Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Have Their Say w/ Tony Diaz

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center welcomes award winning author and distinguished professor Dr. Norma Cantu to the show to discuss her latest book CHICANA PORTRAITS: CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES OF TWELVE CHICANA WRITERS (University of Arizona Press 2023) ahead of her Texas Author Series appearance on October 13th 2023 at the Guadalupe.

Join us for a lively discussion over this amazing anthology that spotlights 12 literary figures from 12 authors who themselves are making a name for themselves. Norma describes the process and reads from the book and shares some of her thoughts on the current state of book bans and censorship culture.

Dr. Norma E. Cantú is a scholar-activist who currently serves as the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University. She is founder and director of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa. She has published fiction, poetry, and personal essays in a number of venues. Her latest book CHICANA PORTRAITS is an innovative collection that pairs portraits with critical biographies of twelve key Chicana writers, offering an engaging look at their work, contributions to the field, and major achievements.

Artist Raquel Valle-Sentíes’s portraits bring visual dimension, while essays delve deeply into the authors’ lives for details that inform their literary, artistic, feminist, and political trajectories and sensibilities. The collection brilliantly intersects artistic visual and literary cultural productions, allowing complex themes to emerge, such as the fragility of life, sexism and misogyny, Chicana agency and forging one’s own path, the struggles of becoming a writer and battling self-doubt, economic instability, and political engagement and activism.

Biographies included in this work include Raquel Valle-Sentíes, Angela de Hoyos, Montserrat Fontes, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Norma E. Cantú, Denise Elia Chávez, Carmen Tafolla, Cherríe Moraga, Ana Castillo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, and Demetria Martínez.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio Texas, welcomes award winning author John Olivares Espinoza to the show to discuss his book THE DATE FRUIT ELEGIES (Bilingual Review Press, 2008) ahead of his Texas Author Series appearance on October 13th 2023 at the Guadalupe.

John shares with us his work, reads some of his poems (including unreleased portions of his upcoming book), the inspiration behind his work, as well as his current as editor / poetry coach to several well known literary figures, including Chicana icon Sandra Cisneros.

John Olivares Espinoza is a recipient of a 2023 City of San Antonio Project Grants for Individual Artists. Born and raised in Indio, California, and the son of immigrants from Mexico, he received degrees in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside and Arizona State University.

He is the author of the poetry collection, The Date Fruit Elegies (Bilingual Review Press, 2008), as well as two chapbooks, Aluminum Times (Swan Scythe Press, 2002) and Gardeners of Eden (Chicano Chapbook Series, 2000). His poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies domestically and internationally such as Alta Journal, American Poetry Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, New Letters, Poetry International, Quarterly West, Rattle, ZYZZYVA and In Xóchitl in Cuícatl: Floricanto: Cien años de poesía chicanx/latinx (1920-2020) (Editorial Polibea: Madrid, 2021).

His honors include a writing grant from The Elizabeth George Foundation, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, and a residency at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Espinoza has been a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop since 2004 and lives in San Antonio with his family. John attempts to create a family mythology around their experiences and identities as immigrants, laborers, and New Americans. Meanwhile, other speakers in his poems grapple with their identities as first generation Americans. Poet Christopher Buckley introduces Espinoza’s poetry by saying, “…[I]t was the lives of his family, of the people who did not stay at resorts [and the homes of the rich], that became [John’s] theme, and his poems risked clarity at every turn to do them justice. John’s poems are witness to this life, and with poignancy and inventiveness they reveal the essential dignity and compassion of the people he knows.”

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz welcomes key members of Main Street Theater’s current production of CARMELA, FULL OF WISHES, playing Sept. 24 – Oct. 21 at MST’s Midtown location at 3400 Main Street, 77002 at the MATCH. Adapted by Nuestra Palabra's very own Alvaro Saar Rios from the best selling book by Matt de la Peña, Tony speaks with Alvaro, Laura Moreno, the play’s director, and Jacqueline Vasquez, the actor playing Carmela, about this wonderful play and it's importance in telling our stories.

On our show, we have:

Laura Moreno (Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) Last Stop on Market Street (Costume Design) Miss Nelson Is Missing! The Musical!, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Dragons Love Tacos; Alley Theatre: (Assistant Director): A Midsummer Night’s Dream, What-a-Christmas!; Mildred’s Umbrella: Ladies’ Night: Beckett Shorts; Lamar University: The Revolutionists; Jewish Community Center: Photograph 51; Horse Head Theatre Company: Church, Judgement of Fools; Gravity Players: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Duchesne Academy: Little Women, The Importance of Being Earnest. Education: M.F.A, University of Houston, Directing; M.A, University of Houston, Arts Leadership; B.F.A., University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance, Acting.

Jacqueline Vasquez plays Carmela in our current production, and she’ll be back right after Carmela Full of Wishes for Disney’s Beauty & the Beast at Main Street Theater! Other credits include: James and the Giant Peach (swing), Miss Nelson is Missing! The Musical; Haven Arts: She Kills Monsters. Education: Texas Christian University.

Alvaro Saar Rios is a Texican playwright living in Chicago. His plays have been seen in New York City, Mexico City, Hawaii, Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee and all over Texas. His award-winning plays include Luchadora!, On the Wings of a Mariposa and Carmela Full of Wishes. Mr. Rios is Playwright-In-Residence at Milwaukee's First Stage and a proud veteran of the US Army (he used to drive tanks). Originally from Houston, Alvaro teaches playwriting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

About CARMELA FULL OF WISHES

Feliz Cumpleaños! It’s Carmela’s birthday, and she’s finally old enough to tag along with her big brother as he runs the family errands. Passing by the bodega and the lavanderia, Carmela picks a dandelion and makes a very important wish… Carmela Full of Wishes illuminates the beauty of working class neighborhoods and the power of community and family. Told through the lens of a heartfelt sibling story, this endearing play explores what hope looks like in a migrant community steeped in Mexican culture.

CARMELA FULL OF WISHES

Adapted by Alvaro Saar Rios

From the book by Matt de la Peña

Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra and the National Endowment for the Arts @neaarts celebrated will Latina Leaders with an amazing event, NP & NEA's The Big Read! The event was a huge success but if you missed it no worries, it is now available on our podcast!

Some key moments:

As part of our collaboration with the NEA, we gave away 400 copies of INFINITE COUNTRY (@AvidReaderPress) by Colombian American writer Patricia Engel (@patricia__engel) to attendees!

The event opened with the powerful poetry of Elisa Garza who shared her previous work from Entre la Claridad and new unreleased poems for our audience.

Geraldina Interiano Wise, Board Chair of ALMAAHH, spoke on the importance of having our space, nuestra lugar, and urged folks to fill out the survey for the Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive (ALMAAHH) complex in Harris County.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Briones shared her passion urging folks not to let others call us "dormidos y hay que levantar y dar pa adelante nuestra fuerza unida" and she presented Harris County's proclamation honoring Tony Diaz & Nuestra Palabra for it's 25 years of service and creating community cultural capital.

Lis Atencio, co founder of Monday Paper, debuted the Nuestra Palabra Journal, 100 of which were given to empower our communidad to tell their stories, stories like Liz who immigrated from Venezuela and using her entrepreneurial spirit started her own company providing jobs for folks here and abroad all while in an eco friendly and sustainable manner.

Mayra Valle, Director of Learning and Design at the EMERGE Fellowship, shared her personal story, her own writing, and her passion to help students find their voices, especially among Latine students who often find themselves lost in the process.

The Honorable Delia Garcia shared her latest book LATINA LEADERSHIP LESSONS with the audience and shared experiences growing up and working where often she was not only the woman in the room but the only Latina.

Listen to the podcast on your favorite platform!

Tony Diaz, el Librotraficante spotlights Dr. Carmen Tafolla’s latest book WARRIOR GIRL! Carmen talks about the book, it’s representation, and how this novel is defying the books bans occurring now and reads several poems from the book. Her book published through Penguin Random House is available through various online stores but also at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore and makes an excellent addition to your family library, public library, and underground library.

Carmen Tafolla is the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, perfor­mance artist, motivational speaker, scholar, and university professor, she is the author of more than forty books and a profes­sor emeritus of Transformative Children’s Literature at @UTSA. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the pres­tigious Américas Award, the designation of first city Poet Laureate of San Antonio, six International Latino Book Awards, two Tomás Rivera Book Awards, two ALA Notable Books, the Art of Peace Award, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award.

WARRIOR GIRL (@penguinrandomhouse, 2023) chronicles Celina and her family who are bilingual and follow both Mexican and American traditions. Celina revels in her Mexican heritage, but once she starts school it feels like the world wants her to erase that part of her identity. Fortunately, she’s got an army of family and three fabulous new friends behind her to fight the ignorance. But it’s her Gramma who’s her biggest inspiration, encouraging Celina to build a shield of joy around herself . Because when you’re celebrating, when you find a reason to sing or dance or paint or play or laugh or write, they haven’t taken everything away from you. Of course, it’s not possible to stay in celebration mode when things get dire--like when her dad’s deported and a pandemic hits--but if there is anything Celina’s sure of, it’s that she’ll always live up to her last Guerrera--woman warrior--and that she will use her voice and writing talents to show the world it’s a more beautiful place because people like her are in it.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

* Live events.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

Radame Ortiez, SEO Director

Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer

Leti Lopez, Music Director

Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus

Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus

Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra features the book "The Alton Bus Crash" on our latest podcast episode which you can stream on your favorite platform.

Tony Diaz speaks with Juan P Carmona about his book on the tragic Alton Bus Crash, which claimed the lives of f 21 junior and senior high school students after a bottling truck collided with the school bus, causing the bus to enter a caliche pit filled with water. This terrible incident led to many changes in several industries but also served as a precursor to other catastrophes that have befallen marginalized communities and the government response.

Juan P. Carmona is a Social Studies teacher at Donna High School and a dual enrollment History instructor through South Texas College. He graduated with honors from the American Military University with a master’s degree in American History and he was the Recipient of the 2018 James F. Veninga Outstanding Teaching Humanities Award by Humanities Texas. He is a member of the NACCS Tejas Foco Committee for Mexican American Studies K-12, and the Social Studies Coordinator for the Rio Grande Valley Coalition for Mexican American Studies. He is the co-author of a 1-year curriculum for a high school class in Mexican American Studies.

He has been teaching Mexican American History for dual enrollment for the past 10 years at Donna High School. He is also a member of the award-winning Refusing to Forget Project. His primary field of research is the history of the South Texas borderlands. He is the author of the book The Alton Bus Crash, co-host of the podcast “Mi Valle MI Vida” and produced a podcast with his Mexican American History students called “The Alamo Train Crash of 1940”, which he is now developing into a book project.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

* Live events.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

Radame Ortiez, SEO Director

Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer

Leti Lopez, Music Director

Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus

Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus

Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Culturalarts Center's Latino Bookstore, spotlights Dr. Mehnaaz Momen's LISTENING TO LAREDO: A BORDER CITY IN A GLOBALIZED AGE. in a lively discussion on place, identity, and the changing conditions of an American border city.

Dr. Mehnaaz Momen is an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Texas A&M International University and the author of THE PARADOX OF CITIZENSHIP IN AMERICAN POLITICS AND POLITICAL SATIRE, POSTMODERN REALITY, AND THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (Arizone Press)

Her new book, LISTENING TO LAREDO: A BORDER CITY IN A GLOBALIZED AGE, gives an in depth look at the burgeoning Texas town that has grown. Nestled between Texas and Tamaulipas, @officialcityoflaredo was once a quaint border town, nurturing cultural ties across the border, attracting occasional tourists, and serving as the home of people living there for generations. In a span of mere decades, Laredo has become the largest inland port in the United States and a major hub of global trade. Listening to Laredo is an exploration of how the dizzying forces of change have defined this locale, how they continue to be inscribed and celebrated, and how their effects on the physical landscape have shaped the identity of the city and its people. Bringing together issues of growth, globalization, and identity, Mehnaaz Momen traces Laredo’s trajectory through the voices of its people. In contrast to the many studies of border cities defined by the outside—and seldom by the people who live at the border—this volume collects oral histories from seventy-five in-depth interviews that collectively illuminate the evolution of the city’s cultural and economic infrastructure, its interdependence with its sister city across the national boundary, and, above all, the strength of its community as it adapts to and even challenges the national narrative regarding the border. The resonant and lively voices of Laredo’s people convey proud ownership of an archetypal border city that has time and again resurrected itself.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

* Live events.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

Radame Ortiez, SEO Director

Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer

Leti Lopez, Music Director

Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus

Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus

Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra's Tony Diaz El Librotraficante, Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, welcomes Dr. Ito Romo, who will be one of our our featured authors for the Texas Author Series' September reading at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on September 8th at 6:00PM. Tony will speak with Dr. Romo re: his book THE BORDER IS BURNING being released on paperback, his next projects, and even have a reading in advance to Dr. Romo's appearance in San Antonio Westside!

Dr. Ito Romo was born and raised on the border in Laredo, Texas. His recent work, dubbed “Chicano Gothic” and “Chicano Noir,” shows the dark and gritty life along Interstate 35 through South Texas, where his family has lived for nine generations since 1750. He lives in San Antonio and is Professor of English Language and Literature at St. Mary’s University. Romo received his PhD from Texas Tech University’s Creative Writing Program and was recently inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. He is the author of The Border is Burning (2013) and El Puente / The Bridge (2001), both published by University of New Mexico Press.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

* Live events.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

Radame Ortiez, SEO Director

Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer

Leti Lopez, Music Director

Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus

Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus

Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, the Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, welcomes The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva @borderlandsshax (BSC)! Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos (Trinity University), Dr. Katherine Gillen (Texas A&M University–San Antonio), and Dr. Adrianna M. Santos (Texas A&M University–San Antonio), who will be our featured authors for the Texas Author Series' September reading at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on September 8th, at 6:00PM.

Dr. Brenda Sarmiento Quezada (Purdue University) joins Tony & the BCS to discuss writing curriculum and how important these works are as educational tools for not just traditionally marginalized folks but for all. These curriculums and coursework is all part of a $102,250 grant for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s Latino Bookstore Education Outreach and Literacy Program.

Join us on our show on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston at 7:00 CDT PM or online via www.kpft.org. If not, you can always catch the podcast on our streaming platforms!

The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva (BSC) seeks to amplify the work of Chicanx and Indigenous artists who adapt Shakespeare to reflect the histories and lived realities of the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands. They aim not only to change the way Shakespeare is taught and performed but also to promote the socially just futures envisioned en el arte de La Frontera. The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva are editing a three-volume anthology titled The Bard in the Borderlands. Their work has been supported by funding from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Dr. Brenda Sarmiento Quezada is an assistant professor of Literacy and Language Education with emphasis on emergent bilinguals at Purdue University. Born in Mexico City, she taught as a Dual Language teacher at a Title 1 school in San Antonio, Texas. Her research area focuses on language practices and identity performances of linguistically and culturally diverse students. Her research and interests also encompass teacher education and preparation programs, literacy integration across content areas, bilingual community engagement, digital spaces and multimodalities, and language policy and practices.

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

* Live events.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

Radame Ortiez, SEO Director

Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer

Leti Lopez, Music Director

Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus

Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus

Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra's Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, welcomes author of the acclaimed books ZARZAMORA and WHERE THE RECKLESS ONES COME TO DIE Vincent Cooper, who joins us to talk about his latest book from Mouthfeel Press, INFIDELIS.

Tony speaks with Vincent Tuesday on KPFT Houston 90.1 FM on Tuesday August 22nd at 7:00 PM CDT as we discuss Vincent's powerful new book. You can hear it live via KPFT.org if you’re not in the Houston area; otherwise you can catch the podcast afterwards!

Vincent Cooper's INFIDELIS is a powerful collection of poetry that delves into the life of a Chicano outcast, drawing from the author's personal experiences as a United States Marine. Through lyric and Blues poetry, Cooper paints a vivid picture of the 9/11 era, capturing the raw and authentic emotions that accompanied his journey.

Vincent Cooper is a poet living in San Antonio, Texas. He is a former United States Marine and has published in Ban This! The BSP Anthology of Xicano Literature, Big Bridge Magazine: Refreshing San Antonio, and La Voz de Esperanza

Tony Diaz

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.

In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation.

When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona.

He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing.

* This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast.

* Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com.

* Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began.

* Live events.

Thanks to

Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer

Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer

Radame Ortiez, SEO Director

Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer

Leti Lopez, Music Director

Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus

Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus

Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston’s Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What’s Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital.

www.Librotraficante.com

www.NuestraPalabra.org

www.TonyDiaz.net

Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund.

Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records

Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com