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Not many Americanos know that December 12 is Virgin of Guadalupe Day. But then it's a Mexican holiday, not an American one. South of the border they don't make a big deal out of Cinco de Mayo, so there.

And Guadalupe Day is a new, twenty-first century holiday, started after Juan Diego, the guy who saw her, talked to her, and had her image appear on his tilma was made a saint. That was back in 2002 (the sainthood, not the vision) – I have a clear memory of a news clip with Pope John Paul II, on the verge of death, nodding off as Mexican children sang “Cielito Lindo” in celebration of the canonization.

I've been to the futuristic Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe. I've seen the image on the tilma, or at least I saw what I could as I stood on the airport-style moving sidewalk in front of it. It looked like a painting to me.

Still, there's no denying the power of the Virgin. My grandparents had a statue of her in their living room. In Mexico she's a right-wing symbol. Up here in El Norte, the lefties bring her along on their marches. Gangsters tattoo her on their bodies. Every day I see her on cars and clothing.

The big question is, just what is she?

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Libreria Martinez Grand Re-Opening!

We are pleased to inform you, your family and friends about our new address: 1200 N. Main Street Ste. 100D, Santa Ana, CA, formally the children’s bookstore.

In celebration of our new home we are having a Grand Re-Opening event this upcoming week. It will be Saturday, February 21st with Noche Bohemia featuring newly published author José E. Grijalva author of Vivencias Reflejadas: Una Colección de Poemas en Español, Poet Maricela Loeaza with her works "Poemas por Amor" and Claudia Carbonell with her book "Casa Magica." Also featured will be guitar-maker Monica Esparza, exhibiting her classical and Spanish guitars. 5:00-8:00 pm.

Tenemos el placer de anunciarles a todos nuestros amigos y colaboradores que nos hemos mudado a 1200 N. Main Street Ste. 100D, Santa Ana , CA, antes conocido como la Libreria de los niños.

Con motivo de nuestra Gran Re-Apertura le invitamos a un importante evento a realizarce el Sabado, 21 de Febrero: Noche Bohemia Con protagonista José E. Grijalva autor de Vivencias Reflejadas. Una Colección de Poemas en Español, Poeta Maricela Loeaza y su libro "Poemas por Amor" y Claudia Carbonell con su libro "Casa Magica". Tambien habra exposicion de guitarras clasicas de Monica Esparza. 5:00 - 8:00 pm Libreria Martinez 1200 N. Main St. Suite 100-D Santa Ana , CA, 714.973.7900.

Acevedo fangs again!

Authors' signing event: Sunday, March 1, 2009, 3:00 Denver Book Mall, 32 Broadway (between 1st and Ellsworth Aves), 303-733-3808.

Mario Acevedo will sign Jailbait Zombie, his latest novel about Felix, the vampire PI based in Colorado. Carrie Vaughn signs Kitty Raises Hell, her sixth book in her internationally loved series about a talk show host who was forced to “come out” as a werewolf. Pre-orders and mail orders always welcome.

Nina Else, Denver Book Mall, 303-733-3808 for any questions.

Free Nymphos!

Also from Mario comes word that "Through 2/24, my publisher is offering a free online read (not a download) of my first book Nymphos of Rocky Flats." Here's the link.


Su Teatro extends Bless Me, Ultima

Because of the excitement and outstanding response (phones are ringing off the hook!) about our new show based on Rudolfo Anaya's Ultima, it will bless us for a few more days.

Su Teatro announces Bless Me, Ultima, the extension! Added dates (all others sold out): Sunday, March 1 at 3pm Friday, March 13 at 8:05pm Saturday, March 14 at 8:05pm Friday, March 20 at 8:05pm Saturday, March 21 at 8:05pm

Don’t wait. Order your tickets today: 303.296.0219 $18, students/seniors $15, or 12 for $12
El Centro Su Teatro 4725 High Street, Denver
www.suteatro.org

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To the accompaniment of Su Teatro's production of Bless Me, Ultima opening in Denver this week, comes word of Rudolfo Anaya's beloved coming-of-age novel receiving the medieval slap of censorship in California. How much longer before such decayed minds follow the path of the more honorable, but extinct, dinosaurs?

The Chicano classic has sold over a third of a million copies, yet its reputability is often questioned by small minds. Assumedly, its Spanish expletives rank on those who similarly detest the presence of Mexicans in an economy that owes its survive to them.

You can read the whole story here, but as journalist Seema Mehta summarizes in her Feb. 4th article: "Parent Nancy Corgiat first complained to the superintendent about vulgar language, sexually explicit scenes and anti-Catholic bias in the book last summer, and reportedly told the school board in January that the book’s themes 'undermine the conservative family values in our homes.' ” Family values like censorship, no doubt.

All this, despite the fact that the 1972 novel "was spotlighted on former First Lady Laura Bush's must-read list and is the literature selection for this year's state high school Academic Decathlon competition" and was also "chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of its 'Big Read' program. Can we expect the Superintendent and school board of that district to next cut Grapes of Wrath? Oh wait, that was written by an Anglo.

Two-thirds of the rural Newman school district is "Latino," which might be a relevant reason for its former inclusion on required reading lists for schools there. The censorship doesn't pull it off Orestimba High School library shelves, at least, not for the moment. But apparently, "teachers are worried about district plans to review all literature taught in the classroom."

So, if you want to let the school's Principal Terra know what you think of this, Email him at his publicly available address: [email protected]
If you want to contact the Superintendent and school board members, go here.
You might also want to leave a comment below if you want to send Anaya your support, and we'll try to see that he's aware of them.

And if you're in the school area, buy copies of the Ultima as gifts, because "there has been a run on the book at the school library, with a waiting list of students eager to check out the novel."

As one student commented on a school-linked website, "Our school sucks. I demand a better education!" We couldn't agree with him more.

(Thanks to Donaldo Urioste, Professor of Spanish & Chicano Literature at the School of World Languages & Cultures, California State University, Monterey Bay, for bringing this to our attention.)

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Just this week I received this exciting message from our friends at El Centro Su Teatro:

For the first time ever, Rudolfo Anaya’s original script, Bless Me, Ultima, based on his beloved 1972 novel, will be presented on stage. And who will be bringing you this landmark work? Who else? Your favorite Chicanos! (Okay, okay—your second favorite?) Denver’s most colorful theater company (36-years-old and still going strong)—Su Teatro! Bless Me, Ultima captures the magic of childhood with poetic elegance. Torn between his mother’s earthy farming family and his father’s wild vaquero brothers, young Antonio finds a wondrous middle ground in his relationship with the wise old curandera, Ultima. Su Teatro’s workshop production of Bless Me, Ultima opens on February 12. Stay tuned for more details, including a great way for you and your family to get involved. Or give us a call now: (303) 296-0219.

In line with the presentation of the play, I'll repeat a message I posted a few weeks ago regarding the Amatl Project, which is tied in with Su Teatro and Rudolfo Anaya's work.

John-Michael Rivera, Creative Director of the Amatl Project, sends our readers the following message encouraging contributions to a literary project scheduled for April, 2009. This sounds unique and full of possibilities - give it some serious thought. You should contact John-Michael for details about submitting your contribution.

Dear Folks,

For those of you who do not know me, I am John-Michael Rivera, an Associate Professor of English at CU Boulder and Creative Director of The Amatl Project, a center for the cultivation of Latina/o Arts and Literacy.

The Amatl Project grew out of EL Laboratorio, which was an award winning Latino Literary arts space that held innovative Literary Salons in 2007-2008 and worked closely with The LAB at Belmar, Arte Público Press, and the University of Colorado at Boulder's Creative Writing Program. We are continuing our programs with Latina/o artists and facilitating Literary Salons, but now we are adding important dimensions: we are working with El Centro Su Teatro in Denver and will add Latina/o literacy to our programming elements. I am currently working with El Centro Su Teatro and this year's NEA sponsored Big Read.

Making sure that Latina/o literature and culture are highlighted nationwide, we plan this year to create programs and honor the work of Rudolfo Anaya.

We are writing you all to ask that you contribute to a creative project that will take place during the 11th Annual Pablo Neruda Literary and Poetry Festival in Denver, Colorado on April 16th, 17th and 18th. At this festival, we will have a digital and live-action literary salon made up of writers, scholars and artists who have engaged or been influenced by Rudolfo Anaya's work in the broadest sense. We are looking for essays, poems, short stories, graphic novels, documentaries, and other creative work that responds to Anaya's long career as a writer.

Your contribution will, in part, serve as the basis for a literacy project with high school students in the Rocky Mountain area who have historically been left behind in literacy projects or have not had a chance to engage Latina/o artists and scholars at their own schools. The Amatl Project will work closely with teachers and students, and your contributions will serve as models for their own writing. Through your creative or critical work, we will help students find their own voices and begin their life long passion for writing.

The deadline is March 15th, on The Ides of March, and selected works will be posted on La Bloga and will be highlighted at our live performances held at El Centro Su Teatro in April, the weeks leading up to and during the Neruda Festival. If you are in the area, you will also be invited to read or perform at this event. I am also currently in conversation with three publishers who are interested in publishing a book length manuscript that may emerge from this project. This is the first of many literary salons and live blogs we will be sponsoring. Please stay tuned. Thanks for your time and if you have any questions please contact me at [email protected].

Con Respeto,
John-Michael Rivera
Creative Director, The Amatl Project

The Examined Life: A Gil Rodrigues Mystery
Virgil Jose
Yellowback Mysteries, 2007

Crimespree Magazine’s review of this book said that The Examined Life is a "small gem that deserves to be dug out of the thousands published every year." The reviewer concluded that “well-drawn characters and convoluted plot lines create a pleasurable reading experience.” I agree, but let me elaborate.

Jose manages to present the characters in this private eye novel (the author’s first published work of fiction) as distinct individuals. The protagonist, Gil Rodrigues, is a Vietnam vet, widower, and a private eye. The year is 1987 and most of the action takes place in and around Los Angeles. Rodrigues does mostly insurance work, jobs like making sure that an accident victim really is injured, or checking on a business bank account to look for missing funds - that kind of mundane, routine stuff. He’s in a relationship with Diana, a beautiful Chinese American who struggles with a conflict between wanting to escape the “old ways” of her family and her need for the security of tradition. She wants to “make it” and Gil is just along for the ride. Gil is Portuguese but he spends a lot of time with the Chinese community – his best friend is David Chang (Diana’s brother); the cops who eventually become involved in the caper are Latino and Asian; some of the bad guys are also Asian. So there is a good mix in this book of unusual personalities and color. I wish there had been more about the cultural traditions and customs of the characters, but the author doesn’t spend a lot of time with those kinds of details. However, I may be wishing for the kind of details that other mystery readers object to as getting "in the way" of the mystery. This is a detective novel, after all.

The plot centers on the murder of David, which turns Gil’s world upside down. David’s daughter, Sabrina, asks Gil to investigate the killing. She’s not satisfied with the official police version that David was the victim of a carjacking gone bad. She tells Gil that David had been “acting very odd” the past few days.

Gil gets right into the case even though Lieutenant Steve Hara of the LAPD tells him not to play "TV private eye" and that interfering with an investigation of a capital crime could cause him nothing but trouble. But Gil's loyalty to David and David's family drives him forward.

Gil’s investigation affects his relationship with Diana. It requires that he dig deep into David’s life and learn things he didn’t really want to know about his friend. Eventually it places Gil in the same danger that his friend faced. Along the way, Gil meets uptight police detectives; shady and mysterious “businessmen” from China who don’t seem to really work; a retired CIA operative; and other assorted characters that point Gil toward an international conspiracy involving diplomatic immunity, smuggling, and political intrigue.

As Crimespree said, this is a pleasurable reading experience. I should point out that this book is not noir or hard-boiled (what I usually read). The violence, for the most part, is off the page, there isn’t a lot of private eye angst, and the book’s conflict plays out for the reader without many unexpected twists or turns. Jose’s first book is a good start, and I expect that his future books about his private eye will be more developed in terms of character analysis, a bit more mysterious, and maybe with more of an edge.

Later.

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I hope you all had a peaceful and meaningful holiday. For the day after Thanksgiving, I present brief notices skimmed from the headlines that feature a few books and many people deserving our gratitude.


Junot Díaz says that Martín Solares' grim noir novel, Los minutos negros (Debosillo), translated as The Black Minutes, (Grove Press), is one of the best of 2008. Díaz is quoted in the London Times Online: "A breathless, marvelous first novel that begins with the murder of a journalist in a mid-sized Mexican city but that quickly propels the investigator-protagonist, Maceton, into a darker mystery: the savage unsolved murders of a series of young girls. This is Latin American fiction at its pulpy phantasmagorical finest, this is a literary masterpiece masquerading as a police procedural and nothing else I’ve read this year comes close."

Sounds like I should read this book. Anyone out there already done that?


Bless Me, Ultima has again been blacklisted by a school district. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District (California) Superintendent Rick Fauss decided the book is not suitable for teenagers and banned it for the rest of the school year. The American Library Association says that Rudolfo Anaya's book is one of the most challenged in the country. "I think there's room for exposing students to other experiences, but do we have to sacrifice the values of our families and our community to do that?" asked Fauss, a former high school English teacher. He hasn't read the entire book but said he's "read enough." Despite widespread community knowledge of his decision, Fauss said he hasn't received any complaints except from four teachers. Fauss said that proves he made the right decision, one that "reflects the values of the community." The article in the Mercury News quotes one of the complaining teachers: "This is Hispanic literature. Sixty-five percent of our enrollment consists of the Hispanic population. They can identify with this book culturally. ... The book talks about things these kids are growing up hearing. And for the non-Hispanic kids, this is something different."

Mr. Fauss should finish the book. Then he ought to check out what Dana Gioia, Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts says about Bless Me, Ultima, one of the books in the NEA's Big Read program:
"there was something magical about Anaya's coming-of-age story in post-World War II New Mexico. Full of dreams, legends, prayers, and folkways, it presents a world where everyday life is still enchanted. ... A great book combines enlightenment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can even offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us." Have no fear, Mr. Strauss, and read on.

Paco Ignacio Taibo I died in Mexico City on November 13. He was 84. Taibo was exiled from Spain in 1950 for his socialist activism. He began his writing career as a cycling reporter and eventually wrote more than 50 novels. He won numerous awards during his lifetime including the Great Cross of the Order of Civil Merit presented by the Spanish government, one for his contribution to cultural journalism at the 2004 Guadalajara International Book Fair, and Mexico's National Journalism Prize last May. One of his sons, Paco Ignacio Taibo II, is well-known in the U.S. for his crime and political fiction, and his sponsorship of the annual literary festival in Gijón, Spain, Semana Negra ( featured here on La Bloga last summer with reporting from Thania Muñoz.) Our condolences to the Taibo family.

The Rocky Mountain News continues its celebration of 150 years of Denver history with a list of 150 unsung heroes. Of course, such a list will never include everyone who should be included, but I think it's worth acknowledging the Latinos and Latinas who are listed. I won't name them all, but on the list you will find people such as: Rosalinda Aguirre (co-owner of Rosalinda's Mexican Café, in Northwest Denver for more than 25 years; co-chair of Padres Unidos a parent organization serving Northwest Denver); Stella Cordova (owner and creator of world-famous Chubby's); Ray Espinoza (teacher, artist and one of the original founders of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council [CHAC]); Nita Gonzales (a lifelong activist who oversees Escuela Tlatelolco, a school founded in 1969 by her late father, Corky Gonzales); Stevon Lucero (noted artist and another CHAC founder); José Mercado (actor and teacher, founder of the Labyrinth Arts Academy, a nonprofit that offers education in theater and media arts for public schools and at-risk youth) and several other very worthy "unsung heroes." You can find the entire list here.

Meanwhile, over at The Latest Word, a blog from Westword, a weekly news and arts magazine, Susan Froyd posted her own list of "Denver treasures" in the arts. Froyd says her list is of " a few folks – everyday people who’ve carved out their thriving niches – whom I’ve been lucky enough to find along the way."


Under the heading of The Denver Chicano Arts Community, Froyd says, "I thought I could name just one person, Carlos Fresquez (a personal favorite as an artist) [pictured at right]. But I soon realized that Carlos is a community member who shares with his artist compadres and comadres a certain number of traits: a 500-year-old regional history, a recognition for the bedrock importance of la familia, a politicized sensibility rooted in the populist rise of La Raza in the ´60s and ´70s, and a kind of identifiable humbleness (and the easy sense of humor that goes along with it), to name a few. And they are many, both living and departed. Along with Carlos, there are Daniel and Maruca Salazar, Tony Ortega and Sylvia Montero, santeros Carlos Santistevan and Jerry Vigil, Su Teatro director Tony Garcia, muralist Emanuel Martinez, the poets Lalo Delgado and Corky Gonzales, author Manuel Ramos and broadcaster Flo Hernandez Ramos, actor and filmmaker Gwylym Cano, literally everyone at the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council and so many more -- some elder statesmen and others on the rise. The word rich doesn’t even begin to describe this league." That's quite a list; thanks for the mention, Susan.

One of the people on Westword's list, Florence Hernandez-Ramos, published an article entitled The Revolution May Not Be Televised, But It Will Be On Radio, a think piece for Grow The Audience, a segment of Station Resource Group Online. The article was written on behalf of the Latino Public Radio Consortium and explores the future and challenges of Latino involvement and influence in public radio. Check it out.

Al fin, Happy Birthday to Daniel, Michael, René, Lisa, Ann, Rudy, and yours truly - today La Bloga is four years old- finally learning how to walk. Thanks to our contributors, all the writers who continue to write, and all of you readers who insist on reading books that matter, that entertain, that teach, that make you cry in the night or laugh in the morning; books that leave you wanting more. Here's to another year of La Bloga.


Later.

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Poetry first, discussion after.



My Last Duchess
by Robert Browning

Ferrara

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 'twas not
Her husband's presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps
Frà Pandolf chanced to say 'Her mantle laps
Over my lady's wrist too much,' or 'Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat': such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, 'twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace—all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good! but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, 'Just this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark'—and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
—E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master's known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

Thoughts

This poem is set up as a dramatic monologue, spoken by Duke Ferrara. It starts out sounding like a guy bragging about a piece of artwork — here, a fresco — but quickly skews toward the dark side, as he moves on to describe his wife, and thence to discussing his suspicions (reasonable or not) that she was indiscriminate with her attentions. He "gave commands;/Then all smiles stopped together." And now, he's talking to the envoy of the Count, whose young daughter he hopes to marry.

So, your thoughts on the story here? I ask because although this poem was written in 1842, it is quite psychological. And although Browning conceived it as a dramatic monologue, which he intended to be "objective," it remains a lyrical, subjective piece, with a sort of Gothic (and therefore "Romantic") sensibility about it. As the reader/listener, you must piece together more of the story than you are actually given. I don't know about you, but I find this poem to contain elements of both mystery and horror writing, and it certainly succeeds in engaging me on a psychological level. Am I correct in suspecting the Duke caused his wife's death? If so, how can he seem somewhat rational, and how can he so easily contemplate the business arrangements in taking a second wife, or discuss a sculpture of Neptune? If I'm mistaken, what does it say about my mind that I would suspect him of such a heinous act? And yet, I can't be mistaken — his jealousy and rage are clearly expressed through his words; he also describes his pride in his social position, and even in his actions, which he considers proper.

"My Last Duchess" was written early in the Victorian era. English Society had become fairly repressive, particularly where issues of female sexuality were concerned. A question one might ask is where Browning's thoughts lay on the matter of sexual repression in general, and fear of feminine sexuality in particular. I don't know the answer, but it's pretty clear that this intensely psychological poem depicts the Duke's efforts to control and his wife and what can be viewed as her sexual conduct (or, if the Duke is to be believed — and it seems as if he is not — her sexual misconduct), even if only smiles and blushes are mentioned.

Indeed, to me the poem suggests that the Duke despised his wife and considered her a lesser being, as when he says that to school her on the many ways in which her behaviour fell short would have required him to stoop to (her?) lower level: "'Just this/Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,/Or there exceed the mark' . . . I choose/Never to stoop." Did Browning intend to delve into the politics of marriage? If so, what did he want the take-home message to be?

He is obviously pleased with his current control over his Last Duchess. He has had her life-like image affixed to the wall, where she may never misbehave. He can keep her behind the curtain, and see her smile only for him. As an object of art, he can own and control her in a way that he could not do with the living person. The reference to the sculpture being one of Neptune using a trident to tame a sea horse is there to fill the dual purpose of showing the Duke's return to less weighty matters, while again emphasizing the need for dominance and control.

I find this poem endlessly fascinating to contemplate, but will stop positing now. There are, however, a few more things to consider.

First, does it change your reading if you learn that "My Last Duchess" is based on the true story of Alfonso II d'Este, fifth Duke of Ferrara, who lived in Italy in the 16th century? He married a very young De Medici girl(for 14 is very young, no?), who lived only three years, and died under suspicious circumstances — poison was suspected. That's her portrait at the top of the post. And while the De Medici family is now considered an old and venerable Italian family, Alfonso II was from an older and more highly ranked lineage. Alfonso was descended from royalty, as was his second wife.

Second. About the form of the poem. You may not have noticed, but it is written entirely in rhymed couplets, using iambic pentameter. If you didn't notice, or at least not immediately, it's because Browning didn't write using end-stopped couplets (where the natural break falls at the end of every line). Rather, he used enjambment, a word taken from the French (meaning "stepping over"). It is the opposite of an end-stop, and is sometimes called a "run on" line, because to get the sense or meaning of the particular line, you must move on to the next bit of punctuation.

Finally, if you want to see an even more twisted dramatic monologue by Browning, do check out "Porphyria's Lover", in which the speaker ultimately proves to be insane. "Porphyria's Lover" is dated six years earlier than "My Last Duchess," and is therefore just before the start of Queen Victoria's reign, at a time when societal standards were shifting towards repressiveness, but not in the heydey of Victorian principles, which didn't occur until much later in the century. Porphyria is the disease which is believed to have caused the madness of King George III and of Vincent Van Gogh — symptoms include hallucination, paranoia, depression and more — and yet, Browning would have known none of that when he crafted his poem about a man in love with with a woman named Porphyria, which manages to equate love and madness.

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