HOUSTON, TX—Arte Público Press will launch its new book award, the Cristelia Pérez Award for Latino Young Adult Literature, in 2025. The goal of this recognition is to stimulate the work begun by the press’ imprint, Piñata Books, which is dedicated to the publication of children’s and young adult literature that authentically portrays themes, characters and customs unique to US Hispanic culture. According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, just 379 of the 3,203 children’s books it received that were published in the United States in 2023 were written by Latinos; only 291 were about Latinos. Diversity statistics for 2024 are not yet available. In addition to the publication of the book and royalties from sales, the winning author of the Cristelia Pérez Award will receive a $5,000 prize. Submissions are accepted year-round. The winner will be announced shortly before the publication of the book. This new prize is named …
Chicano Author’s Literary Work Optioned for TV/Film
HOUSTON, TX—Warner Bros. Television, a division of WB Studio Enterprises, Inc., has optioned rights to the work of Manuel Ramos to produce a TV series or theatrical film(s). “For almost forty years, Chicanos have been the focus of my novels and short stories,” Ramos said. “I look forward to giving my characters a bigger stage and introducing Luis Montez and Gus Corral to new audiences through my partnership with Warner Bros. and Arte Público.” Ten of his books—nine novels and one collection of stories—are included in the agreement. Five of the novels make up the Luis Montez Mystery series that features a Chicano attorney and civil rights activist in Denver, Colorado—much like the author himself—who finds himself involved in cases that impact his Mexican American community, including gentrification, discrimination and police violence. Four feature Gus Corral, a native of Denver’s Northside neighborhood, and one book, My Bad, brings the two …
UH Professor and Publisher Receives National Humanities Medal
HOUSTON, TX—Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, the Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Literature at the University of Houston and the founder/director of Arte Público Press and the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage, has been recognized with the National Humanities Medal for his work to make available the writings of contemporary and historical Latinos. The medal was presented by President Joseph R. Biden on Monday, October 21, 2024. “The medal has my name on it—and I am so proud of that—but in reality it honors all the hardworking and mission-driven people who for some forty years have searched for and preserved Latino cultural history and made it accessible to schools, universities, libraries and the public at large,” Dr. Kanellos said. “Here at UH, the entire Arte Público Press and Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage team of professionals and students is assiduously working to create new humanistic knowledge through cutting-edge technology, traditional scholarship and outreach to the …
1918 Influenza Epidemic collection
The US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) at the University of Houston (UH) announces the release of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic digital archival collection. This collection includes articles from US Hispanic newspapers that highlight issues surrounding the flu epidemic of 1918. Some of the newspapers in the collection include El Mañana (McAllen, Texas), El Imparcial de Texas (Roma, Texas), and La Prensa (San Antonio, Texas). The collection covers themes such as public health, home remedies, faux pharmaceuticals, politics, racism and discrimination. Various students and interns contributed to this collection by researching, digitizing, and creating metadata: Maribel Bello, UH Recovery Research Fellow; Melissa Carrizales, SER Bank of America Summer Youth Internship Program intern; Julia Goodley, Whitman College intern; Yanina Hernández, UH Recovery Research Fellow; and Carolina López-Herrera, UH Research for Aspiring Coogs in the Humanities (REACH) Program intern. The 1918 Influenza Epidemic collection is applicable to courses and research in public …
USLDH-Morales Memorial Foundation Internship for Undergraduate Students
UH’s USLDH (US Latino Digital Humanities Center) & the Morales Memorial Foundation Internship offers an undergraduate student at the University of Houston the opportunity to learn first-hand the scope of US Latino archives and digital humanities. This internship will give you the opportunity to learn about archival practices, best practices, digital scholarship and tools, US Latino digital humanities methodology and research approaches. These skills will help you to pursue academic careers and introduce you to a network of scholars, practitioners and community members. This intern will: Receive training in archival processing, digitization and digital humanities. Preserve the Morales Funeral Home records by creating digital surrogates of all files. Contribute to the creation of a dataset. No prior experience in digital humanities required. Near-native Spanish reading and writing knowledge is preferred. Applicants must be current University of Houston undergraduates. Deadline to apply: Sept. 16, 2024 Total number of hours a week: …
Meet our 2024 Summer Interns
Arte Público Press, Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (Recovery) and US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) welcomed 14 summer interns this year from the University of Houston (UH), Rice University, Harvard Divinity School, University of St. Thomas and Houston Community College. These interns joined 6 UH Graduate Research Assistants to work on and learn a variety of tasks and skills, such as: 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 Digital archives (Omeka) Digital tools (mapping, timelines, digital collections, OpenRefine) Archival theory Digital humanities theory Academic conference presentations Academic conference posters Planning an academic conference Public writing (Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage blog) Project management Marketing and social …
Record Number of Summer Students Join Arte Público Press
Arte Público Press, Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage and US Latino Digital Humanities Center welcomed 14 summer students this year from the University of Houston (UH), Rice University, Harvard Divinity School, University of St. Thomas and Houston Community College. These interns joined 6 UH Graduate Research Assistants, for a total of 20 students. These interns and fellows had the opportunity to work closely with archival texts, such as periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, albums, correspondence, books, ephemera and other documents. In doing so, they gained valuable experience with archival collections and asset management. The organization provided training in digital tools and students contributed to digital humanities data and projects. This summer they gained a wide variety of skills, such as: 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 …
Trilingual Picture Book Celebrating Mother Earth Honored as a 2024 Américas Award Commended Title
HOUSTON, TX—The Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) has named the fourth book in Jorge Argueta’s acclaimed Madre Tierra / Mother Earth series, Tierra, Tierrita / Earth, Little Earth, a 2024 Américas Award Commended Title. CLASP founded the Américas Award in 1993 to encourage and applaud authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean or Latinx cultures in the United States. Up to two annual book awards are offered along with a list of commended titles, all of which are recognized for their distinctive literary quality, cultural contextualization, potential for classroom use and exceptional integration of text, illustration and design. More than 200 books were submitted, and Tierra, Tierrita / Earth, Little Earth was noted as “remarkable” for all of these attributes. Beautifully illustrated by Felipe Ugalde Alcántara, this poetic children’s picture book depicts the interdependence of life in …
Diana Rojas Summer Events
Author Diana Rojas will share her debut novel, Litany of Saints: A Triptych, with a series of events this summer. Save a date to meet her and get an autographed copy of this compelling collection of stories that explores issues experienced by immigrants, including a divided sense of identity. “Three stories offer an intriguing look into the lives of Costa Rican characters—Ticos—as they deal with their roles in their families and society. Rojas weaves expertly between distinct stories and families, creating a network of Costa Rican experience that is equally loving and critical. She shows her readers that no homeland is perfect—not even “paradise.” An engrossing debut that sees both the good and bad sides of Costa Rica.” —Kirkus ReviewsMark your calendarThursday, May 23, 20247:00pm Lost City of Books2467 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009Saturday, june 1, 20245:00pm Politics and Prose at Union Market1324 4th St NE, Washington, DC 20002Wednesday, …
US Latino Digital Humanities Summer Workshop
The US Latino Digital Humanities Center (USLDH) at the University of Houston announces its annual Manos a la obra digital humanities virtual summer training course. The course will take place May 28-20, 2024 via Zoom. Participants will learn about US Latino digital humanities methods and theory, archiving, metadata creation and free, easy-to-use digital platforms (Omeka, TimelineJS and StoryMapJS). The course will be taught by Dr. Gabriela Baeza Ventura, Dr. Carolina Villarroel, Dr. Lorena Gauthereau and Mikaela Selley. No prior experience is required. Anyone with an interest in US Latina/o studies and digital studies is welcome. This workshop addresses the following topics: How to identify materials for future projects (research, copyright issues, etc.) How to create metadata How to create meaningful and respectful data following ethics of care and reparative description How to nourish communities of practice How to conceptualize and develop the scope for your project And other topics No …
