Friday, April 13, 2007

HECHO EN TEJAS: Palabras del Barrio - TONIGHT!


HECHO EN TEJAS (UNM Press: Albuquerque, 2007) is the first major anthology of Mexican-American literature from Texas. Our event, in Fort Worth, is scheduled for Friday, April 13th, at the Rose Marine Theater, 1440 N. Main St., from 7:30pm-9:30pm.

I became involved with this publication because Dagoberto Gilb--renowned author and creative writing instructor at Texas State University--invited me to submit some of my own poems for his consideration. He chose 2 of my poems, which are now including in the anthology. Many of us Mexican-American writers in Texas are part of an active network. We stay in touch w/ one another, offering support & collaborating in literary projects. Dago is someone I've known for many years. We've actually been to the White House together, and that's another--very interesting!--story.

I hope you can join us for the Friday, Apriil 13th event in FW. It is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. No reservations are needed. This will DEFINITELY be a great PHOTO OPPORTUNITY as well. Copies of HECHO EN TEJAS will be for sale---30 bucks each.

Mil gracias!
Tammy
_________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tammy Gomez
Sound Culture
sound_culture@hotmail.com
817.924.9188

“Hecho en Tejas: Palabras del Barrio” to celebrate the release of new anthology of Texas Mexican literature with author readings & reception

What: Reading/performance/booksigning/reception
When: Friday, April 13th, 7:30pm - 9pm
Where: Rose Marine Theater, 1440 N. Main Street, 817.624.8333
Cost: Free admission/open to the public

HECHO EN TEJAS (UNM Press, 2007) is a groundbreaking collection of literature by Mexican-Americans in Texas which was released on February 10th of this year. Since that date, many events throughout Texas have been scheduled to celebrate and promote the book--particularly in Hispanic communities and educational institutions.

A Fort Worth literary event to celebrate HECHO EN TEJAS, is scheduled for Friday, April 13th, from 7:30-9pm, at the Rose Marine Theater.

The event, titled "HECHO EN TEJAS: Palabras del Barrio", will feature readings and performances by six authors from the anthology--including editor Dagoberto Gilb.

A video-poem by poet Tonantzin Canestaro-Garcia will be screened, and a performance by Austin musician David Garza (whose lyrics are included in the anthology), will also be offered.

Copies of HECHO EN TEJAS will be available for purchase during the reception and booksigning in the gallery.

AUTHOR/ARTIST BIOS:

There will be six authors and performers, representing HECHO EN TEJAS, in attendance at the Rose Marine Theater event:

Dagoberto Gilb (Austin) is the editor of Hecho en Tejas: An Anthology of Texas Mexican Literature. He is also the author of four books of fiction and nonfiction, including the 1994 PEN/Hemingway Award-winning The Magic of Blood, as well as The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña, Woodcuts of Women, and Gritos. He currently is on the faculty of the Creative Writing MFA Program at Texas State University, in San Marcos, Texas.

Macarena Hernández (Dallas) is an editorial columnist for The Dallas Morning News. She has co-produced a PBS/Frontline World documentary for PBS and written for publications such as The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. She is a graduate of Baylor University and earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley.

Christine Granados (El Paso) is the author of the short story collection Brides and Sinners in El Chuco(2006). She works as a freelance journalist and is a recipient of the 2006 Alfredo Cisneros del Moral
Award. She earned an M.F.A. from Texas State University in San Marcos.

Tammy Gomez (Fort Worth) is a small-press publisher (Tejana Tongue Press), activist, and arts educator. A 2007 Texas Medal of Arts award nominee, she graduated from Goucher College (Maryland) in 1985. Her literary performance works include the award-winning “Maya Matematica” and “Malinchuca”.

Davíd Garza (Austin ) is a critically-acclaimed musician with a mastery of many styles and has released numerous CDs including: “This Euphoria,” “Overdub,” “The Four Track Manifesto” and “A Strange Mess of Flowers.”

José Angel Gutiérrez (Arlington), professor of Political Science at UTA, is the author of several nonfiction books, including “The Making of a Civil Rights Leader”, which is included on the New York Public Library’s list of “Books for the Teen Age 2007.”

For more information:

Dallas Morning News book review by Tom Dodge:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/
DN-bk_hecho_0318gl.ART.State.Bulldog.43f3b7b.html

Houston Chronicle book review:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/books/reviews/4576286.html

Texas House of Representatives Declare “Hecho en Tejas” Day:
http://talbot.mrp.txstate.edu/currents/fullstory.jsp?sid=998

Texas State University - San Marcos article:
http://star.txstate.edu/content/view/2711/

Texas Observer article by HECHO EN TEJAS editor Dagoberto Gilb:
http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2374

Newspaper Tree (El Paso) book review:
http://www.newspapertree.com/culture/1159-a-storm-made-in-tejas-
review-of-hecho-en-tejas-an-anthology-of-texas-mexican-literature

San Antonio Express-News article:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA021107.14B.hecho.19dfc22.html

2 comments:

Sheryl said...

Glad to see you made it back okay, Tammy!

Tammy Gomez said...

yep, the security personnel at the El Paso airport were pretty cool. lucky me. i highly recommend---should you ever be without picture i.d. before a scheduled flight--that you phone the airline and tell the reservations agent about your dilemma so he/she can make a note of it in your record. This helps once your physically arrive at the airline check-in counter at the airport.

El Paso has intrigued me---i'll be back.