Words on a Wire

Host Daniel Chacón speaks with writer Heath Dollar about his book Old Country Fiddle.

Heath Dollar is the author of Waylon County: Texas Stories and Old Country Fiddle, which won the Texas Institute of Letters' Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Book of Fiction. Dollar has also won the Texas Observer Short Story Contest and the Gary Wilson Short Fiction Award as well as been named a finalist for the TIL's Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story.

In this episode, hosts  Daniel Chacón and Tim Z. Hernández speak with novelist, playwright, actor, and teacher, Denise Chávez.

Her work focuses on the border corridor of southern New Mexico, West Texas and Northern México.Chávez’s book The King and Queen of Comezón, published by the University of Oklahoma Press, which won the 2015 International Latino Book Award in Fiction and the 2015 New Mexico-Arizona Fiction Award. Her other books include A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture, Loving Pedro Infante, Face of An Angel, and a short story collection, The Last of the Menu Girls, and a children’s book, La Mujer Que Sabía El Idioma de Los Animales/The Woman Who Knew the Language of the Animals. Chávez has performed her one-woman shows, Novena Narrativas: The Novena Narratives and El Muro/The Wall: A Chorus of Immigrant Women's Voices throughout the U.S.

In this episode of Words on a Wire we're here to bring you a very special show, a tribute to American poet and writer Benjamin Alire Saenz. This show is a compilation of the most memorable moments of the event, back in April of the present year at the El Paso Community Foundation. Featuring writers Daniel Chacón, Alessandra Narvaez Varela, Tim Z. Hernández, Lee Merrill Byrd and Bobby Byrd, Alfredo Corchado and Former US Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera as the principal guest speakers of the event.

A big thank you to our team of producers Claudia Flores, Ana Llurba and Iliana Pichardo Urrutia and to the entire team that made this episode posible. Our Sound Editor: Facundo Torrieri. Script writer: Iliana Pichardo and our KTEP Producer Paul Castro and his team for helping us recording this wonderful event. We would also like to thank the El Paso Community Foundation,  former, Dean of the college of Liberal arts at UTEP Denis A. O'Hearn and his team for making this event possible. And lastly to the Creative Writing Team from the Creative Writing Department at UTEP, for helping with the organization and marketing of the event.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an author of poetry and prose for adults and teens. He was the first Hispanic winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a recipient of the American Book Award for his books for adults. He is the author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, which was a Printz Honor Book, the Stonewall Award winner, the Pura Belpré Award winner, the Lambda Literary Award winner, and a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, and its sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World. His first novel for teens, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, was an ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book for teens, He Forgot to Say Goodbye, won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, the Southwest Book Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. He lives in El Paso, Texas.

John Boomer is a self-taught sculptor who started his career in 1968 while teaching on the Navajo Indian Reservation. His skills range from sculpting wood, stone, bronze, and woodblock printing. He’s showcased his work in presentations and demonstrations at schools around the Navajo Reservation including Ganado, Lukachukai, Window Rock, in Arizona, also in Navajo, Gallup, Thoreau, and Grants New Mexico schools.

Host Daniel Chacón speaks with Daniel A. Olivas about his forthcoming book, My Chicano Heart: New and Collected Storis of Love and Other Transgressions (University of Nevada Press, fall 2023)

Olivas is the author of eleven books and editor of two anthologies. His books include How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected Stories (University of Nevada Press, 2022), The King of Lighting Fixtures: Stories (University of Arizona Press, 2017), Crossing the Border: Collected Poems (Pact Press, 2017), and Things We Do Not Talk About: Exploring Latino/a Literature through Essays and Interviews (San Diego State University Press, 2014). Daniel's forthcoming book is My Chicano Heart: New and Collected Stories of Love and Other Transgressions (University of Nevada Press, fall 2023).

In this new episode you will listen to host Tim Z. Hernandez and guest, Nico Antuna Cooper on the segment, the third story. 
Antuna Cooper is a Renaissance man. He received his Master of Fine Arts from UTEP, specializing in poetry and multimedia design, and completed his Level 1 Training with the Court of Master Sommeliers. He has traveled around the world, spending time in Spain and completing the Camino de Santiago among other travels. He is a licensed Texas Realtor and Adjunct Professor of English at UTEP and EPCC.

In this episode Daniel Chacón talks to Sergio Troncoso, author of short stories, essays and novels. In this conversation they will speak of Troncoso´s latest book Nobody´s Pilgrim. 

In this episode, listen to a new series ”The Third Story” created by host Tim Z. Hernandez,  featuring Dominic Prado, who, after serving time in prison, headed out into his community to organize cultural events in Central California, attended the University of Santa Cruz to serve as the city council for his community, and opened his own business Tacos El Ultimo baile.

In this episode, host Daniel Chacon  talks to author Jahan Khamsehzadeh about his book The Psilocybin Connection.

Jahan Khamsehzadeh, Ph.D. completed his dissertation on psychedelics in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. His book, The Psilocybin Connection: Psychedelics, the Transformation of Consciousness, and Evolution of the Planet—An Integral Approach, is being published by North Atlantic Books and distributed Spring  2022 by Penguin Random House