HOUSTON, TX March 2018—Diana J. Noble’s historical debut novel for young adults, Evangelina Takes Flight, is the recipient of several awards: the 2018 Tejas Foco YA Fiction Award given by the National Association for Chicana/o Studies, the 2017 June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children on Texas History from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and it was a runner-up for the Texas Institute of Letters’ 2018 H-E-B Award for Best Young Adult Book. The Tejas Foco Fiction Awards recognize outstanding works of fiction or young adult fiction that best represent a significant topic related to Mexican-American experience in Texas. The National Association for Chicana/o Studies (NACCS) is the academic organization that serves academic programs, departments and research centers that focus on issues pertaining to Mexican Americans, Chicana/os, and Latina/os. The June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children on Texas History is given …

The Center for Mexican American Studies Is Now Accepting Applications for a Dissertation Fellowship in US Latino Literature Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 2018-2019 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS The Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston is now accepting applications for the IUPLR/Mellon Fellowship Program (academic year 2018-19) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The program supports doctoral students in the humanities who are writing dissertations in Latina/o studies. The fellowship at the University of Houston specifically supports doctoral students writing their dissertation on a theme related to US Latino Humanities. The fellowship facilitates completion of the dissertation and provides professional development, writing support, and mentoring from Latina/o faculty members. The fellowship includes a $25,000 stipend, participation in an intensive summer institute in Chicago, and professionalization and writing workshops and programs. For more information about the program, please see the program website: https://iuplr.uic.edu/iuplr/mellon-fellows-program Eligibility Applicants are required …

Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water “Alcántara’s vibrant stylized illustrations are especially effective in portraying the myriad forms, colors, and textures that water can take on-drops glistening on leaves; a blue-and-white river rolling forth from a mountain; and a purple, orange, and red ocean at sunset. A lyrical journey through the water cycle, sure to inspire the imaginations of young readers and listeners.” –School Library Journal, starred review Evangelina Takes Flight “Written in Evangelina’s conscientious voice and containing parallels to some of today’s current events, this hopeful, yet sometimes heartbreaking, novel is a fast and important read.” –Booklist “Noble’s poetic yet accessible prose allows the reader to slip into Evangelina’s world and understand that problems can be overcome with perseverance and bravery.” -Latinxs in Kid Lit Dennis Chávez: The First Hispanic US Senator / El primer senador hispano de los Estados Unidos “This biography will be particularly welcome in these challenging times. The …

Arte Público Press Author Daniel Chacón featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Chacón 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: DANIEL CHACÓN is the author of two collections of short fiction, Hotel Juárez: Stories, Rooms and Loops (2013), and Chicano Chicanery (2000). His collection, Hotel Juárez, won the 2014 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature and the 2014 Tejas Foco Fiction Award, and was a finalist for the 2014 Balcones Fiction Prize. The New York Times Book Review praised Chicano Chicanery: “Although a collection of short stories, this book is A Portrait of the Chicano Artist as a Young Man.” A native of California, …

Noble chosen as October 2017’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Noble for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” 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: A native of Laredo, Texas, Diana Noble is a human resources specialist for the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington, where she lives with the family. Her historical novel for middle-grade readers, Evangelina Takes Flight, is based on the life of her paternal grandmother. About her first book, Evangelina Takes Flight “If they do come here, they’ll show us no mercy,” thirteen-year-old Evangelina overhears her father say as she gathers eggs in the chicken pen. Back at the house, Mamá brushes away her …

Guerra chosen as September 2017’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Guerra for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” 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: JUAN J. GUERRA, a doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, is a graduate of Pomona College and the University of Illinois School of Medicine. He was four years old when his family emigrated from El Salvador to Los Angeles, California. As a young boy, like many immigrant children, Juan had to translate for his grandparents. His experiences with his Abuelita Conchita and the US health care system led to his passion for providing quality health care to culturally and linguistically diverse people; …

In light of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, The Story Circle / El círculo de cuentos by acclaimed author Diane Gonzales Bertrand is an excellent bilingual picture book for parents and teachers to share with children who are in the midst of dealing with a storm, flooding and its aftermath. Monster storms closed the school for three days. “Carpets bubbled with mud. Green slime swallowed books.”  And when the children returned, the new bookshelves in the classroom were empty. “What will we do for story circle?” they ask. With the kids sitting around her on the new rug, the teacher tells a story about a boy who loved to fly. Afterwards, she asks them what pictures they imagined. Each one sees something different: wings like yellow sunbeams, a pond that looked like a green button and cloud horses running in the blue sky. Soon, all the children are excitedly raising their hands to …

“I felt reading these wonderful stories that I was admitted to an adjacent neighborhood, a rich culture that is another world—call it Amexica—both mysterious and magical, that is persuasive through its tenderness. My hope is that Ron Arias continues to write short stories that tell us who we are.”—Paul Theroux HOUSTON, TX August 2017—Author Ron Arias is the recipient of a 2016 Peace Corps Award for his new book of short stories, The Wetback and Other Stories. This collection brings together the short fiction of an acclaimed journalist and Chicano literature pioneer. The award was announced during the National Peace Corps Association’s annual conference Friday-Sunday, August 4-6, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, Peace Corps volunteers have worked alongside community leaders in 140 countries to solve critical challenges. Many of the pieces in this collection take place in a Los Angeles neighborhood that used …

“In his debut for teens, Jiménez explores shades of manhood and all it entails with a deft, poetic hand.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review HOUSTON, TX August 2017— Joe Jiménez’s gritty debut novel for young adults, Bloodline, has been named the Middle Grade/Young Adult Discovery Prize Winner in the 2016 Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards. Established in 1991, the awards recognize the year’s outstanding books published by Texas authors. In his junior year, seventeen-year-old Abraham learns how to drive a stick shift. He falls in love for the first time. And he has been in three fights and suspended twice, all before Thanksgiving. His grandmother fears the hard future that awaits him, so she invites her son—the one with a fat police file who has hurt her so many times—back into the house. He is determined to make a man of his nephew. Meanwhile, Abraham’s feelings for his friend Ophelia grow, …

Ibarra chosen as June 2017’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Ibarra for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” 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: MICKEY IBARRA, a graduate of the University of Utah, is president of the Ibarra Strategy Group, a government relations and public affairs firm in Washington, DC. He is the founder and chairman of the Latino Leaders Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing leaders together. About his latest book, Latino Leaders Speak! “People do not define you,” Soledad O’Brien’s Cuban mother repeatedly told her children. “You define yourself.” And so this mixed-race, first-generation Latina American would go on to succeed in her field, …