Author on the Airwaves: Dr. Juan Guerra

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; …

A Children’s Book To Read After The Hurricanes…

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 …

Long-Time Journalist’s Story Collection Wins 2016 Peace Corps Award!

“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 …

Texas Author’s Teen Novel Wins Award!

“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, …

Author on the Airwaves: Mickey Ibarra

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, …

Acclaimed Author’s Newest Mystery Shines!

HOUSTON, TX June 2017— René Saldaña, Jr.’s bilingual “flip” book for intermediate readers, A Mystery Bigger than Big / Un misterio más grande que grandísimo, was selected for inclusion in the 2017-2018 Tejas Star Reading List. The Tejas Star Reading List (TSRL) is developed to encourage children ages 5-12 to explore multicultural books and to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. Sponsored by the Texas Library Association, the TSRL is intended for recreational reading and not to support a specific curriculum. The program began as the Tejas Star Book Award, created by the Region One ESC Library Advisory Committee. The Texas Library Association assumed responsibility for the list in 2012. In the fourth installment of the bilingual Mickey Rangel Mystery series, acclaimed author René Saldaña, Jr. writes a thought-provoking novel for young people that explores the contemporary issue of immigration from a kid’s perspective. Rumors are flying …

Authors on the Airwaves: Larissa Mercado-López

Mercado-López chosen as May 2017’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Mercado-López 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: LARISSA MERCADO-LÓPEZ, a Texas native and the mother of four children, is a professor of Women’s Studies at California State University, Fresno. She received her doctorate in English/Latina literature from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer! / Esteban de Luna, ¡Rescatador de bebés! is her first book for children. About her latest book, Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer! Esteban wears his green cape every day. He wears it to breakfast. He wears it to the park. He even wears it …

Novel Lights Up Luminarias List!

HOUSTON, TX May 2017—Lydia Gil’s bilingual “flip” book for intermediate readers, Letters from Heaven / Cartas del cielo, was chosen for inclusion in the Dallas ISD’s 2016-2017 Luminarias List. A group of Dallas Independent School District librarians created the list in 2006 as a guide for selecting Hispanic books of high literary quality to meet the needs of the young Hispanic community. Both nonfiction and fiction bilingual and/or Spanish titles are considered for a recommended list geared to grades Pre-K through 3rd and for a supplemental upper elementary school list. A tender story of family and friendship, Letters from Heaven celebrates Latino traditions, especially those of the Spanish Caribbean. Celeste is heartbroken when her grandmother dies. But everything changes when a letter mysteriously comes in the mail—from Grandma!  “I know you miss me as much as I miss you. Don’t be sad. Where there is love, there is no sadness.” …

National Endowment for the Humanities Funds Recovery of Hispanic Materials

HOUSTON, TX—Arte Público Press’ long-term project to locate, preserve and disseminate the written legacy of Latinos in the United States from the Colonial Period to 1960, the RECOVERING THE US HISPANIC LITERARY HERITAGE PROJECT, recently received a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to research and locate writings and other historical documents by and about Latinos in the United States. Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, primary investigator for the grant and director of the press, will collaborate with University of Houston librarians Jacqueline Bronicki, Assessment and Statistics Coordinator, and Lisa Cruces, Hispanic Collections Archivist, to conduct and analyze a survey of small historical societies, libraries and museums in the Southwest that may hold Hispanic archival materials. This project will produce the first-ever guide to Hispanic archival collections in the Southwest, which will be made available for general reference on the Arte Público website. Following the survey, strategies will be …

Reading With Manuel Ramos

Renowned Chicano noir fiction novelist Manuel Ramos reads from his collection of short stories, The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories, at the 8th Annual Neal Cassady Birthday Bash on February 10, 2017, at the Mercury Café in Denver, CO. Listen along to a shortened version of “Fence Busters” below! Click for more information about Manuel Ramos and his books published by Arte Público Press.