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CHICANO/LATINO LITERARY PRIZE ANTHOLOGY
The Chicano / Latino Literary Prize:
An Anthology of Prize-Winning Fiction, Poetry and Drama
Stephanie Fetta, editor
Arte Público Press, May, 2008

Arte Público has announced the upcoming publication of an anthology based on the first twenty-five years of the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize from the University of California, Irvine.

From the first winner, Ron Arias' short story The Wetback in 1974, through almost all the winners, several second- and third-place winners as well as honorable mentions, the collection has 320 pages of fiction, poetry, and drama covering a key period in the development and expansion of what has become known as Latino Literature.

Now entering its thirty-fourth year, the award has recognized a wide variety of writers. Many of the names are familiar to La Bloga's readers: Juan Felipe Herrera, Michael Nava, Helena María Viramontes, Lucha Corpi, Demetria Martínez, Gary Soto, Cherrie Moraga, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Graciela Limón and, as the press publicity says, several "pieces in this anthology are considered to be foundational texts of Chicana/o and Latina/o literature, and those that are not as widely recognized deserve more serious study and attention."

Stephanie Fetta is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Irvine. She has taught in the Chicano Studies, Women’s Studies, and Spanish and Portuguese departments at UC-Irvine and studied at Bryn Mawr College, Stanford, and Cornell. She is the translator of a book-length study by Spanish Anthropologist Francisco Checa entitled Spain and Its Immigrants: Images and Stereotypes of Social Exclusion and has published several articles in the United States and abroad. She lives in Southern California.

MORE NEW STUFF FROM ARTE PÚBLICO
(Text from Arte Público)
The Case Runner
Carlos Cisneros
March, 2008

Alejandro “Alex” del Fuerte, fresh out of law school, is returning home to South Texas, ready to open his solo practice, humble as it may be. He’s got dreams of making his mark in the world and in the courtroom. But when he meets Porfirio “Pilo” Medina, who just crossed the border in search of his wife and son, Alex is suddenly dragged into a world of wrongdoings and political pay-offs rarely covered in law school.

Rampant corruption and big-money politics are set against the rich backdrop of border culture, with its distinctive way of life and unique perspective. And Alex, something between saint and sinner, is an apt guide to both the light and dark sides of the region. This is Cisneros' first novel.

Tomás Rivera: The Complete Works
Edited by Julián Olivares
March, 2008
trade paperback

Julián Olivares brings together the late author’s entire literary production: Rivera’s classic novel, ... y no se lo tragó la tierra, translated by poet Evangelina Vigil-Piñón; his short fiction collection, The Harvest / La cosecha; and his poetry collection, The Searchers: Collected Poetry. In addition to his creative work, this volume collects Rivera’s influential critical essays, including Into the Labyrinth: The Chicano in Literature, Chicano Literature: Fiesta of the Living, The Great Plains as Refuge in Chicano Literature, and the previously unpublished Critical Approaches to Chicano Literature and its Dynamic Intimacy.

Under the Bridge: Stories from the Border
Rosario Sanmiguel, translation by John Pluecker
March, 2008

Mexican writer Rosario Sanmiguel crafts intriguing narratives about solitary women in search of their place, caught between the past and the present. Set in the border region, this collection follows these women—some from privileged backgrounds and others from more desperate circumstances—through seedy bars, hotel rooms, and city streets. A woman who has escaped the night life, dancing on platforms in front of thousands of eyes; Francis, who finally finds the strength to leave her married lover; young Fátima, whose mother abandons her, leaving her to take her place as a maid in a wealthy El Paso family’s mansion; Nicole, who has risen from dismal poverty to become an accomplished immigration attorney.

Originally published in Mexico as Callejón Sucre y otros relatos (Ediciones del Azar, 1994), this edition contains a profound English translation by John Pluecker. The seven stories included in this collection interweave the opposing themes of solitude and connectedness, longing and privilege, fear and audacity, all of which are juxtaposed on the boundary of self-awareness.

EL LABORATORIO PRESENTS MARIO ACEVEDO AND AARON ABEYTA
El Lab is a center for the Latino literary arts presented by The Lab at Belmar. El Laboratorio is proud to host some of Colorado's most acclaimed Latino writers, artist and scholars for literary workshops, public readings and conversations. El Laboratorio aims to be a true laboratory, where all audiences can experiment and gain insight into the ways Latino culture is changing the landscape of the United States.

March 15: Aaron Abeyta and Mario Acevedo; 6 PM reception, 6:30 PM program. Aaron Abeyta will read from his book of poetry As Orion Falls and his novel, Rise, Do Not Be Afraid. Mario Acevedo will read from The Undead Kama Sutra, third in the Felix Gomez vampire detective series. Now that's diversity.

$10 - $5 members. The Lab is in Belmar, 404 S. Upham, Lakewood, CO; 303-934-1777.


COMEDY OF ERRORS
The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare
February 28–March 1
March 6–8
7:30pm
King Center Rawls Courtyard Theatre, Auraria Campus, Denver
Tickets: $12 General Admission
$5 UC Denver students
Sponsored by: Theatre, Film and Video Production Department

José Mercado, new Assistant Professor of the Theatre, Film & Video Production Department, directs this comedy "as if it were set in the world of Tim Burton, with bustling, haunting, and mystical action" according to a publicity release. The Comedy of Errors is a story of mistaken identity and family reunion. Confusion, mischief and familial squabbling abound…all in a single day.

Prior to joining the UC Denver faculty, Mercado led the theater program at North High School, directing Zoot Suit Riots, the first high school production to play DCPA’s Buell Theater. He worked as an actor in LA after earning his MFA in Theater from UCLA where he won the Jack Nicholson Prize in Acting. He is the founder of Labyrinth Arts Academy and member of the Denver Commission of Cultural Affairs (an advisory board to the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs).

Later.

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Christine Fletcher has the distinction of being one of the few people I’ve actually met in person after years of interacting on this blog. A wonderful woman (who allowed me to use WAL*MART as an excuse for my egregious lateness), she also has the distinction of having visited my store back in those days of my anonymity. I can still remember the Boss Lady telling me how I’d just missed this great author by ten minutes as she pointed out the newly signed copies of Tallulah Falls.

It is with great pleasure that I post Christine’s guest blog today and I hope you enjoy her thoughts on writing, life and the second novel.

~*~

The Year of the Second Novel

My first young adult novel, Tallulah Falls, debuted in May 2006. Around the same time, my agent negotiated a deal for my second book. I was so giddy, I practically floated. After twelve years of writing, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d finally gained the summit…and the view was mighty fine.

I soon discovered what every author finds out: publication, exciting as it is, is only the first peak. Ahead: the entire Himalayan range. Oxygen! Quick!

First, there was the mysterious world of book promotion. Promotion involves a whole set of skills radically different from writing, different even from agent searches and conference schmoozing and other steps on the road to publishing. Let’s just say it’s been a steep learning curve, and I’m still hauling my keister up it. Readings, contests, meeting local booksellers,* mailing postcards, visiting schools, blogging, keeping up the website and MySpace page that are now de rigueur for authors…

…and, all the while, writing the second book.

The thing about second novels is, they come with deadlines. First novels don’t. Except for the author, nobody cares if a first novel ever sees the light of day. That’s the challenge: knowing the world is indifferent, and slogging through to the end anyway.

The challenge of the second novel is making it better than the first, and writing it faster. It took me almost four years to complete Tallulah Falls. For the second book, I had one year. I also had two day jobs, and Tallulah to promote. Not to mention a boyfriend, a house, friends, family, pets…

I quit my teaching job. At the veterinary practice, where I’m blessed with a boss who loves books, I was able to consolidate my hours into two days a week. Housework became an early, and enduring, casualty. When I’m preoccupied, I can subsist indefinitely on cheese popcorn and Dublin Mudslide ice cream; fortunately for both of us, my sweetie took over the cooking. The veggies on my plate were like love notes: Eat this, it’s good for you.

Preoccupation became my constant mental state. Novel writing is a bit like inhabiting a waking dream. After spending five consecutive days in the world of my book, re-entering the living, breathing reality of clients and patients was always a shock. Bits of my life fell away: dinners out, coffee with friends. As did every belief about what I needed in order to write well.

I used to say, If I don’t get a good start early in the morning, the entire day is shot. And: I can’t be distracted with errands and chores—it breaks the flow. Cue fluttering of hands.

Funny how quickly you can get over yourself when faced with a deadline. My hands stopped fluttering and started typing. I wrote in the mornings, the afternoons, and late at night after I got home from work. In between, I did errands and chores and all that real life stuff because—and this sounds obvious except it wasn’t—real life doesn’t give a crap about deadlines.

Maybe that’s why this year, the year of the second novel, I started feeling like a real writer. You’d think this feeling would have bloomed when Tallulah Falls was accepted for publication. Or the first time I held the actual book, with its gorgeous, haunting cover.

Nope. I felt most amazingly fortunate, but under the excitement lay doubt—maybe, maybe it was all a fluke.

There were days, this past year, when I’d sit at my computer, not a word to be found in the desert that used to be my brain, except a repeating chorus of self-reproach: What on earth made you believe you could actually write this thing? Then, eventually, the words would start coming, and the sentences, and the pages. I lived in the characters’ skins, saw through their eyes, fell in love with them. I tried to tell their stories well, so they’d come to life for readers the way they had for me. The way Tallulah had come to life, out in the world. I found that putting myself in front of strangers had an unexpected side effect: I was enjoying myself tremendously. Connecting with booksellers and readers has been a blast, the best reward of publication by far. Who would have guessed?

Oh, and the deadline? Three hundred seventy-six pages, delivered on time. The book (tentatively titled Ten Cents a Dance) will be published in April, 2008. Meanwhile, Tallulah Falls has just come out in paperback (with a brand-new, equally gorgeous cover), and I’m working on ideas for a third novel. I know a little better what’s ahead, now. More peaks, lots of hard climbing.

I can’t wait to see the view.


*Thanks to our lovely hostess who, back in her days of anonymity, gave me stellar advice on how to approach that wily species, the bookseller, in its native habitat.

~*~


Thank you, Christine.

If you’re interested in learning more about Tallulah Falls or Ten Cents a Dance you can visit Christine’s website.

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