in other stage performances, and on a WAIT news show. After a year in the Air Force, he returned to writing radio shows and ads. He was on a sports show on WBBM and then, in 1944, he landed his own show on WENR. This was called the Wax Museum show that allowed him to express his own personality and play recordings he liked from folk music, opera, jazz, or blues. A year later he had his own television show called Stud's Place and started asking people the kind of questions that marked his later work as an interviewer.

In 1952 Terkel began working for WFMT, first with the "Studs Terkel Almanac" and the "Studs Terkel Show," primarily to play music. The interviewing came along by accident. This later became the award-winning, "The Studs Terkel Program." His first book, Giants of Jazz, was published in 1956. Ten years later his first book of oral history interviews, Division Street : America, came out. It was followed by a succession of oral history books on the 1930s Depression, World War Two, race relations, working, the American dream, and aging. His latest book, Will the Circle Be Unbroken : Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith, was published in 2001. Terkel continued to interview people, work on his books, and made public appearances until his death. He was Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Chicago Historical Society.

(Courtesy: http://studsturkel.org)

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Tony Hillerman was born in 1925, in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma. Although he was raised among the Pottawatomie and Seminole Indians and studied at an Indian boarding school, Tony Hillerman is not Native American. He attended Oklahoma State University (1943), the University of Oklahoma (B.A. 1946), and the University of New Mexico (M.A. 1966). He worked as a journalist in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (1948-63), lived in Albuquerque, and taught journalism at the University of New Mexico (1976-85).

He has written numerous mystery novels drawing on Native American culture, the most successful featuring Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police. His many bestselling novels include Sacred Clowns, Coyote Waits, and A Thief of Time. Hillerman is a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for best novel set in the West, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award. He lived with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

(Courtesy: http://mysterynet.com)

Lisa Alvarado

A Taste For Bones

Murder One: A Writer's Guide to Homicide
Mauro V. Corvasce and Joseph R. Paglino

I realize I have a morbid taste for bones--a guilty pleasure, to be sure. I find myself fascinated with the way evidence forms a code to be deciphered in order to understand the horrible, the devastating. In trying to develop believable scenarios of homicide for a possible novel, I needed texts that describe complicated forensic material in accessible language, suitable for the writer/criminalist wannabe. Murder One is a great resource in that regard.

Written by two investigators for the Monmouth County, New Jersey Prosecutor's Office, this text gives a clear cut overview of different kinds of homicide, appropriate investigation techniques and evidence collection. Both Corvasce and Paglino have been in law enforcement since 1978, and have an excellent handle on presenting information to the general public. The chapters of the book are organized into the following sections:

• familial murders, usually triggered by simmering feuds
• gang murders, from contract hits to drive-by shootings
• organized crime hits, and the psychology and code of behavior within crime families
• business and financial murders, directed to silence whistle-blowers
• the rising trend in vehicular murder • crimes of passion, their triggers and underlying motivation • cult murders, serial murders and the details of real-life investigations

The authors also delve into legal definitions, forensic terms and definitions and the basic structure of initial homicide investigation; allowing reader/writers to explore opportunity, motive, use of weapons, and details at the scene of the crime. Interspersed throughout is the authors' commentary, reflecting their own case files experiences. Since I plan on describing more than one unholy execution, I was excited to get the corporeal goods necessary to get the right take down on paper.

Body Trauma: A Writer's Guide to Wounds and Injuries
David W. Page

Dr. David Page has extensive trauma surgery experience, and is currently an associate clinical professor of surgery at Tufts' Baystate Medical Center. In Body Trauma, what happens to organs and bones maimed by accident or injury is the subject matter of this detailed, yet easy to read book. This text reveals in simple, but descriptive language the following:

• The four steps in trauma care
• Details of skull and brain injuries
• What the Glasgow Trauma Scale is, and why it's important
• Specifics of both penetrating and blunt injuries, especially as it relates to head and neck trauma. • The "dirty dozen' dreadful, but survivable, chest injuries
• The effect of blunt trauma, puncture and bullet wounds on abdominal organs

While at some level, this kind of immersion seems like overkill, (no pun intended) I feel like I have to capture a large amount of information to best make the story hold together and seem believable. Mind you, I'll have to edit and delete passages because there's too much information, that's how much I was able to glean from these resources.

I'm fascinated by my own ongoing interest in this kind of take on mortality and the reductionist perspective that certainly is bound to it. It's a seeming contradiction for me, whose own poetry tries to focus on spirit and its power to animate and heal.

I think it has something to do with embracing the concrete aspects of mortality--the frailty of the body, the effects of violence. As I write fiction with these themes, I make a certain sense of them that may be a crime novelist's conceit--to make sense of the irrational, the terrifying, the unspeakable.

Lisa Alvarado

Poets José Emilio Pacheco, Joaquín Sabina & Luis García Montero

Exclusive reports from Crime Fiction's international big-bash by our roving reporter.

6th Day - Thursday's Poetry Reading

This morning, José Emilio Pacheco, Joaquín Sabina and Luis García Montero read their poetry at the main tent of La Semana Negra. Since the recital was scheduled for one in the morning, I had planned to arrive an hour before, thinking I was going to get a good, comfortable spot. But it seemed dozens of people thought the same thing. Usually at this hour people are at the clubs dancing away the night, and you would think no one would even think about poetry. But in Gijón this was not the case.

As Paco Ignacio Taibo, II said, “Some years ago when I proposed a poetry reading late at night, people said I was crazy, that no one would actually attend.” But in fact a lot of people attended, and as I made my way through the audience that was trying to find chairs and move closer to the stage, I soon realized I wasn’t going to get a chair. So I made my way through to the front to sit wherever possible. I got a little spot right on the front between two couples and took out my camera. I’m a big poetry reader and just thinking that I was going to be listening to these three important poets of the Spanish language made me shiver. Before the recital, the tent was noisy, people desperately trying to find a place, but by 1:00am, no one else was able to get in. This made me feel more excited, and I felt envious looks from people behind me.

The recital got started by Yampi who livened up the tent with his guitar so people started singing. With his endless smile, Yampi thanked everyone for being there so late at night. He honored the deceased poet Ángel González by singing some of his poems, verses that quickly changed the mood of the tent. Ángel González died this year on January 12th and his death is most felt at La Semana Negra, because since the late-night poetry readings got started by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Ángel had never missed a year.

Joaquín Sabina, famous songwriter and poet, has been attending La Semana Negra for the last six years and Luis García Montero, has also attended for many years. The only newbie was José Emilio Pacheco, who in some way came to replace Ángel González. Not an easy task, but knowing that José Emilio is considered one of the most important Mexican poets of our time, with his brilliant work in narrative, translation and most importantly poetry, he had nothing to fear.

A little after 1:00 Paco Taibo went on the stage and people went crazy clapping. Taibo said how happy he felt that so many people were at the event and that he knew we would truly enjoy it because, "poetry has less and less space in our society." He introduced the poets and surrounded by claps, cheers and yells, the three poets got on stage and waved to everyone. It was an amazing moment when the poets took their seats. Sabina and Montero seemed very comfortable on stage. Pacheco on the other hand seemed nervous and timid, but this didn’t stop his smile.

The recital started with Sabina and Montero together reciting a poem dedicated to Pacheco, verses that truly evoked the importance of Pacheco’s place in Spanish language poetry. The two poets declared that the poem was an homage, following the example of Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca's tribute poem to Ruben Darío. The poem was recited with enthusiasm, vividly, full of respect and admiration for the Mexican poet. Pacheco was moved by the poem to reply, “The least I can do you for you is read you poems that haven’t been publish yet.” He read three short poems and afterward timidly thanked everyone.

For an hour the poets took turns reading their poetry, and after each, the crowd got rowdier and louder. Many times you would see Taibo II trying to silence everyone from the side, because as he said at the beginning, “I want to establish a quiet and peaceful atmosphere so everyone can hear well and enjoy the poetry.” This was impossible. People would scream and tell Sabina or Montero that they loved them; or to Pacheco, “You are the greatest,” and similar remarks. I have to confess I was loud too, but how could you not in the presence of these eminents breathing the same air you are, stepping on the same sand and, most importantly, listening to their verses in such an intimate space?

Joaquin Sabina was the last to perform; García Montero joined him by singing the choruses. It was a tango entitled "Semana Negra", lyrics especially dedicated to La Semana Negra and all the happiness it brings to Gijón. After the song, a lot of people tried to get on stage. I got pushed and stepped on, until Taibo announced the poets would be signing books, but that everyone had to make a line. The organizers of La Semana Negra also gave away copies of a special anthology of Pacheco’s poetry to everyone.

For half an hour the poets signed books, and people in line were excited and had big smiles on their faces. Unfortunately, when the poets tired and decided to head to the hotel, people still in line got a little crazy and started pushing. Security intervened to protect the poets, who at the moment were much like rock stars. I don’t blame anyone; getting their autographs is special.

After the poets left, there was a strong energy in the air. It was like one of those moments you don’t believe just happened and you know they will never happen again--truly an unforgettable night for the people and visitors of Gijón.

I love La Semana Negra!

Besos desde Gijón,
Thania Muñoz

Las Tertulias at La Semana Negra

Exclusive reports from Crime Fiction's international big-bash by our roving reporter.

I've been looking for a word to correctly translate “tertulias.” Since unfortunately I didn’t bring my big and thick Oxford dictionary with me, I relied on wordreference.com. The definition it gives doesn’t transmit the same meaning to me, but then again, I think about all the translations in the world, from the classics of literature to Latin American literature translated into English, and I convince myself and say "don’t be so stupid, translations are not that bad."

So, according to my online translator tertulias are: literary gatherings, and I’m sticking to that term. At La Semana Negra, every day at five, there are tertulias where the invited writers discuss a topic. It’s an hour-long debate where they give their own opinions and even get into arguments with the other writers.

The first three literary gatherings where dedicated to the “monsters” of literature or film. The panel included Mexican writer, Miguel Cane, Spanish writers, Elia Barceló, Cristina Macía, Rafael Marín, Daniel Mares, Marc R. Soto, Victor Condé, Federico Fernández Giordano, Rodolfo Martínez, Juan Miguel Aguilera, Eduardo Angulo and Manuel Nonídez.

Right off the bat, the debate heated up. Some said Mr. Hyde is the worst monster of all time; others thought it was zombies and of course the always scary vampires. Although the list of monsters was very long, Mr. Hyde took the prize. Rafael Marín took the discussion to another level by saying Mr. Hyde scares us because he demonstrates that “we could be monsters, too.”

After that “Alien” made an appearance in the discussion and writer Elia Barceló defended him, affirming that “the only thing Alien is trying to do is defend himself.” Some agreed, some didn’t, but what made the literary gatherings more interesting was the great number of people listening to this conversation full of some very nerdy details on movies and books.

Although at the beginning in the “Carpa del encuentro”, Semana Negra's main tent, there weren’t many people, as time went by more slowly started coming. I would look around at the puzzled faces: some were ready to get up and say something, and others nodded when they agreed with what one of the writers said.

The guys next to me confided in me (I think because I was taking notes the whole time), “Yeah, I know it’s so cool to find out that you are not the only one that talks endlessly about these things.” These tertulias bring people closer to the writers so they have the opportunity to get to know them in a more personal way. After the debates are over, you see spectators coming up to the writers, saying they agreed with what they were saying, that the other writers were wrong, or something of the sort.

After the “monsters” tertulias, the next two followed the theme entitled “El mal y sus protagonistas” (wordreference.com again: “Evil and its main characters"). This time it was Paco Ignacio Taibo, II, the Cuban Lorenzo Lunar, Colombians Mario Mendoza and Nahum Montt, Mexican writer Eduardo Monteverde, the Chilean Roberto Ampuero, the Chicano Rolando Hinojosa, and Spaniards Ángel Tomás González, Kama Gutier, Juan Ramón Biedma and Achy Obejas.

This tertulia focused on evil in these writers' own literature, why they write detective fiction, hardboiled, gothic and such, summarizing why their characters or stories are in some way evil. Juan Ramón Biedma at one point, firmly and passionately said, “Because good characters are boring.”

Simple and clear as that, but Roberto Ampuero, the Chilean writer who teaches at the University of Iowa, said “I live in a country (USA) that is constantly trying to separate good from evil, and of course George W. Bush is always saying that we are good, but it’s a lie and it makes no sense. That’s something that intrigues me--why people are always trying to differentiate good from evil, if in reality we are both.” The debate continued on that note, and most of the writers agreed evil is very ambiguous and that we all have the possibility of being the hero or villain, because evil is something within us, something natural.

I don’t want to scare anybody--I know Vampires and Mr. Hyde are not the prettiest things--but I definitely wanted La Bloga readers to know what topics are discussed at La Semana Negra and to make sure everyone gets a feel of the types of discussion that happen here. But not only that; I also wanted to pass on the excitement and happiness that people who attend this gathering feel.

I’m sure some of you reading this will love hearing your favorite writer talk about his horror characters or why they write the way they do and how they build their characters. It’s a special thing and the spectators certainly recognize this, because during the discussions, they didn’t stop taking photos and notes. As someone behind me said, “I’m posting this on my blog.”

Saludos desde Gijón!
Thania Muñoz

The Mexican Vampire

Exclusive reports from Crime Fiction's international big-bash by our roving reporter.

4th day - Mexican actor Germán Robles

This year La Semana Negra is paying homage to Germán Robles. Robles is a very well known actor in México and other parts of the world for the collection of vampire movies he did during the late 1950s. He is considered “the” Latin vampire of our time. As critic Jesús Palacios (author of the ¡A mordiscos! book distributed free each night) said, “the Americans have Bela Lugosi, the English, Christopher Lee. We have Germán Robles, one of the greatest”.

La Semana Negra has been screening his movies since Saturday, every night at ten thirty. Since the first day the tent has been full, definitely because at the beginning of each screening, Germán Robles himself presents the movie, and tells spectators an anecdote about the movie. Although he is an elderly person now, he still maintains a posture and an enviable elegance. He is a great actor and is not afraid to say it himself, as on Sunday, “I’m a great actor, and since I don’t have my grandma to be saying good things about me, I have to say it myself: I’m a really good actor!”

Although he has been recognized for his work around the world, and his movies have been translated into more then fifty languages, he is not very well known in Spain. This is especially sad, because although his whole career is centered in México, Robles is from Gijón.

This was a big surprise for the people of this city. Robles’s dad fled the country during the years of the war and settled in Mexico City. Seven years later his wife and son Germán followed him, and the seventeen-year-old Germán Robles started working as an actor and draftsman. He filmed “El Vampiro” in 1957, directed by Fernando Mendéz, before Christopher Lee!

Germán told Sunday’s audience an amazing anecdote about this. He said he had a Mexican friend who used to work at London’s BBC, and at an event he had the opportunity to talk to Christopher Lee. Lee asked him if he was from México and if he knew the actor Germán Robles, to which the reporter, Robles’ friend, answered, “Yes, yes, we are like brothers”. Then Lee told him, “Well, tell Mr. Robles that he was been a true inspiration for me.” Who would have thought that a Mexican inspired the acting as a vampire of an Englishman! An incredible anecdote that Robles told with great pride and a definitely well deserved recognition.

I don’t know how hard it is to find his movies now, but it is definitely worth a try. There are incredibly good Mexican movies from the so-called, “cine de oro mexicano.” Instead of gothic cathedrals or houses with enormous chandeliers as we are used to seeing in dark vampire movies, you see an old Mexican hacienda in a little town of provincial México, a beautiful actress, and an indigenous man, endlessly praying throughout the movie.

Germán Robles's character is an elegant vampire who speaks well, and as Robles himself said, “you can smell his lavender cologne from meters away.” Well directed and aesthetically perfect, even though it was 1957, the special effects are good and the acting amazing.

I emphatically recommend Roble’s vampire collection, and as La Semana Negra continues, so the screenings will continue special homage to a special bloodsucking Gijones.

Thania Muñoz

Books and Churros

Exclusive reports from Crime Fiction's international big-bash by our roving reporter.

3rd day - Sunday, June 13

I would like to dedicate this post to the tents of La Semana Negra, to the smell of oily churros, waffles, French fries and sandwiches that populate the air.

I’d heard that at La Semana Negra there was more than books, writers and conferences, but to see it with my own eyes, is an incredible experience. There are tents full of horror books, next to a sandwich and hamburgers joint. Needless to say, a churro tent is located between a detective fiction book tent and another one of fantasy genre.

The event this year is held at Poniente Beach in four tents where most of the film screenings, conferences and other events take place. Your shoes get full of sand everywhere you go, but if it rains, as it did last Friday, what you step in is mud. Nothing to complain about though; you’ll still enjoy a great conference about new book releases or a screening of the 1950’s classic vampire movies of “El Vampiro Mexicano” with an introduction by the vampire himself, the great Mexican actor, Germán Robles. [more on that tomorrow]

The fair is set up as a long line of tents facing the sea. It starts everyday at five o’clock and in a few hours all the tents are lighted. Tons people walk around, eating, talking, and sporting La Semana Negra hats--a black, detective hat given free as a pretty keepsake to people who attend.

There are also tents set up as bars, nightclubs and restaurants. At night, these places are full of people listening either to a live rock band or dancing to the sounds of techno or house. Paco Ignacio Taibo, II proudly said that this year “there are as many bars as bookstores.” When he said this, you could see his gray-haired mustache became a big smile.

La Semana Negra also contains a big concert stage where everyday at 10:30 there are concerts, and spectators comfortably sit on the sand, drink beer, sidra, or their drink of choice and enjoy the music.

The tent bookstores close at 12pm, so it is not rare to see people with bags full of books, tired of carrying them around, having a beer while reading a book they just purchased. I shed a tear every time I see someone with a book by Dashiell Hammett in one hand and chocolate churro on the other. Plain and simple paradise.

This picturesque scenery and the great variety of tents is something Paco Ignacio Taibo II tries to convey every year. In the inauguration ceremony he made a note of that (roughly translated): “this is a celebration for the masses, for the great majority”. And this is entirely true.

You don’t only see intellectuals, professors and other nerds walking around the fair. There are all sorts of people--from the abuelito who can barely read anymore because his sight is not as good as before, to the young guy who prefers to wait until the movie comes out instead of reading the book--who come to La Semana Negra just to have a good time and maybe, after looking at so many books, even buy one.

Great books, food, drinks, and people, just some of the many things this event brings to the city of Gijón and to the people who come and visit during this amazing week.

Besos desde Gijón!

Thania Muñoz

EXCLUSIVE: La Semana Negra XXI in Gijón, Spain

Daily reports from Crime Fiction's international big-bash

Manuel Ramos was busy this week in the Rocky Mtns., so I'm subbing today. This post concerns, coincidentally, two young readers who contacted us for different reasons, one literary, the other artistic. Though we lack a chat room, La Bloga occasionally helps readers make connections, sometimes with surprising results, as with this first case.

In January La Bloga posted a request from Thania Muñoz, a master's student of Latin American lit at Cal State Los Angeles (where she's editor of the Spanish Dept. blog) doing research to present at the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies conference this November. She was interested in Mexican detective fiction and her research focuses on Jorge Ibargüengoitia’s novels.

As part of her research, this month she's attending the crime fiction symposium in Spain called La Semana Negra. Monday's contributor, Dan Olivas, suggested she do posts about it for La Bloga. So she mentioned it to the organizers and guess what? They were very excited and sponsored and authorized her as a member of the press! We Bloguistas are thrilled with the possibilities.

Manuel Ramos is the only Bloguista who's attended La Semana Negra, the annual fiesta led by Paco Ignacio Taibo II in his hometown Gijón, located on Spain's northern coast--una celebración magnífica de crime-fiction. He could attest to what this once-in-a-lifetime experience is like. Thania's in an enviable situation and position.

You can find out more info about La Semana Negra in English or Spanish, or just follow Thania's postings for the next ten days or so. Buried amidst paella, Spanish wine and the plethora of international writers around her, she may be hard pressed to do a daily post. But, as you can see from her first messages below, she exhibits the type of youthful exuberance that promises she'll provide La Bloga readers with some unique and delightful postings. The logo below will introduce her postings each day; just scroll down til you find it.

Good luck, Thania; we know you'll do us proud. And don't let your duties interfere with enjoying the great experience at hand.


First message: I think I told you I’m leaving June 10th. I want to be there for Madrid’s festival of books and since one of my good friends is studying abroad in Madrid, I decided to leave earlier and get to know the city. I’ll be in Madrid June 11th and later leave for a short trip to Barcelona. According to the email I got from Alejandro De-Bernardi (in charge of La Semana Negra visiting press/reporters) I’ll be taking a train (the “Tren negro” or “black train”) from Madrid to Gijón on July 11th. I’ll be staying at the Hotel Don Manuel in Gijón, and they will provide me with transportation back to Madrid.

I should receive the list of invited writers and other attendees at the end of this month. The "Semana" starts the 11th and ends the 20th. According to De-Bernardi, he will put me in contact with writers that I would like to interview or answer other questions about the event. Also, Rodolfo Perez Valero, the Cuban writer, knows a lot of the people that attend every year, and he's going to email them so they can contact with me and help me out.

I have this great opportunity, so I decided to just go for it. If when I come back, I have to live in a one-room apartment and only eat beans with tortillas, pues, ni modo.

Salud,
Thania Muñoz

Last message: La Semana Negra is getting closer! It starts this Friday. Yes, I can't believe it--the time is finally here. I’ll attend the press conference this Thursday and take the Tren Negro up north to Gijón, where the event is held, early Friday.

I could start sending posts as soon as Saturday. All events start at five in the afternoon or after, so I’ll have time to write and send you pictures during the day. Daniel had the great idea of having me write a post each day of La Semana Negra and then doing a final, more detailed piece at the end of the event.

Muchos saludos para todos,
Thania Muñoz

* * *

• The second possible "connection" is the request below, which we post for informational purposes, since some La Bloga readers may find it of interest. Included are samples of the artist's artwork. You can contact him via his Email.

"Peace. My name is Robert Trujillo (aka “Tres”). I’m a 28-yr.-old muralist / illustrator from Oakland, Calif., currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. I have been drawing since elementary school, painting on walls since high school, painting canvases since college, and illustrating many stories since I became a father in 2004. My cultural background is African American, Korean, Mexican, Apache, Spanish, and probably others, which I’m still searching for. I’m an artist who believes in teaching and learning.

In 2003 I co-founded a collective of muralist/art educator/activists called Trust Your Struggle. We have done murals, workshops for youth organizations, and gallery installations nationwide. Two years ago we went to Mexico and Central America doing just that, and this year we plan to do it in Los Estados Unidos--New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Texas, Arizona, y California.

I started an online group called 'Come Bien' Books, focusing on collaboration projects about Black and Latino art, writing, comics, health, zines, and children’s books. We work with all types of people, but encourage young writers and illustrators of color who are professional, intermediate, and beginning to express their thoughts verbally and visually. The purpose of the project is to increase literacy and creativity in young minds, paint a picture of the world we want to see, to abandon the major publishers of this art who do not reflect our culture or ideas, and to combat negative images of our people in major media.

My motivation is to be a positive and nurturing influence on my son. It is to honor my ancestors and family by passing on our visual art traditions, to give, to learn, to challenge the educational system, both public and private, and to ensure more artwork that fuses ethnic studies, political commentary, personal history, and dynamic visual styles using a variety of media that are prominent, loud, unapologetic, and just what some of us need.

I contacted La Bloga is to get connected with the Latin@ writers community, authors who have created books, which I read to my son. As a parent it's great to connect with folks and learn from them. As an artist, I'd like to work with some of you or collaborate on a book. I have been preparing for the last couple of years to do illustration full time. Even if I don't get to collaborate, it would be nice to just read, get inspired, share my work and hopefully inspire you. An exchange is the best way to describe my intention."

Robert Trujillo / Tres
Trust Your Struggle Collective / 'Come Bien' Books, CA-NYC
beatdontstop@hotmail.com

Carlos Mock, Tales of Papi Chulo and More

Carlos Mock is a fixture in LGBT, Latino, and fiction circles here in Chicago, and now, nationally. He is a physician, novelist, blogger and social commentator. Take a look at his bio, some of the rave reviews, and our conversation that follows.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a middle class family. Grew up in the San Francisco/Santa María suburb of San Juan and attended Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola prep school where upon graduation escaped to The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Then proceeded to attend the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan where he obtained a Doctor in Medicine degree in 1980.

After an internship in New Orleans and a four-year obstetrics and gynecology residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago he went to work in the private practice in the Chicago suburbs until 1996. Currently, he shares life in Chicago with his life partner, Bill Rattan, and their dogs Mellow and Mocha. Mock is very active in the LGBT community by being on the board of two organizations; Equality Illinois and Orgullo en Acción, and maintains a travel website at: The Pink Agenda. He has five blogs at CTMock and Latino Odyssey, News Summary, Chicago News, and Pink News. Mock publishes a quasi-weekly newsletter with links to articles on a wide range of topics including Finance, Politics, and LGBT news.

Currently Editor of the Floricanto LBGT Latino Line. Floricanto Press, recognizing the void in today’s LGBT Latino Literature, is launching its new line. For that purpose he's been hired to be their Editor coordinating the series. We're interested in creating a network of Latino LGBT writers that will help sell books for each other. Therefore, Floricanto will go through the process of getting the books recognized nationally through the LAMBDA Literary Foundation Awards (Lammies), The Publishing Triangle Awards, and the American Library Association LGBT Roundtable Stonewall Awards. The press will have two titles ready for publication this summer.


Floricanto Press:

Telephone
415 552 1879
Fax
702 995 1410
Postal address
Floricanto Press/ Inter American Development Corp.
650 Castro Street, Suite 120, Suite 331
Mountain View, California 94041-2055
Electronic mail
General Information: info@floricantopress.com
Sales: sales@floricantopress.com
Customer Support: cs@floricantopress.com
Webmaster: wm@floricantopress.com

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I'd be remiss if I didn't direct you back to the work of this renaissance man. Join me in looking at the critical acclaim for Mock's writing, as well as that conversation I promised.


Lambda Book Report Review, June 28, 2006

This book is mislabeled: Borrowing Time (Floricanto Press) is billed as a Latino sexual odyssey, but it is not. Instead, it is a wonderful story of love and compassion, growth and resolution, mourning and acceptance, and about family - the one you were born in, and the one you make.

Carlos T. Mock has written an engaging book about growing up gay in Puerto Rico, and how it affected the life of the protagonist, Juan Subirá-Rexach. Yet, it is a story of a gay "everyman." Anyone self-aware of themselves and their sexuality at an early age has faced many of the same dilemmas, and made choices - some of which were good, some not so much, as Juan describes.

The tone of the book is the studied reflection of a man facing his maker and his making. It begins with a vivid description of a hospital horror. Not the kind of scene involving dismemberments and gore, but the mind-numbing, full-of-excruciating-pain type that seems to be without surcease, a purgatory of pain that does not allow any escape. In that kind of agony, the only resort is inward, to the steps that led to the torture that results from a failing body due to AIDS. Mock's description captures this hopelessness when Juan states that he is defenseless: "not life nor faith, nor any of the structures that surround me, nothing...nothing more than fear. What experiences are left? Death, nothing else."

But do not get the wrong impression. This is not some morbid book about death and dying; it's not the main storyline. Borrowing Time has delightful anecdotes about the first baby steps taken in self-recognition of being "different" from other kids and how this occurred on the Enchanted Isle. Macho in Puerto Rico is not just a mannerism; it is a way of life that is very different from Ozzie and Harriett. Being outside of that machismo mandate is both revealing and staggering to Juan, who knows internally it is okay to be feeling "those" feelings, but sees a very different reaction from those around him - especially his father. Mock addresses this problem with strength and self-worth; it is a joy to behold.

The story also delves into unconditional love, and observations from the lofty angle of painful remorse. Juan is able to see things through the focused lens of time, and thereby finds nuggets of truth: "For the first time in my life I learned the silence that is required to really talk to a loved one.” That "walls are either to protect what is inside, or to hide the fact there is nothing there." Or, that "love is like a clear stream; you don't know it's there till there's an impediment." And a favorite, "a relationship is judged on how well you travel together." Each of these observations comes from a life well lived and the recognition that the gifts and treasures given without end are "borrowed."

Most of the book is in leitmotif, and is an easy, fun read. For anyone who has had time to reflect on and assess where they have been and where they are going, and recognize the bullion of joy to be found, this is a must read.

ISBN 0-915745-54-2


The Windy City Times: 2007-01-10, Copyright

Chicagoan Carlos T. Mock is a doctor and his new novel, The Mosaic Virus (Floricanto Press, paperback, edited by Katherine V. Forrest) , makes full use of his medical background to create a tale of murder and intrigue during the early 1980s.

Mock, who is well-known as a supporter of GLBT, AIDS and Latino causes in Chicago, has set his newest book in the Vatican, the U.S., and Cape Town, South Africa, as he sends readers around the world in search of the cause of a mysterious virus killing priests—a virus that is strikingly similar to the new plague just being discovered among gay men in the U.S.

Jesuit Priest Javier Barraza is our hero, trying to fight against repressive Catholic ideas as well as his own longing for a childhood sweetheart--a woman now working for the FBI. The two met as teenagers in Argentina, and Special Agent Lillian Davis-Lodge has made sure she meets up with her friend again years later as they both search for the truth. The book is full of intricate medical details, but it is not too intense for someone who does not understand the inner workings of a virus. We follow Barraza and Davis-Lodge as they try to unravel an onion of power and deceit that goes all the way to the White House and the Pope--starting with World War II and ending in 1983. Mock has used actual history as a backdrop, adjusting timelines and some facts to fit his fictional story, but that does not take away from the mystery and suspense.

The Mosaic Virus works by presenting intriguing ideas that work precisely because they could be true. The best science fiction works when it is just one layer away from the reality we all think we know. And, in fact, there have been theories professed by activists that the HIV virus itself could have been a man-made virus that simply moved beyond its initial intended targets and use. Mock even involves former Nazi scientists living in Cape Town, experimenting with a new group of subjects, Blacks in Apartheid South Africa.

In the "real world" just this past weekend, the Vatican's pick for archbishop of Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus, resigned after admitting he had worked with the Polish Communist-era secret police, according to The New York Times. There are many empires of power Mock tackles in The Mosaic Virus, but despite so many conspiracy theories, Mock has managed to write an accessible story of a parallel universe that just might not be parallel after all.

ISBN-10: 0915745798


The Windy City Times: 2007-08-22, Copyright

Chicagoan Carlos T. Mock is a political voyeur. He writes frequently on blogs and in newspaper columns about a wide range of gay and mainstream topics, and he has a special interest in Latino gay issues. He has written about his Puerto Rican identity in Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey, and published The Mosaic Virus, a novel about an AIDS-like virus and the Catholic Church.

Mock’s newest work, Papi Chulo, (Floricanto Press) is similar to The Mosaic Virus in that it takes historical facts and massages them into a work of fiction, this time about the island of Puerto Rico and its fractured identity. Mock’s love of his native land is evident throughout Papi Chulo. His own hopes and dreams for his people ebb and flow with the tragic tides of history. He is cynical about political leaders and passionate about the people, some who are clearly modeled after inspiring heroes in his own life.

Mock’s background in medicine is also evident in Papi Chulo. One of the primary characters, María Rexach, becomes a pioneer in women’s health and the right to choose abortion. Born in 1900, we follow the path of both María’s own life and the life of her nation as it comes under control of the United States, and fights for its own life for more than a century.

We meet the real and imagined political leaders of the last century as they squabble and sometimes succeed in bringing rights to the island. We see how identity issues plague generations of people, as some move to the mainland and lose touch with their home, and as islanders dismiss them as not true Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans born on the mainland have an especially hard time with identity issues.

The novel is not a “gay novel” in the typical sense. However, it does include gay characters, and the sensitivities of the book are informed by an author who is both pro-choice and out.

There is a risk in creating an alternative universe, where some facts remain and others are altered to fit the vision of what the author wants to occur. The real people may be upset, but Mock clearly states at the beginning of the book that this is a work of fiction, even though some facts are real. Incidents of revolutionary violence ( to push for independence from the U.S. ) , political intrigue, funding of the Contras or even the Stonewall Riots of 1969 are used as backdrops for a multi-layered story about the potential of a people and the dreams of a nation.

Mock’s own antipathy for self-interested leaders is clear throughout the novel, but he uses the stories of individuals like María, her friend Clara Rodriguez, her children, her friends and others to show the pain through the eyes of people, making the history more accessible and the imagined reality all the more desired. As Mock would attest, if novelists ran the world, it would be a whole lot better place.

ISBN-10: 0979645700

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1. Tell us more about your personal professional odyssey...physician to writer to editor. It seems a very left brain/right brain journey....

First of all, I am not your typical doctor. My major in college was Latin American Literature. My thesis was on Gabriel Garcia Márquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude), the Colombian Nobel laureate. I love magical realism and I'm prone to write that way.

Then after 11 years as an OB Gyne, where I was working over 100 hours a week, I was diagnosed with HIV in 1996, I stopped working. For a few years I just traveled and partied, thinking I was going to die.

A divorce, a new lover, a new lease on life. What to do? I was driving my new boyfriend crazy because I could not lay still. So one day he ordered me to sit down in front of the computer and start typing all the stories I have told him. That became book one--a magical realistic memoir.

2. Do you think there is a Latino queer aesthetic different from mainstream queer sensibilities? If so, what would you say are its major features?

Just as the African American population, the Latino population has a hard time admitting that they are gay. Lot's of men in Puerto Rico are on the down low. Puerto Rico has the highest percentage of new cases in the USA. We are ruled by the three dogmas of the Puerto Rican Society:

Machismo - where as a top is not gay but a bottom is (really!)

Religion - 95% Catholics who are dealing with guilt and deception. Strong morals that place men on top, women way low and homosexuals even lower in the social strata. Unfortunately HIV positive men/women are at the bottom of the scale

Family Traditions – you do not leave your home until you get married (lots of activity in the outdoors) and you are supposed to reproduce so that your family name does not die. (The biggest thing my mother holds against me – but then again she prays the rosary for fun)

3. How would you describe the ways you hope your writing, your activism impacts the Latino community? The LGBT community?

Latinos and Puerto Ricans have lost their sense of identity. We are taught by the white man to assimilate or you will not get ahead. In the process we do not know who we are anymore. In Puerto Rico I’m looked as an Americano, here I’m seen as a Latino. When I first came to Chicago I learned of the concept of “Safe Space”. Safe space is a place where a Latino man or woman can feel safe and does not need to “cover” for the white man to pass as a member of our society.

4. What would you say are the themes that run through your fiction? Can you give La Bloga readers a glimpse into your writing process?

I love historical fiction. I love taking a history, research the time, the real characters and then introduce “my characters” to interact with the real ones. Sometimes history needs to be bent to accommodate the story, but I am fully aware that I’m writing fiction so who cares? As long as you enjoy my book I’m happy.

5. You've recently joined Floricanto Press as an editor. Can you talk about that and what you see as the direction you hope to offer?

Floricanto Press, recognizing the void in today’s GLBT Latino Literature, is launching its new line. For that purpose I’ve been hired to be their Editor coordinating the series.

Floricanto is interested in creating a network of Latino LGBT writers that will help sell books for each other. Therefore, Floricanto will go through the process of getting the books recognized nationally through the LAMBDA Literary Foundation Awards (Lammies), The Publishing Triangle Awards, and the American Library Association GLBT Roundtable Stonewall Awards. We will have two titles ready for publication this summer.

Felice Picano edited my work, Papi Chulo: A Legend, A Novel, and the Puerto Rican Identity and Leo Cabranes-Grant’s Three plays-Puerto Rican Scenes. Felice also wrote an introduction to both of these works for Floricanto’s new line. I envision all of the participants meeting somewhere in the US once or twice per year so we can help sell each other’s work. The LGBT Latino market is untapped.

We are working closely with Emanuel Xavier. He will be soliciting submissions from around the country so that we can have the first Modern Anthology of Latino LGBT Poetry: Mariposas. We anticipate a Summer of 2008 release.

What I can offer is an outlet for LGBT Latino voices that are looking to be heard.

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Mark your calendario....

Join Raúl Niño for a reading of his chapbook, Book of Mornings


Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 6 pm

Rogers Park Branch
6907 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60626
312-744-0156

Lisa Alvarado