HOUSTON, TX—Long-time Arte Público Press supporters Dr. Augustina “Tina” Reyes and Dr. Michael Olivas, both retired University of Houston professors, have donated the funding to create an endowment in support of a new book award to inspire first-time Latino authors of books for children or teens. Dr. Olivas chaired the press’ advisory board for a decade and published two scholarly books with Arte Público, and Dr. Reyes has worked to introduce immigrant and migrant children to Arte Público’s books. “We feel our love and dedication to UH are aligned with the goals of the Press, and we hope our gift will not only recognize budding authors but will provide longstanding financial support.” The couple donated $80,000 to create an endowment to support the award, and they intend to raise an additional $45,000 to ensure a $5,000 prize can be given annually to debut authors using endowment interest. “We call upon …
News release: Gabriela Baeza Ventura elected to MLA’s Digital Humanities Forum
Gabriela Baeza Ventura was elected to serve on the Modern Language Association (MLA) Transdisciplinary Connections Digital Humanities Forum Executive Committee for 2022-2027. As part of this forum, Baeza Ventura will help to represent areas of scholarly and professional interests for MLA members. MLA Forums “promote scholarly and professional activities within their areas of concern. The executive committees of the forums arrange sessions at the MLA Annual Convention, make nominations for executive committee elections and for the election of the forums’ representatives in the MLA Delegate Assembly, and provide information of interest to their members through association periodicals or mailings to forum members. Forums advise appropriate MLA committees on research and pedagogical needs in their fields of interest and may propose to the Executive Council projects that the association might wish to undertake” (“Policies for Forums and Allied Organizations”). Baeza Ventura brings a unique perspective to the forum based on her …
2021-22 REACH Students
The Research for Aspiring Coogs in the Humanities (REACH) Program at the University of Houston is a collaborative effort supported by the Cougar Initiative to Engage and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards (OURMA). REACH will provide a year-long introductory research experience for students in humanities disciplines by connecting a dozen students to existing undergraduate research projects at the University of Houston. Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery) and its US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) are among the collaborators in this program and are host to three undergraduate students. These students are gaining research and archival skills in a variety of forms, including: Scanning archival documents Curating exhibits Database research Primary document research Asset management Data management (with spreadsheets) Metadata creation Metadata translation Familiarity with Library of Congress Subject Headings Digital archives (Omeka) Digital humanities tools and theory Archival theory Academic conference presentations Academic conference posters Public …
Holiday Closure
Arte Público Press and the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project will be closed December 24, 2021, through Friday, December 31, 2021. We will re-open and resume normal operations on Monday, January 3, 2022. Please continue to send book orders by email (bkorders@uh.edu) or fax (713-743-2847). Orders will be processed in the order received. Happy holidays!
Mikaela Selley joins Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage as Program Manager for Periodicals in the US-Mexico Border Region Project
University of Houston alumna, Mikaela Selley, joins Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery) Program/Arte Público Press as Program Manager for Periodicals in the US-Mexico Border Region. She will work closely with Recovery’s Director of Research, Dr. Carolina Villarroel, to oversee the digitization and metadata efforts for historical periodicals. This includes scanning, organizing, cataloging and describing archival records. Selley has eight years of professional experience as an archivist with hands-on expertise in the preservation, documentation and digitization of historical manuscripts and photographs significant to Houston’s Hispanic and Latino heritage. Additionally, she has worked in all stages of curatorial planning, design and execution of history exhibits. Selley brings knowledge of heritage preservation, a creative eye for engaging displays and a personal devotion to Houston’s Hispanic and Latina/o culture. She previously served as the Hispanic Collections Archivist at the Houston Public Library’s Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC). Periodicals in the US-Mexico Border …
2021-22 Graduate Research Fellows
University of Houston Graduate Research Fellows (RFs) at Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery) work closely with archival texts, such as periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, albums, correspondence, books, ephemera and other documents. In doing so, they gain valuable experience with archival collections and asset management. The US Latino Digital Humanities Program (USLDH) at Recovery provides training in digital tools and students contribute to digital humanities data and projects. RFs have the opportunity to learn the following skills: Scanning of archival items Microfilm scanning Handling and preserving archival texts Inventory of primary documents Organizing collections Creating finding aids Curating exhibits Database research Primary document research Asset management Data management (with spreadsheets) Metadata creation Metadata translation Familiarity with Library of Congress Subject Headings E-book editing and translation (APP Digital) Digital archives (Omeka) Digital tools (mapping, timelines, digital collections, OpenRefine) Archival theory Digital humanities theory Academic conference presentations Academic conference posters Planning an …
Kids’ Book Exploring Latino Culinary Traditions Wins Award
HOUSTON, TX—A bilingual picture book introducing children to Hispanic cultural traditions, Josefina’s Habichuelas / Las habichuelas de Josefina (ISBN 978-1-55885-923-4, hardcover, $18.95), is the winner of the 2021 Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature. This charming story by Jasminne Mendez, published October 31, 2021, tells the story of a young girl whose mother challenges her to give up sweets during Lent. As a reward, Josefina’s mom promises to teach her how to cook habichuelas con dulce, or sweet cream beans, a traditional Dominican dessert eaten at Easter. Enlivened by Flor de Vita’s warm illustrations depicting an Afro-Latino, multigenerational family spending time together, the book will appeal to kids ages 4 to 8 who will enjoy testing the recipe—and eating the dessert—that appears in both English and Spanish! In 2019, according to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, only 225 of the 4,029 children’s books published were written by Latinos; …
Do the Hustle …
Groovy Young Adult Novel Wins Another Award Richie Narvaez’s award-winning novel for teens set in 1970s New York City, Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, is the recipient of a 2021 Anthony Award in the Best Juvenile/Young Adult category. This action-packed book follows two high-school students as they unravel a dangerous case gripping their school grounds. The Anthony Awards were established in 1986 to celebrate the best crime/mystery books of the year. Winners of seven categories (Best Hardcover Novel, Best First Novel, Best Paperback Original, Best Juvenile/Young Adult, Best Short Story, Best Critical/Non-fiction Work and Best Anthology or Collection) were announced in a ceremony at the virtual Bouchercon mystery convention on August 30, 2021. The book recently won a 2020 Agatha Award and has received excellent reviews, including: “The novel alternates between Holly’s and Xander’s perspectives as the danger mounts and the two investigate the case in parallel. This fast-paced, …
Honoring a Career Giving Voice to Latino Writers
HOUSTON, TX— The founder and director of Arte Público Press, Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, is one of two recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award given by Empowering Latino Futures. The awards will be presented to Kanellos—as well as Lee and Bobby Byrd of Cinco Puntos Press—on October 16, 2021, as part of the virtual 23rd International Latino Book Awards Ceremony at www.latinobookawards.org. The International Latino Book Awards recognize books by and about Latinos. Founded by Empowering Latino Futures, formerly known as Latino Literacy Now, the organization seeks to obtain equal representation in publishing, increase access to resources and ensure mainstream America views the Hispanic community in more accurate, less stereotypical ways. Previous recipients of the lifetime achievement award include Congressman Esteban Torres, public servant and humanitarian Hank Lacayo, politician Hilda Solis, journalist Charlie Ericksen and educator and activist Mimi Lozano. NICOLÁS KANELLOS, the Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Studies at …
Row, Row, Row Your Boat… Kids’ Book of River Odes Wins Award
HOUSTON, TX—A beautiful bilingual children’s picture book celebrating rivers and the life found along them, Arenas y trinos: Abecedario del río / Sand and Song: The ABCs of the River, is the recipient of a 2021 Skipping Stones Honor Award. Skipping Stones: An International Multicultural Magazine, an award-winning resource in multicultural and global education, publishes art and original writings in every language and from all ages. The winners of its 38th annual book awards promote an understanding of cultures, cultivate cooperation and encourage a deeper awareness of nature, ecology and diversity. Acclaimed children’s book author Alma Flor Ada and her daughter Rosalma Zubizarreta-Ada share short poems about rivers in this book with gorgeous illustrations by Gabhor Utomo. There are odes to cicadas, dragonflies, butterflies, fish, frogs and birds, and the poems brim with the beauty of the natural world and the joy found in the great outdoors. There are stars …
