Houston, TX January 2019— The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced that Arte Público Press, the nation’s largest publisher of U.S.-based Hispanic authors, has received the prestigious Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. Named after the first president of the NBCC, the award is given annually to a person or institution with an extensive history of significant contributions to book culture. “The award comes as a total surprise because it typically goes to authors,” said Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, founder and director of Arte Público Press. “This recognition will help us amplify voices in Latino literature throughout the United States.” The National Book Critics Circle Awards, considered among the most respected literary awards in America, are bestowed by a jury of working critics and book-review editors. Past recipients include Margaret Atwood and Pulitzer Prize-winner Toni Morrison. “The University of Houston has given Arte Público Press an intellectual space in which to …
Author on the Airwaves: Alex Temblador
Arte Público Press Author Alex Temblador featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Temblador for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: ALEX TEMBLADOR, a freelance travel writer, is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Monroe and received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. Born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, she lives and works in Dallas. Secrets of the Casa Rosada is her debut novel. About her new book, Secrets of the Casa Rosada Sixteen-year-old Martha and her mother move constantly, never staying anywhere for long. So she knows better than to ask if they’ve been evicted again when her mom …
Author on the Airwaves: Xavier Garza
Arte Público Press Author Xavier Garza featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Garza for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: XAVIER GARZA is the author of numerous books for kids, including Zulema and the Witch Owl / Zulema y la Bruja Lechuza (Piñata Books, 2009), Juan and the Chupacabras / Juan y el Chupacabras (Piñata Books, 2006) and Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask (Cinco Puntos Press, 2005). He lives with his family in San Antonio, Texas. About his new book for children, Just One Itsy Bitsy Little Bite / Sólo una mordidita chiquitita “I love pan de muerto,” Joaquín says as he and his mother …
Festive Children’s Books Ignite the Holiday Spirit!
Are you looking for holiday gifts that are both educational and fun? Look no more! Below, we’ve assembled a brief collection of holiday-themed stories that will teach the little ones in your life about Christmas and El Día de los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day. These books are filled with vibrant illustrations that will engage children, while leading them to ask more questions. The Case of the Three Kings: The Flaca Files / El caso de los Reyes Magos: Los expendientes de Flaca by Alidis Vicente Flaca, or Detective Flaca as she prefers to be called, is pleased with her Christmas gifts. Finally, she has the tools needed to do her job: a fingerprint-taking kit, a police-quality mini flashlight, and most exciting of all, police tape to block off crime scenes! However, she is not at all pleased with the airline tickets to Puerto Rico she and her sister La …
Author on the Airwaves: Jasminne Méndez
Arte Público Press Author Jasminne Méndez featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Méndez for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: JASMINNE MÉNDEZ is a poet, educator, performer, and award-winning author. She is a Macondo and Canto Mundo Fellow, as well as a Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA) alumna. Her collection of essays and poetry, Night-Blooming Jasmin(n)e: Personal Essays and Poetry, was published by Arte Público Press on April 30, 2018. Her first multi-genre memoir, Island of Dreams, was awarded Best Young Adult Latino-focused Book by the International Latino Book Awards in 2015. She received her B.A. in English Literature and her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the …
Author on the Airwaves: Kathleen Contreras
Arte Público Press Author Kathleen Contreras featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Contreras for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: KATHLEEN CONTRERAS is a bilingual educator and author of three other children’s books that highlight her Mexican roots: Pan Dulce (Scholastic, 1995), Braids / Trencitas (Lectorum, 2009) and Sweet Memories / Dulces recuerdos (Lectorum, 2014). She lives and works in Ventura, California. About her new book, Harvesting Friends / Cosechando amigos Young Lupe loves helping her mother with their salsa garden full of tomatoes, chile peppers, onions, garlic, and cilantro. But one summer day, she sees that the biggest, juiciest tomatoes have disappeared! Who could have taken them?!? Two weeks later, she …
Author on the Airwaves: Alicia Gaspar de Alba
Arte Público Press Author Alicia Gaspar de Alba featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Gaspar de Alba for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: ALICIA GASPAR DE ALBA is the author of several books: Calligraphy of the Witch (Arte Público Press, 2012); Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders (Arte Público Press, 2005), winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery; La Llorona on the Longfellow Bridge: Poetry y Otras Movidas (Arte Público Press, 2003); the acclaimed novel Sor Juana’s Second Dream (University of New Mexico Press, 1999); Chicana Art Inside/Outside the Master’s House: Cultural Politics and the CARA Exhibition (University of Texas Press, 1998); The …
And the International Latino Book Award Goes To…
HOUSTON, TX June 2018—José B. González’ moving collection of narrative poems, When Love Was Reels, was named a finalist in Best Poetry Book category of the 20th annual International Latino Book Awards sponsored by Latino Literacy Now, a non-profitorganization that supports and promotes literacy and literary excellence within the Latino community. LLN created the International Latino Book Awards in 1999 to recognize the many positive contributions being made to Latino literature by publishers and writers worldwide. The awards, which honor literary excellence in a variety of categories, will be given on Saturday, September 8, 2018. Using iconic Latin American and Latino films as a guiding motif, these poems hauntingly illuminate Salvadoran immigration to the United States. González writes about a young boy’s experiences—first in El Salvador under the care of his grandmother and later living with his uncle in New York City. In each poem, famous movie and TV scenes …
Bilingual Picture Book Honored!
HOUSTON, TX June 2018—Juan Guerra’s bilingual picture book, The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, illustrated by Victoria Castillo, has been named a 2018 Américas Award Commended Title. The Américas Award is given in recognition of US works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean or Latinos in the United States. It is sponsored by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP). The winning books will be honored at a ceremony on September 28, 2018 during Hispanic Heritage Month at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The awards committee chose this engaging bilingual picture book because “[it] makes us aware of the diversity amongst Latinas/os while highlighting their shared cultural values of familism, empathy, education and hard work.” In Guerra’s debut title, a …
Calling All Latino Authors…Children’s Book Award Celebrates Latino Talent
Houston, TX— Generations of Hispanic children in US schools had to do without books reflecting their culture and heritage. In 2019, according to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, only 225 of the 4,029 children’s books published were written by Latinos; only 235 were about Latinos. In an effort to fill that gap, Arte Público Press is accepting children’s book manuscripts to be considered for the Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature. The award seeks to address the need for more culturally relevant, bilingual reading materials for Hispanic children by encouraging more authors to create for this growing audience. The award will be given annually to one manuscript for a children’s picture book. Manuscripts can be submitted all year long. Winners will receive a cash award of $5,000 and publication of their book. Each year’s winner will be announced shortly before the publication of the book. Children’s book entries …