JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Stories on Stage, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 26 - 44 of 44
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Stories on Stage in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Janet Mockhas known she wanted to be a storyteller since she was a fifth grader in Honolulu who escaped to her local public library to devour books by Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan and Zora Neale Hurston. ”I knew that words would be my refuge and words were where I could create a composite of the dreams and the life that I wanted to live,” she recalls.
Years later, the now 30-year-old moved to New York to pursue her writing career. And after coming out as a transgender woman in a 2011 Marie Claire article, Mock became an ardent advocate for other transgender women, especially those who are young and struggle financially. Her newly released memoir, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More(Atria Books/Simon & Schuster) delves into the self-identify struggles that many trans people face. Mock recently spoke to Mediabistro about her book and offered some advice on writing your own memoir:
Anchor yourself in your own experience and write from that place. And you’ll find your voice. You’ll find out what you want to do. You’ll find your purpose. And I think that everything comes out of that. It’s [about] being able to sit still with yourself and really excavate those parts of yourself that were shut off or silenced or put into the dark a long time ago. I know that when I actually sat down with myself to do that work… that’s when my life began transforming.
The National Book Foundation will honor novelist E. L. Doctorow and poet Dr. Maya Angelou at this year’s National Book Awards ceremony.
Doctorow has been given the 2013 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Angelou has received the 2013 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
The ceremony event will take place on November 20th in New York City.
Poet Maya Angelou is not a fan of the new Martin Luther King monument in Washington, DC (pictured, via). In a Washington Post article, the poet objected to the quote carved on the newly unveiled MLK monument.
The original King quote read: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” But it has been shortened to read “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
Here’s Angelou’s quote, from the article: “The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit … He was anything but that. He was far too profound a man for that four-letter word to apply.”
Before they were mainstays on countless bestseller lists, Maya Angelou, Terry McMillan and Alice Walkerwere all once featured in Essence. And, says editor-in-chief Constance C.R. White, the magazine is always looking to give the next big talent a shot at a byline as well.
“The first thing you think about is what are Black women thinking about. What’s important to Black women?” White explains in our latest Media Beat interview. “And that is really the crux of what we do at Essence and, therefore if you’re pitching us, that’s what you should be focused on too as a writer.”
It’s not too late to join this year’s Reading the World Challenge if you haven’t already – just take a look at this post for details.
In our family we have all joined together and read picture books set in Mongolia, which is our current focus on PaperTigers. I had to hunt around a bit but we came up with a good selection. I’m not going to go into a great deal of detail here as they are all gathered up in my Personal View, Taking a step into children’s books about Mongolia. We have really enjoyed delving into the culture and heritage of Mongolia and these picture books have been read all together and individually.
One bedtime Older Brother read Horse Song: the Naadam of Mongolia by Ted and Betsy Lewin (Lee and Low, 2008) to Little Brother – quite a long read and they were both engrossed. Watching them from the outside, as it were, I came to an added appreciation of the dynamics of Ted and Betsy’s collaboration, both in the energy of their shared enthusiasm and participation in the events surrounding the famous horse-race, and also of being struck by a busy, crowded scene one page and then giggling at the turn of expression on an individual study’s face the next.
And I’ll just share with you Little Brother’s reaction to Suho’s White Horse, which you can read about in a bit more detail in my Books at Bedtime post earlier this week:
It was a moving story. The governor made me angry because he broke his word and was cruel to Suho and his horse.
[Listening to the musical version played on the Mongolian horsehead fiddle, the morin khuur] Once you know the story, you can tell which part of the music is telling which part of the story. How do they make that music with just two strings? It fills me with awe.
I also read The Horse Boy: A Father’s Miraculous Journey to Heal His Son by Rupert Isaacson (Viking, 2009), an amazing story of a family’s journey to Mongolia in search of horses and shamans to seek healing for the torments that were gripping their five-year-old autistic son’s life: as Isaacson puts it with great dignity, his “emotional and physical incontinence”. If you have already read this humbling, inspiring book (and even if you haven’t), take a look at this recent interview three years on from their adventurous journey. Now I need to see the film!
And talking of films (which we don’t very often on PaperTigers, but I can’t resist mentioning this one), The Story of the Weeping Camel is a beautiful, gentle film that takes you right to the heart of Mongolian life on the steppe. Who would have thought a documentary film about a camel could be so like watching a fairy tale? Don’t be put off by the subtitles – our boys love this film. Take a look at the trailer –
'I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.'
(I've been without the internet for four days and that also gives an insight into character.)
Me: I like rainy days. I'm second generation Irish. I have to like rainy days...
Lost luggage hasn't been a major feature in my life (that's tempting providence, I know) but someone being very helpful did once throw out a week's clean washing (my clean washing) instead of the detritus left behind after a by election campaign and I dealt with it with quiet aplomb. Well, that's how I remember it...
And I don't do tangled Christmas lights. I do Christmas.
The lights are a side issue: they are are not on the same scale as cooking turkey, buying presents and saying how big the christmas tree should be (bigger the better). But if I had to do tangled lights at some point I'd say it's Christmas...let's not break our hearts over this. Let's buy some new ones to tangle up.
1 Comments on QUOTE FOR THE WEEK, last added: 3/15/2011
Rainy days are easy - I just read. Not sure about lost luggage. That might cause me a little discomfort. But tangled lights? I LOVE untangling the Christmas lights. In fact I like untangling balls of string, the thread in my sewing box, anything that needs it. So what does that say about me?
Renowned poet Maya Angelou has donated 300 boxes filled with her personal papers to the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Angelou had this quote in the press release: “The Schomburg is a repository of the victories and the losses of the African American experience … I am grateful that it exists so that all the children, Black and White, Asian, Spanish-Speaking, Native American, and Aleutian can know there is a place where they can go and find the truth of the peoples’ history.”
The donation contains the notes for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and some of her most famous poems. One notable inclusion are the notes for the poem written at the request of former President Bill Clinton, On the Pulse of Morning. The video embedded above shows her reading it at Clinton’s 1993 inauguration. Several unpublished manuscripts and poems have also been included in the lot.
Over the past six or so years of providing plot consultations to writers, I have rarely had a cancelation. When one happens, the occurrence tends to give me pause. When it happens twice, I can't help but speculate why. Always, my imagination settles on one degree or another of writer's fear.
Years ago, I heard Maya Angelou say that a character trait most important in life is courage.
This is so true for both the protagonist of a story and for the writer, too. Having worked with writers of all genres and all ages, I appreciate and honor how much courage and fortitude it takes to continue to keep at it, to keep showing up, to pick yourself and your characters off the ground over and over again, dust yourselves off, and start again, to keep believing in yourself and your story and the transformative nature of creating something out of nothing.
Here's hoping the writer in question remembers there is nothing to fear in life but fear itself... Naw, that sounds too trite. How about this? I'm not that scary. The process is intense but truly is nothing to fear.
Like your protagonist, face your greatest antagonist and you, too, become the star of your own life.
3 Comments on Writer's Courage, last added: 6/19/2010
It may seem to some like lazy thinking, but appropriating sayings, quotes, and proverbs can be quite handy in distilling complex subjects into something more immediate. At the Harold Washington Chicago Public Library are a few quotes above the checkout:
Books are meat and medicine
and flame and flight and flower,
steel, stitch, and cloud and clout
and drumbeats on the air.
- Gwendolyn Brooks
Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
- Groucho Marx
Books and reading are very personal subjects for most of us, and I was interested to find more famous opinions about our chosen profession…
It would appear that Maya Angelou would approve of a customizable kids book that peaks a child’s interest in books:
“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”
Comedian Mitch Hedberg seemed to think that we may be too specialized:
“Every book is a children’s book if the kid can read!”
It was Confucius, however, who was the most complimentary of our endeavors:
“The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most.”
'I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a life. I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'
I love Maya Angelou, and I love your blog! I recently discovered it, and it's very lovely. Your poems are very inspiring : ) I can't wait until your next post!
Although written in a Christmas spirit, the poem’s resonance is far more broad, as it encourages one and all to “Come away from rancor. Come the way of friendship.” A sound piece of advice to humanity in this day and age when wars and conflicts still happen in the name of religion.
As seen in the excerpted verses below, her poem is a call for peace and unity:
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
These words go straight into the heart, don’t they?
Do you know of other books for children that speak of people from different faiths coming together during the holidays? Would you recommend them? Please do share so we can all learn about how others have “come the way of friendship.”
0 Comments on Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou as of 1/1/1900
Ooh, after the week I've had with babysitter woes, I have really been looking forward to my Friday post where I get to let my hair down, sit back, and ponder the inane, quirky habits of that ecelectic species, writer.
This week's spotlight gelled for me in a dream last night. I haven't had the best luck with working things out in the subconscious before, but man, last night, the stars must have aligned because when I woke up, what I dreamt actually made sense.
You might be a writer if...you swoon for writers like they were rock stars.
I mean the Leif Garrett/David Cassidy kind of swooning, where your heart gets up to some crazy erratic pace and your head feels so hot, you think you might lift off the ground or explode. Yep, that's what great writing does for writers.
Sound melodramatic?
Okay, maybe just a little, but what writer hasn't had that moment when a turn of phrase in a piece stopped them dead in their tracks. Where they sat there, saying it out loud, letting the words roll and bump across their lips as they savored the flavor of great writing.
And then became insanely curious to learn about the person who wrote that. So much so you, say, maybe googled them? Checked out their wikipedia page? Looked for interviews. Driven by the haunting memory of that amazing combination of letters and sounds that became greater than the sum of its parts.
I know. I'm swooning again.
I didn't used to swoon so for writers, not before I became one. I always read a lot, tons, but honestly, I wasn't all that into remembering author names. It was all about book titles, or even more simply, the story itself.
Now that I am a writer, now that I'm constantly working to improve my craft, I've become a closetcase fan of other writers. Then again, it may only be me who thinks my curiosity and interest is secret. I've seen my friends give me that funny look when I start going on and on and on about how I'd love to have Markus Zusak and his family over for a grill party. Kids would be playing on the swing set (I have no idea if he has kids. I do.) Spouses would get along great. And we'd talk about whatever. Not necessarily books, but life. I mean, who wouldn't want to kibbutz a little with the person who wrote:
As it turned out, Ilsa Hermann not only gave Liesel Meminger a book that day. She also gave her a reason to spend time in the basement - her favorite place, first with Papa, then Max. She gave her a reason to write her own words, to see that words had also brought her to life. "Don't punish yourself," she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing.
Do you have a lighter lit and are waving it in the air like me? I mean, gees, that's just one line. The whole rest of the book is just as strong.
Zusak is just one example on my ever growing list of authors I'd love to meet and talk with. I don't mean interview talk. I mean Paris, early 20th century, Picasso taking on Modigliani talk. I mean, Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald. You know, arguing and debating, chewing and reforming and rewriting what makes good art in a seedy bar with a good French wine. They argued. They debated. They drank. They lived. They created. They changed the world.
God, what a time that must have been. An unending concert of ideas matching pitch and being reworked into something new and brilliant.
I'm swooning just thinking about it.
*****On a very little side note to rising fame and writer fortune, my book, Dragon Wishes, was an Honorable Mention in the San Francisco Book Festival this week. I feel like a rocker who's finally playing decent venues. Hopefully, one day, it'll be the Met.
March 2009’s Voices from the Middle included an article by Georgia Heard entitled “Celestino: A Tribute to the Healing Power of Poetry. ” In typical Georgia Heard style, the article is both eloquent and poignant. Early in the article Heard writes,
One of the reasons to invite poetry into our lives and into the lives of our [...]
Maya Angelou’s famous “Amazing Peace” Poem was recently turned into a picture book (Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem). I love everything about this book, especially the way in which the art matches the words so well. (It’s illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.)
Here’s an excerpt of “Amazing Peace”.
Amazing Peace
Thunder rumbles [...]
Earlier this week my parents, my kids and I took a walk around the Diamond Valley Lake Reservoir in Southern California. The wildflowers were in full bloom, the sky was a beautiful clear blue, and the newly-created lake sparkled below us. California poppies covered the hillsides along with a dozen other types of wildflowers in blue, yellow, and purple. It was a wet winter in California, so these flowers must have been a gift of repayment.
In honor of their short-lived beauty, my Poetry Friday entry this week is from Maya Angelou's "California Prodigal":
Around and through these Cold phantasmatalities, He walks, insisting To the languid air, Activity, music, A generosity of graces.
His lupin fields spurn old Deceit and agile poppies dance In golden riot. Each day is Fulminant, exploding brightly Under the gaze of his exquisite Sires, frozen in the famed paint Of dead masters. Audacious Sunlight casts defiance At their feet.
That's lovely. And I'm jealous that you've actually seen blooming flowers this spring. We've got snow. Still.
TadMack said, on 3/21/2008 11:47:00 AM
A really unique poem -- like that.
And, I had poppies all the way into August, so they weren't terribly short-lived in the yard, but yes, on the hills... they're gone until the first rains of autumn.
I wonder how they'll do when I bring seeds here...!
Kelly said, on 3/21/2008 4:25:00 PM
Oh, hugs, Eisha!! I know how you feel. I'm headed back to Smalltown on Sunday and NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
True, Tadmack :) And, I hope the poppies thrive there!
Cloudscome said, on 3/21/2008 8:08:00 PM
You know I can hear her voice reading this poem in my head. No one else does words like her! I really love the ending: "Audacious Sunlight casts defiance At their feet."
Soak that in girl!
Barrie said, on 3/21/2008 11:54:00 PM
Lupin trivia: Did you know that the best way to get lupin seeds to sprout, is use a little sand paper on them before planting? I'm not sure how I know that.
Díaz follows up his breathtaking story collection, Drown, with a brief and wondrous novel about a second-generation Dominican nerd nicknamed Oscar Wao. More than a coming-of-age tale—and more than an account of the Latino experience—this robust work uses Oscar’s sharp and distinctive voice to delineate the human struggle to define oneself. (LJ Xpress Reviews, 8/28/07).
Loosely based on the life of the great Spanish cellist Pablo Casals, Romano-Lax’s riveting debut novel follows a Catalan boy’s musical journey through 50 years of Spain’s tumultuous history. (LJ 8/07).
FOURTH ANNUAL WRITERS STUDIO LITERARY CONTEST First place winners win $250, publication in Arapahoe Community College's literary magazine, Progenitor, and a guest invitation to the annual Literary Festival in April. The winners read their work at the festival. See General Submission guidelines here. Writers Studio runs a yearly literary contest in fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. The contest is open to ACC students, faculty and the Colorado community. All entries are considered for publication in The Progenitor. Submissions for this year's contest will be accepted January 1, 2008 through March 1, 2008.
I am very pleased to announce the creation of alternative-publications, a new virtual press devoted to publishing innovative Latina/o literature.
Alternative-publications intends to provide an outlet for innovative literature that may not be considered marketable by established presses, to encourage the public to play an active role in the literary process, to serve as a public action in favor of a literature that is not market-driven, and to create a database of reader-responses for future use by researchers.
Please pay us a visit (and spread the word!): http://alternative-publications.ucmerced.edu
(Please note: if you get a message to the effect that the server is not found, please try again after a few minutes. If the problem persists, please let us know).
Looking forward to your comments,
Manuel M. Martin-Rodriguez Professor of Literature and Founding Faculty University of California, Merced
Manuel, that cover for Daniel's anthology fascinates. Thanks for the tip about the annual ACC competition and the note about The Spanish Bow, which sounds amazing. I'm reading The Brief Wondrous Life right now. K.
Lisa Alvarado said, on 12/16/2007 5:12:00 PM
M -- Your post is hardly bits and pieces! It's great overview of reading folks should take time to investigate. And this isn't the first Daniel Olivas book cover (and contents) that fascinates!
Several bits and pieces this week: a pair of grand old maestros are still stirring the pot; an opportunity for maestros-to-be; readings and performances that will stir your soul; appearances by Our Lady of Guadalupe; y más.
The Land of Enchantment Award is a children's book award designed to encourage New Mexico youth to read books of high literary quality. The award is sponsored by the New Mexico Library Association and the New Mexico International Reading Association and includes master reading lists for children and young adults. Information about the award is available at www.loebookaward.com.
The First Tortilla is the story of a young Mexican girl who saves her village by making the first tortilla with the help of the Mountain Spirit.
Congratulations to Rudolfo Anaya on this award. There's more: Bless Me, Ultima is now being read nationwide as part of the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Readprogram; and the Albuquerque Museum Foundation named Anaya as its Notable New Mexican. _______________________________
MORE NEWS FROM ROLANDO HINOJOSA Another of the writing legends,Rolando Hinojosa, was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree from Texas A & M University in August. Hinojosa's recent publications include:The Forgotten War, So-Called, published by Veterans for Peace; Klail City Redux published by Puentes (Núm 5, Otoño 2007); Lone Star Sleuths (University of Texas Press, 2007) included Chapter One of Partners in Crime; and Texas Tech Press published his short story Death and Obedience in Nasario García's anthology Brujerías. As I recently mentioned here on La Bloga, Hinojosa also was presented the Bookend Award (with Dagoberto Gilb) at this year's Texas Book Festival. ___________________________________
AUTHORS READING IN DENVER November 30, 7:30 PM Tattered Cover Book Store Historic LoDo Denver's Deputy Mayor Guillermo Vidal will read from and sign his book Boxing for Cuba: An Immigrant's Story of Despair, Endurance & Redemption(Ghost Road Press, 2007). The book is described as "a poignant story of struggle, forgiveness, and the joy of returning home." ____________________ December 1, 6:00 PM (reception) 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM (main event) The Laboratory of Art and Ideas El Laboratorio continues its exciting series of writers reading and performing at the Lab in Belmar. Up next, Sheryl Luna will read from her award-winning book Pity the Drowned Horses (Notre Dame Press, 2005), followed by a performance by the always entertaining and enlightening storyteller Angel Vigil. $10 ($5 members). For more information call 303-934-1777. ___________________________
December 8, 2:00 PM Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue Colorado author Lydia Gil, and local illustrator Hernán Sosa, will present their bilingual picture book Mimís Parranda/La Parranda de Mimí(Piñata Books, 2007). "Rich with Puerto Rican cultural traditions and complemented by vibrant illustrations, this beautiful story will have children ages 3-7 eagerly anticipating their own holiday traditions." ________________________
December 13, 2007 7:30 PM Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue John Nicholswill read from and sign his new novel The Empanada Brotherhood (Chronicle, 2007). The publisher says, "It's Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, when expatriates, artists, and colorful bums are kings. A tiny stand selling empanadas near the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal streets is the center of the action for the shy narrator, an aspiring writer just out of college. Charming and insightful, this deceptively simple novel is a tale told by a master. It is a wise coming-of-age story, full of joy and touched by heartbreak, that captures a special time and place with extraordinary empathy and humor." __________________________________
Categories & Final Round Judges Romance --- Selina McLemore, Associate Editor, Grand Central (formerly Warner) Mainstream Adult Fiction-Mollie Glick, Agent, Jean Naggar Literary Agency Suspense/Thriller- Katie Gilligan, Associate Editor Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press Fantasy/Science Fiction-Melissa Ann Singer, Sr. Editor, Tor Children's & YA-Jennifer Rees, - Editor, Scholastic Books
Eligibility--All authors unpublished in novel length fiction. Enter-- The first 20 pages and up to a 2 page synopsis, for a total page count of 22 pages. Receipt date-February 17, 2008. Fee--$30; Friends of Library members, fee= $20
Awards-- Winners announced at the awards luncheon, held Friday June 20, 2008. 1st place will receive $50 and a certificate, 2nd place will receive $25 and a certificate, and third place will receive a certificate. More info here.
_______________________________
SU TEATRO PRESENTS TISH HINOJOSA El Centro Su Teatrowill present the original production, Á Colorado en una Noche de Navidad, To Colorado on a Christmas Night, featuring the music of Tish Hinojosaand written and directed by Anthony J. Garcia, December 13 – 23. Á Colorado is a theatrical celebration of the music of renowned singer/songwriter Tish Hinojosa. Su Teatro company actors will sing and reinterpret her songs, and Tish will join the cast for a one night only special performance on December 21.
Su Teatro developed Á Colorado as a part of its annual St. Cajetan’s Reunification Project. What is now known as the Auraria Higher Education Center was once a thriving Westside barrio, and the still standing but desanctified St. Cajetan’s church was the spiritual center of the neighborhood. Every holiday season, Su Teatro travels to Auraria to present a community based folk drama and symbolically return the neighborhood to the families it was taken from. Eugenia Rawls theater at the King Center, 877 Lawrence Way, December 13 – 23. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 PM with Saturday and Sunday 3:00 PM matinees.
Tickets are $18 general and $15 students/seniors. Special comadre group rates are available. For tickets and information call El Centro Su Teatro at (303) 296-0219 and visit www.suteatro.org and www.myspace.com/elcentrosuteatro.
___________________________________
The Denver Art Museum opens its door for free from December 12 through January 6, and invites everyone to check out the pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial art galleries in the Museum's North Building, fourth level. Bilingual and family activities are promised. The event is billed as Our Lady of Guadalupe at the DAM, so expect a vision.
__________________________ December 13 - Vino y Chocolate hosted by the Board of Directors of Adelante Mujer, Inc., 5:00 - 8:00 PM, Centro San Juan Diego, 2830 Lawrence St., Denver, CO. Support the Immigrant and Migrant Project of Bienestar Family Services of Centro San Juan Diego by bringing a gift of toys for children age's birth to 10 years. Indicate age and gender on children's gifts. RSVP - 303-297-8696.
_________________________________
Al fin -- I got the pleasant news that my short story, If We Had Been Dancing, has been selected by Stories on Stage to be performed by theBuntport Theatre for the Tales of Mystery and Suspense program (January 4 and 5, 2008). Other authors for that night include Edgar Allen Poe, Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl, and Jack Ritchie. Heavy company.
The Stories on Stage annual holiday program is set for December 16 at the Stage Theater in the DCPA. Featured authors for Making Merryare Dylan Thomas, John Cheever, Truman Capote, and Ellis Parker Butler. Sounds good.
Manuel -- another great round robin of what's happening, who's appearing, and it makes me wish AGAIN that I were at least visiting your neck of the woods.
(BTW --Tish has an amazing angel's voice, no?)
Lisa
Manuel Ramos said, on 12/3/2007 4:07:00 PM
Thanks Lisa -- always kind words from you. I am glad to know that someone reads this stuff and gets something out of it.
Tish is amazing, absolutely. She's a fave around here.
TRINIDAD SÁNCHEZ, JR. MEMORIAL FOUNDATION Regina Chávez y Sánchez has established a foundation in the name of the late poet, Trinidad Sánchez, Jr. A promotional flyer announces that several of Sánchez's books are available including Why Am I So Brown?, Jalapeño Blues, Poems by Father & Son, Compartiendo de la Nada, and Authentic Mexican Food is HOT! She notes that she is working on several unpublished manuscripts, developing a scholarship in Trinidad's name, and that she wants everyone to know her husband's "words and wisdom." You can get on her mailing list by contacting her at [email protected], or writing to her at 827 Park Avenue West, Suite 203, Denver, CO 80205.
WORDS & MUSIC: A LITERARY FEAST IN NEW ORLEANS Words & Music, 2007, opens November 14 and runs through November 18. The overall theme for 2007 is When Cultures Collide: The Fallout for Life and Literature. This event always features a stellar list of writers and on that list this year are Loida Maritza Pérez and Marie Arana. Pérez, a native of the Dominican Republic, is author of Geographies of Home (Viking, 1999). Arana, originally from Peru, is Editor of The Washington Post's review section Book World, and author of the novel Cellophane (Dial Press, 2006 ) and the memoir American Chica (Dial Press, 2001). For more about this event, click here.
MARTIN LIMÓN Martin Limóncontinues his appearances in support of his latest Sueño and Bascom military whodunit, The Wandering Ghost (Soho Crime, 2007). He will read and sign at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ (James Doss is also on the program), on November 14 at 7:00 P.M., 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd., Suite 101; Murder by the Book, 2342 Bissonnet, Houston, TX, on November 15 at 6:30 P.M.; The Mystery Bookstore, 1036-C Broxton Avenue, Los Angeles, November 16 at 7:00 P.M.; and M is for Mystery, November 17, 1:30 P.M., 86 East Third Ave., San Mateo, CA.
Here's an announcement about a new book: "FOCUS ON THE FABULOUS ... features 33 GLBT people as they write about life, love and living in Colorado. Edited by established author Matt Kailey and published by Johnson Books, the anthology was among the Denver area's top five of the September 2007 best seller list of nonfiction paperback books. Titled Two Militants Who Just Wouldn't Shut Up, the essay by Donaciano Martinez is partly about growing up in an anti-Chicano and anti-gay town and partly about the Colorado Springs Gay Liberation Front that was co-founded by Martinez and Truman Harris shortly after the 1969 Stonewall riots that marked the second wave of the battle against gay oppression."
Another press blurb: "TINY TIM IS DEAD will be staged at 7:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday from November 23 through January 5 at the nonprofit Theatre Group's Phoenix Theater, 1124 Santa Fe Drive in Denver. Written by Barbara Lebow, the play is described as wickedly amusing and delicately poignant as it ventures into the world of urban street people whose shelter is made of cardboard boxes and trash-can hearths. Among the homeless characters are: Otis Pope, an Army veteran who decides who can stay and who must leave the shelter; Verna, a disoriented and sometimes child-like woman; Verna's nameless and mute young son; Charlie, an unemployed blue collar worker; Azalee Hodge, an outspoken woman trying to climb back up; and, Filomeno Cordero, an immigrant from Central America. Discovering a worn-out copy of Charles Dickens' book A Christmas Carol, the group responds to Verna's pleas to re-enact the old story as a gift for her son. Verna cannot wait to play the part of Tiny Tim, while Pope is cast in the Scrooge role. In a revisionist inspiration, Pope becomes MC of the Tiny Tim Telethon. Unfamiliar with the Dickens' story, Filomeno mistakes the book's Marley character for reggae music star Bob Marley. The role of Verna is played by Shelly Bordas. Tickets are $22 per person, with $17 discount tickets for seniors, students and groups of ten or more."
STORIES ON STAGE presents Masterpieces of Science Fiction on November 15, 7:00 P.M., Jones Theater, DCPA. Among the featured authors are Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Neil Gaiman. Presenters include Gabriella Cavallero.
A movie note: I was lucky enough to see the opening film at the Denver Starz Film Festivallast night. The Savageswas directed by Tamara Jenkins and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney and Philip Bosco. This is an excellent movie. Hoffman and Linney are thoroughly convincing as the siblings who are forced to deal with their dying, demented father, whom they have avoided for years. And Bosco's take on the father is unsettling because his character is all too-familiar, too close for comfort. The story avoids easy sentimentality and glib moralizing but it does deal with core issues: the "inconvenience" of death, responsibility to our own, and rediscovering the solid comfort of our own life's potential at the same time that we recognize its fleeting nature. The main characters are writers: Linney (Wendy) is an unsuccessful playwright filled with guilt, some of which centers around the stories she tries to tell, stories that she herself labels as self-absorbed and middle-class; while her brother, Jon, who has achieved a certain amount of respectability as a drama professor and critic, is unable to commit to the idea of love. They are very different human beings who eventually must recognize their commonalities. Although this is not a happy movie, we get a glimpse of the spark of humanity that we all want to see in one another. There isn't a Latino in sight, which always makes me shake my head, but I still recommend the film.
That's all for a very busy week.
Later.
2 Comments on This and That, last added: 11/10/2007
Manuel Ramos SAM QUINONES We received the following note from the University of New Mexico Press:
Sam Quinones' Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream (UNM Press, 2007), a book of immigration vignettes, picked up great reviews from the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, among other publications. The newest feature of Sam's website is a link where the public can tell their True Tale, based on Sam's first book, True Tales From Another Mexico (UNM Press, 2001).
You can read La Bloga's interview with Quinones, by Daniel Olivas, here.
And a review of Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, by R. Ch. Garcia, here.
GENERATION TO GENERATION Stories on Stage(Theater of the Imagination) begins its 2007-2008 season on August 26 with a program entitled Generation to Generation. Stories on Stage has taken a great concept and turned it into a great series of entertaining events. The concept? Excellent literature read by accomplished and acclaimed actors. Not plays, not performances: readings. The motto for Stories on Stage is Adults Deserve a Great Story ... and Cookies & Milk, Too!
Generation to Generation features four selections: The Queen of Mold by Ruth Reichi, My Son the Fanatic by Hanef Kureishi, Vanderbilt Genes by Augusten Burroughs, and an excerpt from Migrant Souls by Arturo Islas (William Morrow, 1990). The Islas piece will be read by Adriana Gaviria, who performed last year in Hermanas at the FringeNYC and the 52nd Street Project's Power of Ten: Plays That Count at the Public Theater in New York. Her other credits include Anna In The Tropics, September Shoes, and The Birds. She's worked with numerous theater companies including the Immigrants' Theater Project, Young Playwrights, Inc., and Pregones and Repertorio Español. Other readers are Annette Helde, Joshua Coomer, and Shishir Kurup.
Migrant Souls has an excellent reputation. The Library Journal's review of this book said: "Continuing the saga of the Angel family that began in Rain God, Islas explores the effects of life on the border. Burdened by the pride of matriarch Mama Chona, all her children and grandchildren are raised to hate their Mexican, dark-skinned heritage, valuing a mythical light-skinned Spanish ancestry. Islas contrasts rebel Josie Salazar, dark and divorced, who fights the family on every front, with Josie's widowed aunt, Jesus Maria, who attempts to maintain Mama Chona's values despite the scorn of her children. The author displays consummate skill in portraying the anguish of Hispanics living on both sides of a literal and figurative border in the second volume of a proposed trilogy. An excellent addition to fiction collections."
Generation to Generation is scheduled for August 26, 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Stage Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
ELVIS Hey -- how about this:
The Elvis Presley Tribute is this Sunday, August 19, at Rick's Tavern, 6762 Lowell Boulevard, Denver. The folks at Rick's are inviting everyone to stop by for a good time as The King of Rock 'n Roll is honored: Elvis music, costumes, and impersonators. More info about the event and The Rick Garcia Band on the website. Rick Garcia and his band will perform some of Elvis' songs - in addition to their signature blend of Tex-Mex, New Mexico, country, rock and oldies music.
Poet Maya Angelou is not a fan of the new Martin Luther King monument in Washington, DC (pictured, 
.jpeg?picon=3680)
Continuing our exploration of 
Rainy days are easy - I just read. Not sure about lost luggage. That might cause me a little discomfort. But tangled lights? I LOVE untangling the Christmas lights. In fact I like untangling balls of string, the thread in my sewing box, anything that needs it. So what does that say about me?