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CHICANO MUSIC FESTIVAL
All events take place at Su Teatro's new space: 215 S. Santa Fe Drive, Denver

THURSDAY, AUG 6, 7pm - 9pm: Opening Night ($8) Su Teatro presents a special screening of the film Chicano Rock: The Sounds of East L.A. Hosted by XicanIndie FilmFest Director Daniel Salazar, and featuring guest commentators Pocho Joe (La Raza Rocks), Johnny "Ritmo" Rodriguez, and Joaquin Liebert (The Risk). Also, get a sneak preview of our annual auction!

FRIDAY, AUG 7, 7pm - 10pm: Noche Tradicional ($10) Musica de Colorado Hall of Fame inductions: folk musician Dr. Lorenzo Trujillo, radio pioneers David Gallegos and Paul Chavez, and KUVO's longstanding Sunday radio program Cancion Mexicana. Featuring performances by The Southwest Musicians and others. Also live and silent auctions.

SATURDAY, AUG 8, 6pm - 11pm: Pachanga! ($18) Pachanga madness returns with the best Chicano Rock and Roll in the state: Sangre Chicana, Next in Line, Johnny "Ritmo Rodriguez" y los Diamantes, and more! Exciting live auctions feature original artwork, resort getaways, spa packages, sports tickets, wine tastings, y mucho mucho mas!

SUNDAY, AUG 9, 5pm - 9pm: Mariachi Tardeada ($12) Enjoy a lovely summer afternoon with great mariachi music, food hot off the grill, and ice cold beer and margaritas. Maricachi Vasquez, Tony Silva and Trio Xochitl with Mariachi de las Artes.

Get a complete festival pass for only $35, or buy a Season VIP and get next year's festival pass plus 2 tickets/2 drinks for this year's festival, all for just $135. Call: 303.296.0219

BOOKS

A half-dozen titles (and blurbs) from the Bilingual Review Press Fall, 2009, catalog:

Anywhere But L.A.
Daniel Olivas
September

The stories in this collection range from contemporary narratives to more traditional cuentas de fantasma, giving readers a vivid and honest portrait of modern Latinos in search of their place in the world. Funny yet poignant, Olivas's characters frequently amuse, sometimes disturb, and often remind us of our own vulnerability. People who on the surface appear to be ordinary and uncomplicated reveal their deepest secrets and anxieties related to a variety of issues, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and the human condition in general. We are given a glimpse into the complex emotions and attitudes of characters who are trying to cope with the mysteries of life. These stories ring with humor, insight, and power, and, like the city they describe, they shift and slide and refuse to be pinned down as they drive the reader to the very core of human existence through the colorful mural of a thriving Latino community.

Born in the Cavity of Sunsets
Michael Luis Medrano
July

Poet Michael Luis Medrano shows us life in Fresno, California, a city where one can never see the actual moment when the sun slips beyond the horizon because too many buildings block the view. The picture he paints is not always pretty. In edgy, sometimes angry verse, Medrano reveals a world of shadows and sacrifice. Never shying away from grim detail, he describes frustration, struggle, violence, and frief. But he also shows us light, hope and humor with a wry and refreshing voice. Through it all he remains sincere and versatile, letting the reader absorb intense emotion, from writhing agony to tender joy. Born in the Cavity of Sunsets is poetry for the people, from the initiated and well versed to the beginner who is just discovering the magic of a well-turned phrase.

Second Communion
Nash Candelaria
September

This memoir by renowned Chicano writer Nash Candelaria focuses on how and why he chose to become a writer. As he investigates his family's more than 300-year history in New Mexico, the author undertakes a more intimate journey that leads him to understand truths about himself: why he chose to become a writer and why he chose the topics he did. Part family history and part self-examination, Second Communion is a must-read for aspiring writers, those interested in Southwest history, and students and teachers of Chicano literature.

Simpáticos: San Miguel Stories
Elva Treviño Hart
September

Elva Trevino Hart introduces us to the people of San Miguel de Allende. Nestled in the eastern part of Guanajuato in Mexico's mountainous bajio region, the town has a mild climate and an accommodating culture that attract wealthy Americans and Canadians seeking relaxation and escape. In this picturesque setting, we meet a variety of well-to-do Anglo retirees: some are haunted by ghosts, others by their own pasts, some fine renewed meaning and purpose, and still others explore their sexuality. Witnessing it all are the maids of San Miguel, the women charged with making visitors' stays carefree and luxurious.The maids work magic to heal or redeem their employers, but sometimes the sorcery of others trumps their own. Simpáticos movingly describes two extreme socioeconomic conditions and reveals the universal journey we all ultimately share.

Not Myself Without You
Lourdes Vázquez
October

A working-class Puerto Rican family of the 1950s lives surrounded by spirits, ghosts, and witches, a result of incantations performed in their living room. Chronicling nearly two decades of the family's history -- including their occult activities -- the story involves characters who are centered in Puerto Rico but who move through the Caribbean, Central America, Spain, and New York as they are pulled by the economic, political, and social conditions of the times as well as by their own intense desires. Based on oral history and research, Not Myself Without You is the author's own memoir with a strong fictional twist.

The Scoundrel and the Optimist
Maceo Montoya
October

Nothing is easy when you are thirteen, and it's especially challenging when everyone thinks you're eight because you are tiny; your father is an abusive, tyrannical lout; your siblings are determined to strike out on their own to escape constant drunken rages; and your mother is deeply depressed. In The Scoundrel adn the Optimist we meet Edmund, a hapless but irrepressible redheaded teen whose magnificent strength of spirit makes him a giant among men. Despite roadblocks and bad advice, Edmund is determined to win the heart of Ingrid Genera and to become a great guitar player. But his most notable accomplishment is teaching his father, Filastro, the value of integrity and optimism.



AWARDS

Guillermo Saccomanno of Argentina and David Torres of Spain share the 2008 Premio Hammett Prize for the best crime novel in Spanish. Saccomanno's novel is entitled 77. The author dedicated the prize to his granddaughter and recalled that one of her great-uncles was one of the tens of thousands forcibly disappeared in Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship. David Torres won for Niños de Tiza. The award ceremony took place during this year's Semana Negra in Gijón, Spain. Also at this year's Semana Negra, Cuban writer Rodolfo Pérez Valero won First Prize for his short story Dioses y orishas (Gods and Orishas) The short story is about immigration, forced prostitution and mafias in Spain. This was the 5^th First Prize for Perez in 19 years. A complete list of the Semana Negra winners can be found at this site.

EVENT
Dance of the Flower Medicine - Danza Xochitl Pahtli
Featured will be curanderos from Cuernavaca, Mexico. On August 4th, the events will start with a Welcoming Ceremony at Cuernavaca Park hosted by the Sister City Council. This two hour event will include traditional dancers, singers, and drummers. Mayor Hickenlooper will present the opening. The following days will include speaking engagements throughout Denver and Lakewood. These events will also include events where the curanderos will offer healings and demonstrations. The events will end at Metro State College. The weekly events are free and open to the public. More information including a schedule of all events at this link.

Event Information Contact: Sofia Chavez-Federick 303-726-7119 Media Contact: Mavis Salazar, (720) 297-3522; e-mail: [email protected]


Later.

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Gary Keller, Joaquín Alvarado, Kaytie Johnson, and Mary Erickson. Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education. Bilingual Review Press. 2002.

ISBN 1-931010-14-5. 2 volumes, 642 pages.

If you really love the old man, or have abundant cash, Boxed Set (slipcased): $175.00/cloth set, ISBN 1-931010-11-0

Michael Sedano

Thanks to the wonders of next day parcel service, you're just under the deadline to get a fabulous father's day present that can't be beat, if you act now! That's not a sales pitch but un consejo from someone who recently discovered the existence of this 2002 treasure of Chicanarte. Vini, vidi, sold!

The volumes compel attention. Once opened, hours pass unnoticed in the sheer pleasure of exquisite color printing and generally interesting text. Oversize, the heft and feel of the book in one's lap is one of life's non decadent luxuries, multiplied by the fact of ownership. Hot damn, these are beautiful art books and they're mine!, your well-deserving papi will sing. Your less acquisitive Dad tipo will be reluctant to lend them out until he's consumed every page and all 600 plus artworks by 200 plus artists, mostly painters.

Among the best features of this encyclopedic treatment are the thematic excursions into such themes as La Virgen, Farmworkers, Dia de los Muertos, Lotería. These offer page after page of reproductions, often featuring deluxe fold-outs. In these thematic pages, Keller et al assembled sparkling gems of visual variety, interrupting the regularity of the two-column look. The sections would easily be assembled into their own book. Photographers Craig Smith and Marilyn Szabo merit special notice for their superb work handing the editors quality work. Quality-In, Quality-Out.

Gente who follow chicanarte will recognize many an artist's name and work. Ester Hernández' calavera Sun Mad raisin carton, Alma Lopéz' flower bikini'd Virgen de Guadalupe, Magú's perro character, Carlos Callejo's river crossers. Given the wide geographical spread of the artists, everyone will discover new work and new artists. In a way, I hope Dad doesn't know a lot of Chicana Chicano artists, this way every page will be new, delightful, knock him on his ass potent. Will the old man be freaked out by Alex Donis' Ché kissing César? Will he get pissed at heroic pachuco icons? Will he fall in love with that chola?

Even if Dad never reads more than a few words of the text, you will. And so will your kids and the nieces and nephews. It's an extraordinary work of research disguised as a coffee table book. The two-volume set has been designed with simplicity. Volume one publishes surnames A through G, volume two G through Z. Two page spreads cover each artist. A hundred word sans-serifed artist's statement and mug shot leads each featured artist, along with the artist's signature. Two-column body text mixes biographical information with explications of the one or two works reproduced in the spread. Most entries conclude with an exhibitions listing, reminding readers of all the shows they've already missed, but adding urgency to attending regularly from now on.

Eight years is a lifetime in an artist's productivity. Work in the two volumes is a snapshot of what the artist was doing back around 2002. Thankfully, most artists on display are still alive and exhibiting. Thanks to this collection, attentive gift-givers will recognize an artist showing at a local gallery. Invite Dad to come along for the wine and cheese snacks. Let this two-volume set be a gift that keeps on giving; that keeps you giving the old man what he deserves. Your company. The art is just a bonus.

Just as the content of chicanarte constantly manifests itself in new and familiar ways, so too will these books. Bilingual Review Press supports the contents with a rich set of web pages featuring artist and gallery directories and calendars of events. It's gratifying to see the Events/Announcements page features current data, such pages often are the first to go when an endeavor is "flavor of the month". Obviously ASU, Bilingual Review, and Gary Keller, are serious in their commitment to these outstanding volumes, and chicanarte.

The editors dedicate the collection to Sister Karen Boccalero. Sister Karen founded Self Help Graphics and Art in Los Angeles. Thanks to Sister Karen's efforts, chicana chicano artists found a market for their work and patrons found an excellent, low-cost source to buy many of the works featured in Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Works, Culture, and Education. Sadly, none of Sister Karen's work made the book. I own a Sister Karen lithograph and for sentimental reasons alone, I'd like to have seen her make the artist roll call. But then, lots of outstanding Chicana Chicano artists didn't make the roll call here. Ni modo, unless you're one of the omitted. What you see is what you get, and what you've got here is an outstandingly broad selection. And you can always look stuff up on the internet.

Speaking of Not Making the Roll Call.

You may have read recently that J.D. Salinger has sued a writer for using Salinger's Holden Caulfield character in a book purporting to show this catcher in the rye as an old man. Perhaps that author has not read Salinger's "This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise." Holden went missing as a 19-year old GI in the Pacific, circa 1945. Maybe he survived. Here's Holden's brother, also a G.I., thinking about the kid:

Why, he came through the war in Europe without a scratch, we all saw him before he shipped out to the Pacific last summer—and he looked fine. Missing.

Missing, missing, missing. Lies! I’m being lied to. He’s never been missing before. He’s one of the least missing boys in the world. He’s here in this truck; he’s home in New York; he’s at Pentey Preparatory School (“You send us the Boy. We’ll mold the Man—all modern fireproof buildings...”); yes, he’s at Pentey, he never left school; and he’s at Cape Cod, sitting on the porch, biting his fingernails; and he’s playing doubles with me, yelling at me to stay back at the baseline when he’s at the net. Missing! Is that missing? Why lie about something as important as that? How can the Government do a thing like that? What can they get out of it, telling lies like that?

Read Salinger's story here.

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