Las Comadres Para Las Americas selects 8 WAYS TO SAY “I LOVE MY LIFE!” for National Latino Book Club

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 …

Arte Público Press author Yvette Modestin hosts new radio show

“Soulful Afro with Yvette,” will feature headlines, women’s issues and more A new online radio show, “Soulful Afrowith Yvette,” will air the 3rd Thursday of every month from 7-8 PM on www.africanradioonline.com. Soulful Afro will be about current headlines, health, women’s issues, spirituality, love and various topics related to the African Diaspora. The show will be an extension of the work by Yvette Modestin an activist, writer, and poet from Panama. It will be bilingual and will bring you closer to the latest soulful happenings on people of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean. The first show will air on January 24th, and feature a surprise guest. Join Yvette’s Facebook page Soulful Afro w/ Yvette, to learn more about guests and topics. There will also be pre-show thoughts and post-show reflections. For more information, click the links below: TV link: www.voicekast.com/channel/view/soulful-afro-with-ms-yvette-145 Radio Link: www.africanradioonline.com Radio Page: www.africanradioonline.com/soulfulafro   …

E-book version of THE LINE UP: POEMS ON CRIME #2

Collection of crime poems feature Arte Público author Manuel Ramos The latest book of crime poetry, edited by Gerald So, Patrick Shawn Bagley, R. Narvaez, and Anthony Rainone features poetry by a variety of crime writers. This e-book is available across a variety of platforms. To see the Amazon Kindle version for $1.99, click here. Praise for this work: “Since poets are by definition metaphysical detectives, this collection makes brilliant sense. The poets never flinch nor do they romanticize. Rather they write tersely and deftly of violence large and small, motives confused and clear, endings bloody and mundane. Collectively, they show poems are bullets of essence that can pierce some very dark shadows.” —Baron Wormser, former Poet Laureate of Maine About Manuel Ramos: Manuel Ramos is the author of numerous crime fiction novels, including The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz (1993), Blues for the Buffalo (1993), The Ballad of Gato Guerrero …

Authors on the Airwaves: Josefina López

Josefina López chosen as October 2012’s “Author of the Month” on KUHF Houston Public Radio KUHF radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Josefina 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 KUHF. About the Author: JOSEFINA LÓPEZ is best known for authoring the play and co-authoring the film Real Women Have Curves, a coming-of-age story about Ana, a first-generation Chicana torn between pursuing her college ambitions, a personal goal, and securing employment which is a family expectation. Along the way, Ana confronts a host of cultural assumptions about beauty, marriage and a woman’s role in society. Although Real Women Have Curves is Lopez’ most recognized work, it is only one of many literary and artistic works …

NEW YORK TIMES reports on changing demographics and its impact on education

Educators say children need more familiar images Like many of his third-grade classmates, Mario Cortez-Pacheco likes reading the “Magic Tree House” series, about a brother and a sister who take adventurous trips back in time. He also loves the popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” graphic novels. At Bayard Taylor Elementary in Philadelphia, three-quarters of the students are Hispanic. But Mario, 8, has noticed something about these and many of the other books he encounters in his classroom at Bayard Taylor Elementary here: most of the main characters are white. “I see a lot of people that don’t have a lot of color,” he said. Hispanic students now make up nearly a quarter of the nation’s public school enrollment, according to an analysis of census data by the Pew Hispanic Center, and are the fastest-growing segment of the school population. Yet nonwhite Latino children seldom see themselves in books written …

APP Author Pat Mora says there needs to be more support for Latino children’s books

Authors work to reflect Latino culture in children’s books All it takes is a smile on a student’s face while reading to make Pat Mora happy. “It’s always a pleasure when students hear something familiar to them, and it is transforming to see that quiet little smile,” she says. Mora is a Chicana children’s book author who actively works to bring her culture and heritage into her writing. “We are all too smart to believe that the only group in this country who has wonderful stories to tell and wonderful illustrators happens to be people of European descent,” Mora says. “In such a diverse country, I want all of those voices available to these next generations.” According to a recent report by the New York Times, while Hispanics make up around a quarter of the country’s public school population, they aren’t seeing themselves reflected in the literature in their classrooms. …

Libros de Arte Público Press destacan el rol de los latinos en los EE.UU.

Comunidad hispano/latina preocupada porque en las escuelas no hay libros que reflejen nuestra herencia cultural Un reciente estudio del Centro Hispano Pew reveló que los libros en las escuelas primarias no incluyen a la creciente población estudiantil hispana. CEP asegura que uno de cada cuatro niños que recibe educación en los EE.UU. es de origen latinoamericano, pero que los textos no muestran esta realidad. El fundador y director de Arte Público Press, Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, habló a MundoFox sobre el esfuerzo de la editorial por promover la lectura bilingüe y rescatar nuestras raíces culturales. Si quiere ver el reportaje completo, presione aquí.

2012 Recovery Conf. – Call for Submissions for Vol. IX

Call for Submissions for Publication in Volume IX of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Literatures of Dissent Cultures of Resistance RECOVERING THE U.S. HISPANIC LITERARY HERITAGE CONFERENCE Call for Submissions for Publication in Volume IX of Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage The Board of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage invites presenters at the Recovery Conference, held in conjunction with Rice University in Houston, TX in October 2012, to submit their papers for possible publication in volume IX of Recovery conference articles, to be edited by Blanca López de Mariscal and Donna Kabalen de Bichara, both from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. Criteria for inclusion in volume IX includes but is not limited to: 1) relevance to the work of the Recovery Project, 2) timely submission of final drafts in accordance with editing and publication deadlines (see details below), and 3) adherence to the …

Authors on the Airwaves: Alberto Hidalgo-Robert

Alberto Hidalgo-Robert chosen as September 2012’s “Author of the Month” on KUHF Houston Public Radio KUHF radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Alberto Hidalgo-Robert 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: ALBERTO HIDALGO-ROBERT is the author of Fat No More: A Teenager’s Victory over Obesity (Piñata Books, 2012), a timely memoir about a young adult’s battle with weight. In an absorbing account of his personal struggle, Hidalgo-Robert writes about his life from the low point of his descent into obesity, to how he was able reinvent himself and become a model for other teenagers who are battling weight issues. Each chapter contains “battling” tools, examples of both good and bad behavior and …

Author on the Airwaves: Pat Mora

Mora chosen as March 2012’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Mora 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: PAT MORA is a renowned writer of poetry, nonfiction and children’s books. She has written over 30 books for children and young adults, including The Bakery Lady/La señora de la panadería (2001), My Own True Name (2000), The Gift of the Poinsettia/El regalo de la flor de nochebuena (1995), Tomás and the Library Lady (1997) and The Desert Is My Mother/El desierto es mi madre (1994). An El Paso native and mother of three grown children, she lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.