Villareal chosen as February 2015’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Villareal 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: RAY VILLAREAL is the author of five novels for young adults that capture the angst of adolescent life: Body Slammed! (Piñata Books, 2012), Don’t Call Me Hero (Piñata Books, 2011), Who’s Buried in the Garden? (Piñata Books, 2009), winner of LAUSD’s Westchester Fiction Award, Alamo Wars (Piñata Books, 2008), and My Father, the Angel of Death (Piñata Books, 2006), which was nominated to the 2008-2009 Lone Star Reading List and named to The New York Public Library’s 2007 Books for the Teen Age. His latest …
Author on the Airwaves: Lydia Gil
Gil chosen as January 2015’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Gil 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: LYDIA GIL was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, of Cuban parents. She is the author of a bilingual “flip” book for intermediate readers, Letters from Heaven / Cartas del cielo (Piñata Books, 2014), and a bilingual children’s picture book, Mimí’s Parranda / La parranda de Mimí (Piñata Books, 2007). She teaches at the University of Denver and writes for EFE, the leading Spanish-language news agency. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts in Comparative …
Reading Goals for 2015
We were inspired by Popsugar and Book Riot’s 2015 Reading Challenges, and decided to create our own recommendations for 2015. Use a website like Goodreads to keep track of what you’ve read. Happy reading! A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25 – Fat No More: A Teenager’s Victory over Obesity; Hispanic, Female and Young: An Anthology; Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65 – Klail City / Klail City y sus alrededores A collection of short stories – A Matter of Pride and Other Stories; African Passions and Other Stories; Chicano Chicanery; The Jackets A book published by an indie press – Any of our books! Recent titles include: Bendición; The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ – Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders; Arturo Islas: The Uncollected Works; Tommy Stands Tall A book that is by or about someone …
Libros Cubanos
If the new diplomatic dialogue between the US and Cuba has you curious about Cuban culture, consider reading some of these books! Below, we’ve compiled some titles by Cuban authors, about Cubans, with a particular emphasis on memoir and poetry. Little Havana Blues: A Cuban-American Literature Anthology Edited by Virgil Suárez and Delia Poey Little Havana Blues is a medley of voices—narrators, essayists and poets—that have come to forge a literary identity within the United States since their parents left Cuba to go into exile. However, this first comprehensive anthology of Cuban-American literature is not a symphony of the exile or immigrant generation and its letters. Instead, these writers are staking their claim on part of the American mosaic, with Pulitzer Prices and other awards in hand. But in their Americanization they are not rejecting their heritage or their Hispanic culture; rather they are Cubanizing, tropicalizing, expanding the realm of American …
Author on the Airwaves: Lucha Corpi
Corpi chosen as October 2014’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Corpi 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: LUCHA CORPI is an internationally renowned poet, novelist, and children’s book author. She is the author of several mystery novels published by Arte Público Press: Death at Solstice: A Gloria Damasco Mystery (2009), Eulogy for a Brown Angel (2002), Black Widow’s Wardrobe (1999), Cactus Blood (1995), and Crimson Moon (Arte Público Press, 2004). Loa a un angel de piel morena (2012) is the pioneering first installment in the Gloria Damasco Mystery series now available in Spanish. Her poetry collection, reissued by Arte Público Press in …
Arte Público Authors to Speak at 2014 Texas Book Festival
HOUSTON, TX October 2014— Numerous Arte Público authors are slated to participate in this year’s Texas Book Festival on October 25-26 in Austin, Texas. The festival is a weekend-long celebration of literature, authorship, literacy, and diversity in Texas. Established in 1995 by former first lady Laura Bush, the event typically hosts 250 authors each year. This year, Arte Público is proud to report that eight of our authors and illustrators will be in attendance at the festival. Rolando Hinojosa Diane Gonzales Bertrand Sergio Troncoso René Saldaña, Jr. Carolyn Dee Flores Pat Mora Gwendolyn Zepeda Thelma Muraida To learn more about the various panels that the authors will be participating in, click on their names. You can also learn more by visiting the Texas Book Festival’s website.
Author on the Airwaves: Rolando Hinojosa
Hinojosa chosen as September 2014’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Hinojosa 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: ROLANDO HINOJOSA, the Ellen Clayton Garwood Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Texas at Austin, is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award; the most prestigious prize in Latin American fiction, Casa de las Américas, for the best Spanish American novel in 1976; and the Premio Quinto Sol in 1974. His novels include The Valley / Estampas del Valle, Ask a Policeman, The Useless Servants, and Dear Rafe / Mi querido Rafa, all …
Author on the Airwaves: Diane Gonzales Bertrand
Bertrand chosen as August 2014’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Bertrand 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: DIANE GONZALES BERTRAND is the author of numerous books for children. They include The Story Circle / El círculo de cuentos (Piñata Books, 2016), A Bean and Cheese Taco Birthday / Un cumpleaños con tacos de frijoles con queso (2015), and Cecilia and Miguel Are Best Friends / Cecilia y Miguel son mejores amigos (2014). A lifelong resident of San Antonio, Bertrand teaches at St. Mary’s University, where she is also Writer-in-Residence. About her latest book, There’s a Name for this Feeling: Stories / Hay …
You’ve Been Upgraded to the Penthouse Suite!
Hotel Juárez wins PEN Oakland award HOUSTON, TX August 2014— The honors just keep coming! Author Daniel Chacón has been awarded the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature by PEN Oakland for Hotel Juárez: Stories, Rooms and Loops. Chartered in early 1989, PEN Oakland is a chapter of the Los Angeles based PEN USA, which falls under PEN International. The award ceremony will be held on Saturday, December 5, from 1-5pm, at the Rockridge Branch Library (5366 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618). Founded in London in 1921, PEN International’s mission is to promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate the public and media about the nature of multicultural work. In this collection of short and flash fiction, misconceptions about people, the responsibility of the artist and conflicts about identity pepper stories that take place in the U.S. and abroad. In …
The Cucuy Strikes Again!
Spelile Rivas’ monster children’s book named finalist HOUSTON, TX August 2014—The Cucuy Stole My Cascarones / El Cucuy me robó los cascarones by Spelile Rivas and illustrated by Valeria Cervantes has been chosen as a finalist in the 2014 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards. These awards seek to honor the best books readily available to a North American audience in any format within the past year. Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference was founded in 2006 by writer and filmmaker Clay Stafford. Since then, it has developed a reputation as a leading advocate for writers and readers of all genres. In this bilingual picture book, an imaginative boy overcomes his fears as he searches for his missing confetti eggs. Roberto and his mother made thirty dozen confetti-filled eggs for his birthday party. Roberto can’t wait to crack the hollowed, painted and confetti-stuffed eggs over his friends’ heads. But, when he goes to …