Many interviews and events are scheduled for the eight Latinas who through their new autobiographical collection have encouraged others to discover their own personal power The Women of 8 Ways to Say “I Love my Life!” are certainly busy. Beginning Friday, March 1, contributors Joanna Iliziliturri Diaz, Rita Mosqueda Marmolejo and Bel Hernandez Castillo will be interviewed by Elizabeth Espinosa for her show “Sin Límites” for CNN Latino in Los Angeles from 8-9 p.m. Also on March 1, AARP radio will be interviewing contributor Susan Orosco. Podcasts will be available online. Directly following these events, on March 2, the women of 8 Ways to Say “I Love My Life!”will be participating in an all-day workshop on surviving and thriving in a crabs-in-the-bucket mentality. The workshop is being held at Santa Monica College and they will be teaming up with The Latina Bible’s Sandra Guzman. Contributor Bel Hernandez Castillo will be …

In Hotel Juárez: Stories, Rooms and Loops—Daniel Chacón’s new 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 one story, a girl remembers her father, who taught her to love books and libraries. “A book can whisper at you, call at you from the shelves. Sometimes a book can find you. Seek you out and ask you to come and play,” he told her. Years later, she finds herself pulling an assortment from the shelves, randomly reading passages from different books and entering into the landscapes as if each book were a wormhole. In “Mais, Je Suis Chicano,” a Mexican American living in Paris identifies himself as Chicano, rather than American. “It’s not my fault I was born on the U.S. side of the border,” he tells a French Moroccan woman …

With a foreword by renowned novelist Rolando Hinojosa and comprised of personal essays about the impact of drug violence on life and culture in the border region, Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco Violence puts a human face on the news stories. Editors Sarah Cortez and Sergio Troncoso write that this anthology was “born of a vision to bear witness to how violence has shattered life on the border, to remember the past, but also to point to the possibilities of a better future.” Mexican authors Liliana Blum, Lolita Bosch, Diego Osorno and María Socorro Tabuenca write riveting, first-hand accounts about the clashes between the drug cartels and citizens’ attempts to resist the criminals. American authors focus on how the corruption and bloodshed have affected the bi-national and bi-cultural existence of families and individuals. Celestino Fernández and Jessie K. Finch write about the violence’s effect on musicians, …

KUHF radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Michael A. Olivas 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 KUHF. About the Author: MICHAEL A. OLIVAS is the William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law at the University of Houston Law Center and director of the Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance at the University of Houston. He is the author or co-author of eight other books, including The Dilemma of Access (Howard University Press, 1979), Latino College Students (Teacher’s College Press 1986), Prepaid College Tuition Programs (College Board, 1993) and The Law and Higher Education (Carolina Academic Press, 2006). He is also the editor for In Defense of My People: Alonso S. Perales and the Development …

El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), commonly known as Día, is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures. The celebration is intended to be year-round, culminating on April 30th Through Día, libraries work to… Celebrate children and connect them to the world of learning through books, stories, and libraries. Nurture cognitive and literacy development in ways that honor and embrace a child’s home language and culture. Introduce families to community resources that provide opportunities for learning through multiple literacies. Recognize and respect culture, heritage and language as powerful tools for strengthening families and communities. By becoming a Día Partner you can contribute to making it easier for libraries across the country to link children to diverse books. We …

Judith Ortiz’s picture book receives recognition HOUSTON, TX—The Poet Upstairs, a children’s book by Judith Ortiz Cofer that invokes Julia de Burgos’ famous poem about the Loiza River, is a Junior Library Guild selected title. The Junior Library Guild was founded in 1929 to help schools and public libraries secure the best new children’s and young adult books. The Junior Library Guild reviews books and is also a collection development service that helps save schools and libraries time and money by assisting them in acquiring top books for their students and customers. Each year JLG chooses forthcoming titles to their respected JLG Selection list. The selection is a unique accolade that tends to anticipate works’ future success. Judith Ortiz Cofer’s lyrical story is combined with Oscar Ortiz’s breathtaking illustrations of the natural world in The Poet Upstairs, which The Children’s Bookshelf called, “an amazing tribute [that] introduces young readers to …

IPSWICH, Mass. — January 25, 2013 — The Latino-Hispanic American Experience: Leaders, Writers, and Thinkers, The Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection Series 2 is latest digital archival database to be released by EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO). This collection offers a three-themed collection of almost 300,000 pages chronicling Latino-Hispanic civil rights leaders, religious thinkers, and women writers in the United States from the late 19th mid 20th century. Curated by the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project at the University of Houston, this one-of-a kind archival database is produced through a partnership with Arte Público, the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by U.S. Latina and Latino authors. EBSCO Publishing’s Vice President of Product Manager Mike Laddin says this is the only digital collection to focus exclusively on the literary history of the Latino-Hispanic population in what is now the United States. “The Latino-Hispanic American Experience Leaders, Writers, and …

Heaven and Earth will travel through East Harlem and Washington Heights Heaven and Earth is a traveling exhibition of paintings inspired by spiritual symbols surviving in the heritage of Puerto Rican culture, and reinterpreted within a contemporary vision. The exhibition will be traveling throughout East Harlem and Washington Heights during 2013, (and Puerto Rico in May 2013) starting at: La Casa de la Herencia Cultural Puertorriqueña 1230 Fifth Avenue, between 104 and 105 Streets, enter at 104 street and Fifth Avenue (212) 400-8874, cell (212) 270- 8228 Exhibition Dates: January 22 to February 26 Opening Reception: February 2, 2013, 7:30 p.m. Free Bookmaking Workshop: Saturday, February 9th, 2:30-4:30 p.m. (Show date: Feb. 16), limited to 12, RSVP-reserve by emailing Tanya: tanyaetorres@yahoo.com. Noche de arte, letras y vida: Tertulia, February 9th, 7:30-9:00 p.m. (Snow date: Feb. 16) Artist Talks for visiting groups throughout the month (Inquire with La Casa). For more …

Acclaimed Cuban-American writer and pioneer Latina writer dies suddenly, her collection of plays, BEAUTIFUL SEÑORITAS AND OTHER PLAYS was published by Arte Público Press The Huffington Post Dolores Prida, renowned Cuban writer and columnist of “Dolores Dice” is dead at 69, Latina magazine reports. Known as a pioneer and quick-witted voice within the Latino community, Prida died Sunday morning at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City of undetermined causes. The famed Cuban author of Latina magazine’s advice column, and one of the magazine’s founding members, had reportedly attended the 20th-anniversary party for the advocacy group LIPS, dedicated to the advancement of Latinas, after which she began to feel ill. “We live three blocks apart,” Maite Junco, a close friend and former editor of The New York Daily News‘ VIVA New York section, told Latina magazine. “And she went home and on the way home, she didn’t feel good, so …

Arte Público Press book selected for Teleconference Series in February Las Comadres Para Las Americas has selected 8 Ways to Say “I Love My Life!” (Arte Público Press, 2012) edited by Sylvia Mendoza for its popular National Latino Book Club and February 2013 teleconference. Las Comadres is a city-based community building/networking group for Latinas to learn about and celebrate the Latino culture and share professional, social and cultural connections. Educational and enrichment activities and opportunities are provided both by Las Comadres and affiliated community groups. The network promotes the reading of Latino authors through its national book club. Registration for the February “Conversations with Las Comadres” teleconference can be done online at, http://www.lascomadres.org. With this unique collection of essays authored by eight Latinas, contemporary women can raise their glasses—and glass ceilings—in affirmation of 8 Ways to Say “I Love My Life!” Each contributor overcame obstacles on their road to happiness …