BOOK SELECTION
DETAILS
Teleconference Series

 

 
TELECONFERENCE
DETAILS
  Month of Selection:
July 2011
  Date:
Monday, July 25, 2011
 

Guest Interviewers:
Dr. Javier Rodriguez
Lucha Corpi
  Dial-in Times:
9:00 p.m. Puerto Rico
8:00 p.m. Eastern
7:00 p.m. Central
6:00 p.m. Mountain
5:00 p.m. Pacific
2:00 p.m. Hawaii
LISTEN TO
THE INTERVIEW
  Length: 1 hr 06 mins
Size:  15.91 MB
 

About the Interviewers

Dr Javier RodriguezJavier Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Dr. Rodríguez specializes in the literary interactions between the United States and Mexico, the literature and culture of South Texas, and the relationships of narrative, regionalism, and history. His first book, The Literatures of the U.S. Mexican War: Narrative, Time, and Identity, will be published in Spring 2010 by the University of Texas Press. The work examines the continuing literary and cultural legacies of the war and its literature in the United States, in Mexico, and along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Dr. Rodríguez has published articles in MELUS and in Arizona Quarterly and is the author of a forthcoming essay on Stephen Crane, “Hell in Mexican Texas: Stephen Crane at the American Abyss,” in The Turn Back to Religion in American Literature and Culture, edited by Nan Goodman and Michael Kramer. His new research concentrates on the interplay of literature and migration in South Texas.

Dr. Rodríguez has previously taught at Harvard University, Boston University, and the University of Notre Dame. He is a native of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. He currently is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

Lucha CorpiLucha Corpi

Born in Jáltipan, Veracruz, Mexico, Lucha Corpi came to Berkeley, California in 1964 as a student wife. She holds a B.A. from U.C.
Berkeley in comparative literature and M.A. from San Francisco State University in world and comparative literature. Corpi is the author of two collections of poetry: Palabras de Mediodia/Noon Words and Variaciones sobre una Tempestad/Variations on a Storm (translated into English by Catherine Rodríguez-Nieto), two bilingual children's books:
Where Fireflies Dance/Ahi, donde bailan las luciernagas and The Triple Banana Split Boy/El Niño Goloso, six novels, four of which feature Chicana detective Gloria Damasco: Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus Blood, Black Widow's Wardrobe, and Death at Solstice.

She writes her poetry in Spanish and her narrative in English. She was a poet laureate at Indiana University Northwest and in Northwest Indiana. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and citations, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in poetry, an Oakland Cultural Arts fellowship in fiction, the PEN-Oakland Josephine Miles Award and the Multicultural Publishers Exchange literary award in fiction, and two consecutive International Latino Book Awards for her mystery fiction. Until 2005, she was a tenured teacher in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers. She resides in Oakland, California.

July 2011 Teleconference

The Farthest Home is in an Empire of Fire:
A Tejano Elegy

by John Phillip Santos

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About the BookBook Club Selection

A family's epic origins in the hinterlands of Mexico that became Texas-and earlier, in Iberia

In his acclaimed 1999 memoir Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, John Phillip Santos told the story of one Mexican family—his father's—set within the larger story of Mexico itself. In this beautifully written new book, he tells of how another family—this time, his mother's—erased and forgot over time their ancient origins in Spain.

Every family has a forgotten tale of where it came from. Who is driven to tell it and why? Weaving together a highly original mix of autobiography, conquest history, elegy, travel, family remembrance, and time travelling narration, Santos offers an unforgettable testimony to this calling and describes a lifelong quest to find the missing chronicle of his mother's family, one that takes him to various locations in South Texas and Mexico, to New York City, to Spain, and ultimately to the Middle East. Blending genres brilliantly, Santos raises profound questions about whether we can ever find our true homeland and what we can learn from our treasured, shared cultural legacies.

About the Author

John Phillip Santos, born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, is the first Mexican American Rhodes Scholar whose awards include the Academy of American Poets' Prize at Notre Dame and the Oxford Prize for fiction. His articles on Latino culture have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and the San Antonio Express-News. Writer and producer of more than forty television documentaries for CBS-TV and PBS-TV—two of them Emmy nominees—he lives in San Antonio, Texas.

King of The Chicanos

by Manuel Ramos

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About the Book

Mystery novelist Manuel Ramos examines the origins of the Chicano movement, then follows several characters through both the mayhem and hope of those years. Did the movement implode? Was it compromised? Those who made so much political progress for us suffered a great deal to do so.

About the Author

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 (1994), The Last Client of Luis Móntez (1996), Moony's Road to Hell (2002), and Brown–On–Brown (2003). Most of these novels feature Ramos' popular Chicano detective, Luis Móntez, and several have garnered critical and popular recognition such as the Colorado Book Award and the Chicano/Latino Literary Award (University of California at Irvine), as well as an Edgar nomination from the Mystery Writers of America.

Ramos was born in Florence, Colorado. His grandfathers included a coal miner and a veteran of Pancho Villa's army. His father, a construction worker, and his mother raised Manuel to appreciate education and he graduated from Colorado State University, with honor, in 1970, and received his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1973.

After a few years in private practice, Ramos accepted a staff attorney position with the Denver legal aid program, and the bulk of his legal career has consisted of providing legal assistance to the indigent. Today, he is the Director of Advocacy for Colorado Legal Services, the statewide legal aid program. As Director of Advocacy he is responsible for staff training, backup and support, overall direction for the agency's litigation, and resolution of issues involving professional ethics. He has served on numerous boards, task forces, and court committees, and been the recipient of several awards and other recognition for his legal work as well as his writing. Ramos also has taught Chicano literature courses at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Strawberry Fields:
A Book of Short Stories

by Chuy Ramirez

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About the Book

Strawberry Fields follows Joaquin, the main character and his migrant family through a worthwhile journey. The reader discovers the Joaquin's complex relationship with his father. The characters are crafted in detail amidst the backdrop of colorful settings through the chapters. The reader uncovers many underlying themes: the conflict between being Mexican and American, and a poignant sub-theme: a rift between a father's ideological Mexico and a son's inability to comprehend this. Readers will also identify with the depiction of the main character's mother. Her perseverance and strength is a focus and her sacrifices thwart Joaquin to relentless ambition through his life from meager beginnings. A young girl's death from his past sends Joaquin through a mental and physical journey. Overall, it is a thought-provoking story spanning three generations and what was endured during a period of change in America. Ramirez develops a piece of literature filled with intrigue, history, and compassion; more importantly Strawberry Fields illustrates the complicated threads that compose every family.

About the Author

Chuy Ramirez grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, attended Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. He practices law in McAllen and Strawberry Fields is his first fictional work.

Ramirez lives in San Juan, Texas with his wife of thirty eight years, Aida, who is a retired public school teacher. He has two children: Jesus Ramirez and Mirta Espinola. He is the proud grandfather of four: Chuy Ramirez III, Carla Ramirez, Victoria Ramirez, and Isaiah Matthew Ramirez.