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by Rudy Ch. Garcia
If you've got writer's block about your next novel, short story or lit piece to win that Pulitzer, read on.

On long-distance calls with my mom this year, one of her regular reports was about how the trees in her yard were dying in the Texas drought. No matter how much she watered, she still lost about half of them on her quarter-acre property on the outskirts of San Antonio, even her hardy mesquites. She, and her trees, are just another example of collateral damage from global warming. Mom's in her 80s and I'm in my 60s, so neither one of us will suffer long from this. However, a child of six will likely have a long thirsty future, maybe one with not very many trees.

Six-year-olds, Chicano and otherwise, dying trees, drought, an arid American Southwest (and northern Mexico), global warming--what's any of this got to do with a lit blog? Nothing more than the Occupy movement, Greenpeace and election politics have to do with latino lit. If we don't see connections to us, then we will make none.

This July's 60mph dust storms in the Phoenix area seem a reincarnation of the 50s Dust Bowl's immense storms, called "Black Blizzards" and "Black Rollers." Those eventually affected one hundred million acres, centered in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and adjacent parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas.

Millions of acres of farmland became useless, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes. Many "Okies" families moved to California where economic conditions were little better than what they'd left. They affected author John Steinbeck enough to write about in The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, [wherein many of these "Hispanics" were portrayed as lazy shiftless drunks]. Those droughts began in the Southwestern United States, New Mexico and Texas during 1950 and '51; the drought spread through the Central Plains, Midwest and certain Rocky Mountain States, particularly between 1953 and 1957, and into Nebraska. Texas experienced the most severe drought in recorded history. 244 of Texas’ 254 counties were declared federal disaster areas.

Before I share the background of hard data that might kick-start or revive your lit career, here're some themes that sound like science fiction but could eventually qualify as nonfiction:

1. Epic war story: Drought-stricken Mexican peasants move across the border in the tens of thousands to avoid starvation, and successfully overcome thousands of troops stationed along the border. The forced-migration results in genocidal slaughter, but also overcrowding in homes far from the border. Oh, wait--that's already nonfiction.

2. Neohistorical fiction: An Irish-American-Chicano descendant of Billy the Kid finds safe harbor in those overcrowded homes because of his love for a mexicana and his Spanish poetry lamenting the loss of the few verdant patches in Aztlán. He's on the run from Homeland Security who used a security wand on him at the Denver airport, a violation he returned by taking out several with h

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Spaced-out Chicanos

The following press release recently showed up in my inbox. Two Chicanos in space, on the same spaceship - juan giant step for raza. What a movie this could be. Is the solar system ready for a pair of fast-talking pachucos lowriding through outer space? Houston, no hay problema. George Lopez and Paul Rodriguez in the starring roles.

And who knew that our blogging comrade also has an exciting double life as an astronaut?

The space shuttle is scheduled for lift-off on August 28 at 11:59 PM.

HOUSTON - NASA astronaut José Hernández, set to fly aboard space shuttle Discovery on STS-128, is providing insights about his mission on Twitter in both English and Spanish. He is the agency's first bilingual Twitterer.

Hernández, whose Twitter account is astro_jose, can be followed at:

http://www.twitter.com/astro_jose

Hernández, who considers Stockton, Calif., his hometown, grew up in a migrant farming family, traveling each year between Mexico and California. He did not learn English until the age of 12.

It will be the first shuttle mission to feature two Latino astronauts. Danny Olivas, who also is of Mexican descent, is among Hernández's six crew mates.

For Hernández's complete biography, visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/hernandez-jm.html

Olivas's biography is here:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/olivas.html


For more information about the STS-128 mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts128

More spacey news -- the official location of Aztlán has finally been mapped. Turns out that Aztlán is on one of Saturn's moons, Titan. At least according to NASA, that's where you can find it. More about this at this link, or here.


From NASA - original caption released with image: The Cassini spacecraft charts a quartet of dark albedo features on the moon Titan. From upper left to lower right of the image are Fenzal, Aztlan, Aaru and Senkyo.



Su Teatro 2009-2010 Season Kicks Off with José Torres-Tama

The Cone of Uncertainty:
New Orleans After Katrina

Four years after Katrina, José Torres-Tama utilizes various performance mediums, including satirical reenactments, socio-political commentary, movement, and sound in his acclaimed solo piece The Cone of Uncertainty: New Orleans After Katrina--a deep, first-hand exploration of the rich cultural history of the Big Easy and a wry analysis of the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by a native son.

Please join us as we kick off a season full of American Masterpieces.

The Cone of Uncertainty plays
Friday, September 4 at 7pm
Saturday, September 5 at 7pm
at the Denver School of the Arts (7111 Montview Blvd--just off Quebec, a couple blocks north of Colfax).

Tickets are $18, $15 students/seniors, $12 each for groups of 12 or more. Call to purchase: 303.296.0219, and ask about our special student group discount rate.

Or, purchase an all-inclusive Su Teatro Season VIP, and see The Cone of Uncertainty plus four other theater performances, and receive a full festival pass to the XicanIndie FilmFest, Neruda Poetry Festival, and 14th Annual Chicano Music Festival and Auction, all for just $145! Call now: 303.296.0219.


Poetry y Más
The Colorado Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC) presents the monthly Poetry y Más on September 12, 2:00 - 4:00 pm. This month features celebrated guest poets Giovanni Lopez and Ara Cruz with his new book A Journey in Red & Black Ink.

Peruse the full lineup of CHAC events at the website.

772 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204 [ view map ]
phone: 303-571-0440
HOURS: Wednesday & Thursday 10 AM - 4 PM
Friday 12 - 10 PM & Saturday 12 - 4 PM


A Dozen on Denver in Book Form
A Dozen on Denver: Stories
Fulcrum Publishing
November 15, 2009

From the publisher:

In this original tribute, twelve talented authors celebrate Denver’s 150th anniversary, each creating a unique story based on a different decade in the city’s colorful history. Ranging from the pioneer days to WWII aftermath to a haunting vision of the future, this lively volume offers an eclectic mix of exceptional storytelling, each complemented by contemporary illustrations. Edited by the the Rocky Mountain News and featuring twelve Colorado authors: Margaret Coel, Pam Houston, Sandra Dallas, Nick Arvin, Joanne Greenberg, Connie Willis, Manuel Ramos, Arnold Grossman, Robert Greer, Diane Mott Davidson, Laura Pritchett, and Robert Pogue Ziegler. Illustrated by Charles Chamberlin.

You can learn how this project came about here, and here. It was probably the last great idea from the late Rocky Mountain News.

Remember the 3 L's -- Lopez, Late Night, 'Leven.


Later.

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