Monday, September 24, 2007

¡WEST HOLLYWOOD BOOK FAIR!

Please join us at the upcoming West Hollywood Book Fair which will be held on Sunday, September 30th.

Cost - Free!
Location - West Hollywood Park @ 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. (between Santa Monica Blvd. & Melrose Ave.)
Map - Click here.
Parking - Parking is available across the street at the Pacific Design Center—Enter from San Vicente across from the park. FREE shuttle service is also available from Plummer Park (7377 Santa Monica Blvd.) the day of the Fair.

I will be moderating a panel on writers who blog and representing La Bloga, of course. This is the official listing for my panel:

TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG
(11:00am-Noon)
Adrienne Crew, Margo Candela, Kevin Roderick, Mark Sarvas
Moderator: Daniel Olivas
Book Signing at Skylight Books booth

There are also many friends of La Bloga who will be appearing on panels. Here’s a sample:

AT LAST: FIRST FICTION
(11:00am-Noon)
Alex Espinoza, Jeff Hobbs, Karen Mack, Jennifer Kaufman, Andrea Portes
Moderator: Eduardo Santiago
Signing @ Book Soup booth

LA NOIR: CRIME FICTION CLOSE TO HOME
(11:00am-Noon)
Emory Holmes II, Jim Pascoe, Gary Phillips
Moderator: Sam Quinones
Signing @ Book Events & Authors Unlimited booth

GUSTAVO ARELLANO & SAM QUINONES TALK IMMIGRATION
(2:00-2:45pm)
Signing @ IMIX Bookstore booth

LITERARY FOREMOTHERS: A LESBIAN TRADITION
(2:15-3:15pm)
Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Myriam Gurba, Ali Liebegott, Fiona Zedde
Moderator: Lisa Freeman
Signing @ A Different Light booth

For a complete list of panels, click here. For a list of all authors, click here.

See you there!

Rigoberto González, in yesterday’s El Paso Times, reviewed Annecy Báez's collection of closely linked stories, My Daughter's Eyes (Curbstone Press), which he calls “a candid look at the private world of young women coming of age as they navigate their bicultural upbringing in the Bronx and the Dominican Republic.” This collection was chosen by University of Texas at El Paso professor Benjamin Alire Sáenz as this year's recipient of the Miguel Mármol Prize. González concludes: “With My Daughter's Eyes, a promising and heart-wrenching debut, Curbstone Press adds yet another powerful title to its impressive list of Mármol Prize recipients.” Read the complete review here.

◙ Writing for the Los Angeles Times yesterday, Helena María Viramontes reviewed How I Learned English: 55 Accomplished Latinos Recall Lessons in Language and Life (National Geographic) edited by Tom Miller. Viramontes notes, in part:

Some of the essays in the collection are thoughtful, extended pieces of writing; by contrast, many are vignettes or anecdotes, sometimes too short to even begin to express the full complexity of this linguistic/cultural experience. And frequently the sentiments overlap. Still, Miller's contributors recall their struggle to learn English with both humor and pathos, providing instruction and inspiration for those who find themselves divided -- losing ground, perhaps, but not themselves.

Read the whole review here.

◙ Agustin Gurza tells us of a new exhibit called "Marisela Norte: Sociedad Anónima" which runs through October 13 at Tropico de Nopal Gallery-Art Space, 1665 Beverly Blvd., L.A. (213) 481-8112. There will be a conversation with the artist and curator at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday. Film screening and martini night, 8 p.m. on September 29. Gurza begins his review of the exhibit with these observations:

Marisela Norte is a poet and performance artist who sees the city of automobiles with the eye of someone who doesn't drive or carpool. Which is to say, she sees it up close, like a lifelong pedestrian who traverses the sidewalks and stops at street corners to wait for the bus.

It was on a downtown street in front of the Bonaventure Hotel that Norte spotted the lady with the watermelon socks. They were girlish socks, with a pink frill at the top just above the ankle and a slice of watermelon embroidered on the side. Her feet were tucked into sequined slippers that conjured fairy tales of "Arabian Nights."

"If someone would have done this combination in a fashion magazine, people would have said, 'Wow, this is the next thing,' " said Norte, who finds inspiration and friendships on her daily bus ride between downtown and her home in East L.A. "But this is something that goes by completely invisible."

Not anymore.


You can read the whole piece here. As one who grew up near these downtown streets and now works in an office building in the same area, I certainly want to get myself out to Norte's exhibit. I note that Gurza covers Latino music, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times. E-mail him at agustin.gurza@latimes.com with comments, events and ideas for this weekly feature.

◙ All done. So, until next Monday, enjoy the intervening posts from my compadres y comadres at La Bloga. ¡Lea un libro! --Daniel Olivas

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