My huge literary crush, JUNOT DIAZ--the papi' chulo of letras Dominicanas--is coming to Dallas next weekend. Go see him w/ me!!
JUNOT DIAZ started out, in the 1990s, publishing short stories here and there (New Yorker, Paris Review), and then in 1997 his first short story collection DROWN (which i love!) was published by Riverhead/Penguin to great acclaim. DROWN was sold for translational rights to over fifteen countries, was a national bestseller, and was nominated for Quality Paperback Book Club's "New Voices" award in 1997.
Diaz was the only writer chosen by Newsweek as one of the 10 "New Faces of 1996." In 1999, the New Yorker named him one of the top “20 Writers for the 21st Century.”
After all the DROWN acclaim and hoopla, he practically disappeared from the universe--but actually he was busy teaching (at MIT, no less) and writing what we anticipated would be his first novel.
And guess what?
For eleven years he held us off with bated breath (ours not his), until the point--2007--when he published his finally completed FIRST novel--which is titled THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO--and then what happens to this writer with a charmed life?
He gets the freakin' PULITZER for his first novel!!!!
THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO has gone on to win the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction and has
also been optioned by Miramax Films.
Here's more info on the reading/interview, which is being taped for KERA radio broadcast.
Lastly, here are links to a great interview Junot did with BOOKSLUT in 07; an extensive bio; and a really dope article on the political angles of the novel.
C'mon bookwormy literatontos, join me on Sunday, September 14th at the DMA (Dallas Museum of Art) from 2-4pm!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Call to action - Women Say No Palin
[The following call to action came to me via Liliana Valenzuela, writer and translator.]
"We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce--on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate--that has a real possibility of becoming fact.
Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the planet.
We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms.Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so demonstrably benefited from.
*First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.*
*Therefore, we invite you to compose a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation. Email it to us at: womensaynopalin@gmail.com. *
Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence. We will post your responses on a blog called 'Women Against Sarah Palin,' which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please send us your reply at your earliest convenience--the greater the volume of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.
Thank you for your time and action.
*VIVA!*
Sincerely,
Quinn Latimer and Lyra Kilston
New York, NY
womensaynopalin@gmail.com
***PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!* If you send this to 20 women in the next hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns seriously. Stranger things have happened."
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Hispanic Heritage Month performances @ TCC-South Campus
I’m featuring twice at TCC-South Campus this month, so come check me out or tell a friend who might be a TCC-South Campus student or faculty member.
I'm one of the featured performers at the Hispanic Heritage Month kick-off celebration on Wednesday, September 10th, which goes from 11am to 1pm. Free & open to the public. Also featuring performances by Latin Express and Velocity Dance Company. Thanks to Ramsey Sprague for playing guitar as part of my poetry set.
September 10th - Wednesday - my first gig at TCC this month
I'll return to TCC-South Campus on Monday, September 22nd for a poetry performance intensive in the "Student Living Room" from 10am-12noon.
September 22nd - Monday - my second gig at TCC this month
Spread the word!
Monday, September 08, 2008
2009 Texas Poetry Calendar poets - tomorrow at Benbrook Public Library
[This was passed along by Susan Vogel Taylor, the pompom girl for local readings by local poets. Poetry Calendar co-editors Cindy Huyser and Scott Wiggerman will be coming in from Austin to co-host this event. I've worked with both Cindy and Scott--back in the 90s in Austin--and they are great people as well as dedicated hard-working poets. Recommended.]
** The 2nd Tuesday Poetry Series is proud to present readings from the 2009 Texas Poetry Calendar **
7 p.m. - Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Benbrook Public Library - 1065 Mercedes, Benbrook, TX 76126
Phone: 817.249.6632
Go to www.benbrooklibrary.org for directions.
The 2009 Texas Poetry Calendar is now in its eleventh year of publication. Scott Wiggerman and David Meischen, co-owners and publishers of Dos Gatos Press, have been publishing the Calendar for the past four years. Dos Gatos is a small non-profit press "dedicated to the promotion of Texas poetry and poets."
Cindy Huyser and Scott Wiggerman edited the Calendar, and will host Tuesday night's reading.
Featured Poets:
Alan Gann, of Plano, teaches creative writing workshops in at-risk schools and sexuality education at his local Unitarian Universalist church. A long-time member of the Dallas Poets Community, he is one of the readers for their literary journal, Illya's Honey. His poetry has been published in such journals as Borderlands and the Red River Review, and he has work forthcoming in Sentence, Main Street Rag, and Trillium.
Michelle Hartman, of Euless, has had poems published in Illya's Honey, Red River Review, Sojourn, decant, and the anthology The Weight of Addition, and has a poem forthcoming in Concho River Review.
J. Paul Holcomb, the "Poet from Double Oak," has written two books of poetry: Looking for Love in the Telecom Corridor, which won the Edwin Eakin Memorial Book Award in 2004, and Love, or Something Like It, which won the 1997 Lucidity Chapbook Award. He is a past president of the Poetry Society of Texas and of the Fort Worth Poetry Society. He has published widely, including in New Texas, Windhover, DFW Poetry Review, the Concho River Review, and the Journal of Poetry Therapy.
Ann Howells, of Carrollton, is the treasurer of the Dallas Poets Community and managing editor of its journal, Illya's Honey. She has been named a "distinguished poet of Dallas" by the Dallas Public Library, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and published one chapbook, Black Crow in Flight, available through Main Street Rag. Recent work has appeared in Barbaric Yawp, Plainsongs, and Sentence.
Marilyn Komechak, of Fort Worth, a finalist in the Living Room Theatre of Salado, is a writer in many fields. Her children's book, Paisano Pete, won Oklahoma Writers' Federation's "Best Juvenile Book." She co-authored a screenplay based on the book, which won first place in the OWFI's Script/Movie/TV division in 2007, as well as a first place in poetry.
Carolyn Thorman, of Houston, with degrees in Law and Anthropology, moved from West Virginia to Houston two years ago and now divides her time between homes in Clear Lake and Manilva, Spain. She has received grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and has taught fiction at the Writers Center in Washington, D.C. Her poetry has appeared in such journals as the Cincinnati Review, the Piedmont Literary Review, and Pittsburgh Magazine.
Sylvia R. Vaughn, of Plano, has a degree in journalism from SMU, and has worked as a reporter, editor, and news director for the Grand Prairie Daily News. Her poems have appeared in Illya's Honey and the Red River Review, and her poem "Communion" won first place in the Richardson Public Library's Poetry Competition in 2007. In addition, her play La Tamalada was produced in Fort Worth, and two others have had staged readings.
The Editors
Cindy Huyser is a poet, computer programmer, and former power plant operator. A native of Detroit, Michigan, she has lived in Austin, Texas, for most of her adult life. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Comstock Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Wild Plum, each of AIPF's Di-Verse-City anthologies, and Layers (Plain View Press, 1994).
Scott Wiggerman is the author of Vegetables and Other Relationships and editor of the Texas Poetry Calendar. His work has appeared in such journals as Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Poesia, Contemporary Sonnet, Visions International, Spillway, Sojourn, and the Paterson Literary Review; and books like The Weight of Addition and Poem, Revised. He has spent much of 2008 preparing and editing Big Land, Big Sky, Big Hair: Best of the Texas Poetry Calendar.
** The 2nd Tuesday Poetry Series is proud to present readings from the 2009 Texas Poetry Calendar **
7 p.m. - Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Benbrook Public Library - 1065 Mercedes, Benbrook, TX 76126
Phone: 817.249.6632
Go to www.benbrooklibrary.org for directions.
The 2009 Texas Poetry Calendar is now in its eleventh year of publication. Scott Wiggerman and David Meischen, co-owners and publishers of Dos Gatos Press, have been publishing the Calendar for the past four years. Dos Gatos is a small non-profit press "dedicated to the promotion of Texas poetry and poets."
Cindy Huyser and Scott Wiggerman edited the Calendar, and will host Tuesday night's reading.
Featured Poets:
Alan Gann, of Plano, teaches creative writing workshops in at-risk schools and sexuality education at his local Unitarian Universalist church. A long-time member of the Dallas Poets Community, he is one of the readers for their literary journal, Illya's Honey. His poetry has been published in such journals as Borderlands and the Red River Review, and he has work forthcoming in Sentence, Main Street Rag, and Trillium.
Michelle Hartman, of Euless, has had poems published in Illya's Honey, Red River Review, Sojourn, decant, and the anthology The Weight of Addition, and has a poem forthcoming in Concho River Review.
J. Paul Holcomb, the "Poet from Double Oak," has written two books of poetry: Looking for Love in the Telecom Corridor, which won the Edwin Eakin Memorial Book Award in 2004, and Love, or Something Like It, which won the 1997 Lucidity Chapbook Award. He is a past president of the Poetry Society of Texas and of the Fort Worth Poetry Society. He has published widely, including in New Texas, Windhover, DFW Poetry Review, the Concho River Review, and the Journal of Poetry Therapy.
Ann Howells, of Carrollton, is the treasurer of the Dallas Poets Community and managing editor of its journal, Illya's Honey. She has been named a "distinguished poet of Dallas" by the Dallas Public Library, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and published one chapbook, Black Crow in Flight, available through Main Street Rag. Recent work has appeared in Barbaric Yawp, Plainsongs, and Sentence.
Marilyn Komechak, of Fort Worth, a finalist in the Living Room Theatre of Salado, is a writer in many fields. Her children's book, Paisano Pete, won Oklahoma Writers' Federation's "Best Juvenile Book." She co-authored a screenplay based on the book, which won first place in the OWFI's Script/Movie/TV division in 2007, as well as a first place in poetry.
Carolyn Thorman, of Houston, with degrees in Law and Anthropology, moved from West Virginia to Houston two years ago and now divides her time between homes in Clear Lake and Manilva, Spain. She has received grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and has taught fiction at the Writers Center in Washington, D.C. Her poetry has appeared in such journals as the Cincinnati Review, the Piedmont Literary Review, and Pittsburgh Magazine.
Sylvia R. Vaughn, of Plano, has a degree in journalism from SMU, and has worked as a reporter, editor, and news director for the Grand Prairie Daily News. Her poems have appeared in Illya's Honey and the Red River Review, and her poem "Communion" won first place in the Richardson Public Library's Poetry Competition in 2007. In addition, her play La Tamalada was produced in Fort Worth, and two others have had staged readings.
The Editors
Cindy Huyser is a poet, computer programmer, and former power plant operator. A native of Detroit, Michigan, she has lived in Austin, Texas, for most of her adult life. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Comstock Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Wild Plum, each of AIPF's Di-Verse-City anthologies, and Layers (Plain View Press, 1994).
Scott Wiggerman is the author of Vegetables and Other Relationships and editor of the Texas Poetry Calendar. His work has appeared in such journals as Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Poesia, Contemporary Sonnet, Visions International, Spillway, Sojourn, and the Paterson Literary Review; and books like The Weight of Addition and Poem, Revised. He has spent much of 2008 preparing and editing Big Land, Big Sky, Big Hair: Best of the Texas Poetry Calendar.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Vote now - Fort Worth Weekly BEST OF 2008 - survey online!
I just realized that my production of SHE: BIKE/SPOKE/LOVE can be nominated in the FORT WORTH WEEKLY'S BEST OF 2008
survey.
If you want to, you can write in/nominate this play as the best "Production Staged by Local Theater" in the CULTURE category.
(The previous BEST OF survey was taken BEFORE we premiered the play, so this would be the year to nominate it.)
Tell your friends to vote!! Spread the word!!
Be sure to vote in at least 15 categories. (That's one of the main rules.) For your convenience, here's the online ballot
The play was a SOUND CULTURE PRODUCTION, and it played at the SANDERS THEATRE. (in case you forgot the names...)
If you don't want to mess with this or think the Weekly's BEST OF bidness is total b.s., I won't have hard feelings...
...at least I don't think I will.
hehehehehe.
Dancing IS sustainable...
Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century poet)
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century poet)
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Palabrazos '08 archival footage of my poem "Quetzal Feathers"
Ole "Shaky Leg Sanchez" aka Cesar Hernandez just put up this clip from the footage he shot at the first annual Palabrazos festival, which happened in Fort Worth in early May. (I didn't post the planned afterglow report because about 40 hours after the festival ended, I accidentally locked myself in my bedroom closet for two and a half days. No lie. So, my reporting schedule got a bit thrown off, to say the least...)
Palabrazos '08
Palabrazos '08
Friday, August 22, 2008
Get plugged in to these great new projects!
[Austin friend and documentary filmmaker Andrea Melendez sent along the following call for interns to help with her Blueprint Schools Documentary Project.]
Contact Andrea directly at andrea@blueprintschools.com.
The Blueprint Schools Documentary Project is seeking interns for a documentary on school reform in east Austin, Texas.
The film is in the production phase and will be gathering data and filming this semester through the early fall, then will enter into post-production. The internship does not provide a financial stipend. You will receive credit in the documentary, a copy of the DVD, and possible co-authorship on any published writing depending on the level of involvement.
We are seeking 3 interns/research associates (undergraduate/graduate/grade school and or those not currently in school) whose work will involve the following but not limited to:
-research on the history of school reform in east Austin
-research on the history of school reform nationwide and in Texas
-quantitative analysis of TEA (Texas Education Agency) data of blueprint schools
-help with intersections of discussion
-production help for video shoots
-assistance with graphic production
-reviewers of relevant research writings
-transcription
-translation-logging
-editing, graphic art production
If interested, please contact Andrea at: andrea@blueprintschools.com
and send a bio or resume along with a short description of your interests in the film.
More information on the project can be found here.
________________________________
[The following casting call was sent by Yvonne Duque, who is back on the job after birthing her beautiful new daughter, Gabriela.. congrats again to Yvonne and Carlos!]
Teatro de la Rosa Auditions Calling all Actors!!!
Teatro de la Rosa announces auditions for upcoming production.
Audition dates: Sunday, September 7, 2008 4:00 – 6:00 and Monday OR September 8, 2008 7:00 – 9:00.
READING FROM THE SCRIPT.
At the Rose Marine Theater
Bilingual adaptation of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Play will be set in and around the culture of Veracruz Mexico .
Seeking male and female actors ages 12 and up.
Play will feature some Spanish, but all ethnicities encouraged to audition.
Rehearsals will take place at the Rose Marine Theater.
Performance dates: November 7 – 23, 2008 Friday & Saturday at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:00 at the Rose Marine Theater.
Directed by Yvonne Duque.
Special appearance by Ballet Folklorico Azteca.
Contact us at 817.624.8333 for further information!
Yvonne Duque
Artistic Director
Teatro de la Rosa
c/o Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main Street
Fort Worth, TX 76164
817.624.8333 - Phone
817.624.8258 - Fax
www.rosemarinetheater.com
______________________________
[Geovanny Salas of Cineastas Pictures sent along the following call for actors.]
Cineastas Pictures & Nueva York Films
Presents
"LENT"
Casting Call
(non-union)
Directors: Anthony Limongi and Juan Caceres (The Startup)
Writer: Anthony Limongi
Producers: Juan Caceres (The Startup) and
Geovanny Salas (Art House Film)
Cast: Dennis Torres (Hero The Great)
Genre: Short Comedy
Synopsis:
Lent is the forty-day liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. For Usmail, a hormonal 15 years old, this couldn't be any truer. After an unfortunate incident, Usmail decides to reflect on himself and his bad habits.
Character Descriptions:
MOM:
Latina/Late 30's - Early 40's. Very firm and strong Latina mother.
DAD:
Latino Late 30's - Early 40's. The complete opposite of a stereotypical Latino man. Sheepish and quiet. Not very boisterous. Worries a lot about his son.
PAUL:
Any ethnicity - must be able to play ages 14-17. High school sophomore. Makes lewd jokes/comments. It's clear he hasn't matured yet.
FAUSTO:
Latino - must be able to play ages 14-17. A skinny, scrawny looking kid. Tries too hard to be gangsta.
Production Date: Fall 2008
Location: New York
Contact:
anthony_limongi@yahoo.com
Geovanny Salas
Founder | Producer
Cineastas Pictures
www.CineastasPictures.com
Contact Andrea directly at andrea@blueprintschools.com.
The Blueprint Schools Documentary Project is seeking interns for a documentary on school reform in east Austin, Texas.
The film is in the production phase and will be gathering data and filming this semester through the early fall, then will enter into post-production. The internship does not provide a financial stipend. You will receive credit in the documentary, a copy of the DVD, and possible co-authorship on any published writing depending on the level of involvement.
We are seeking 3 interns/research associates (undergraduate/graduate/grade school and or those not currently in school) whose work will involve the following but not limited to:
-research on the history of school reform in east Austin
-research on the history of school reform nationwide and in Texas
-quantitative analysis of TEA (Texas Education Agency) data of blueprint schools
-help with intersections of discussion
-production help for video shoots
-assistance with graphic production
-reviewers of relevant research writings
-transcription
-translation-logging
-editing, graphic art production
If interested, please contact Andrea at: andrea@blueprintschools.com
and send a bio or resume along with a short description of your interests in the film.
More information on the project can be found here.
________________________________
[The following casting call was sent by Yvonne Duque, who is back on the job after birthing her beautiful new daughter, Gabriela.. congrats again to Yvonne and Carlos!]
Teatro de la Rosa Auditions Calling all Actors!!!
Teatro de la Rosa announces auditions for upcoming production.
Audition dates: Sunday, September 7, 2008 4:00 – 6:00 and Monday OR September 8, 2008 7:00 – 9:00.
READING FROM THE SCRIPT.
At the Rose Marine Theater
Bilingual adaptation of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Play will be set in and around the culture of Veracruz Mexico .
Seeking male and female actors ages 12 and up.
Play will feature some Spanish, but all ethnicities encouraged to audition.
Rehearsals will take place at the Rose Marine Theater.
Performance dates: November 7 – 23, 2008 Friday & Saturday at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:00 at the Rose Marine Theater.
Directed by Yvonne Duque.
Special appearance by Ballet Folklorico Azteca.
Contact us at 817.624.8333 for further information!
Yvonne Duque
Artistic Director
Teatro de la Rosa
c/o Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main Street
Fort Worth, TX 76164
817.624.8333 - Phone
817.624.8258 - Fax
www.rosemarinetheater.com
______________________________
[Geovanny Salas of Cineastas Pictures sent along the following call for actors.]
Cineastas Pictures & Nueva York Films
Presents
"LENT"
Casting Call
(non-union)
Directors: Anthony Limongi and Juan Caceres (The Startup)
Writer: Anthony Limongi
Producers: Juan Caceres (The Startup) and
Geovanny Salas (Art House Film)
Cast: Dennis Torres (Hero The Great)
Genre: Short Comedy
Synopsis:
Lent is the forty-day liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. For Usmail, a hormonal 15 years old, this couldn't be any truer. After an unfortunate incident, Usmail decides to reflect on himself and his bad habits.
Character Descriptions:
MOM:
Latina/Late 30's - Early 40's. Very firm and strong Latina mother.
DAD:
Latino Late 30's - Early 40's. The complete opposite of a stereotypical Latino man. Sheepish and quiet. Not very boisterous. Worries a lot about his son.
PAUL:
Any ethnicity - must be able to play ages 14-17. High school sophomore. Makes lewd jokes/comments. It's clear he hasn't matured yet.
FAUSTO:
Latino - must be able to play ages 14-17. A skinny, scrawny looking kid. Tries too hard to be gangsta.
Production Date: Fall 2008
Location: New York
Contact:
anthony_limongi@yahoo.com
Geovanny Salas
Founder | Producer
Cineastas Pictures
www.CineastasPictures.com
Announced just last week - Ford Foundation grant to NALAC
[Hey, Latino artists and cultural workers: more money for NALAC translates to more $$ to support our work...! ]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2008
NALAC Receives $475,000 from the Ford Foundation
Grant to Support NALAC Fund for the Arts and a New Transnational Arts Fund
SAN ANTONIO – The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) has been awarded $475,000 from the Ford Foundation to support the NALAC Fund for the Arts and launch a new regranting initiative designed to promote intergenerational cultural transmission and community participation in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
NALAC, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2009, delivers important services to the national Latino arts and culture sector through a series of core programs. These programs include direct funding support, leadership training, regional and national convenings, and field research.
“It is an honor to receive this generous award,” says NALAC Executive Director Maria Lopez de Leon. “This grant will enable NALAC to provide much needed support to an innovative community of Latino artists and organizations whose work greatly enriches the cultural life of the nation and promotes understanding among culturally and economically linked populations in other communities in the Americas.”
The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), which was launched in 2005 with major support from the Ford Foundation and JPMorgan Chase, has awarded more than $379,000 in three years to 128 Latino artists, ensembles, and small and mid-size Latino arts and culture organizations. The grantees reflect every discipline and region of the country.
The new Transnational Cultural Remittance (TCR) initiative builds on NALAC’s longstanding leadership role in supporting artistic work that addresses issues of social justice, cultural transmission and economic empowerment. The TCR initiative will support the creation and dissemination of new artistic works that directly explore, engage and articulate the complex issues facing transnational communities in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
“We are thankful for the Ford Foundation’s continued support,” says Abel Lopez, Chair of the NALAC Board. “Through their partnership in programs such as the NFA, the Ford Foundation is making a difference in the quality of life in communities across the country. Through the Transnational Cultural Remittance initiative, we look forward to addressing serious cultural issues and creating new avenues for artistic, social and economic participation throughout North America and Central America”
The NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittance initiative builds on NALAC's experience administering the NALAC Fund for the Arts and its long-term commitment to empowering artists and arts and culture organizations working on issues vital to communities in the United States, Mexico, Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Guidelines for the new NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittances regranting initiative will be available later this year.
About the Ford Foundation: The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Russia.
About NALAC: Founded in 1989, NALAC is the only national Latino arts and culture service organization in the United States. It plays a vital role in fostering understanding, providing advocacy, conducting original research, creating networking opportunities, and providing leadership instruction that ensures the health and sustainability of the national Latino arts. NALAC’s core programs include the NALAC Fund for the Arts, the annual NALAC Leadership Institute, Regional Arts Training Workshops, the NALAC National Conference, El Aviso Latino arts magazine, and the monthly eBoletin online newsletter. NALAC is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.
For more information, call 210-432-3982, email maria@nalac.org or visit www.nalac.org
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2008
NALAC Receives $475,000 from the Ford Foundation
Grant to Support NALAC Fund for the Arts and a New Transnational Arts Fund
SAN ANTONIO – The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) has been awarded $475,000 from the Ford Foundation to support the NALAC Fund for the Arts and launch a new regranting initiative designed to promote intergenerational cultural transmission and community participation in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
NALAC, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2009, delivers important services to the national Latino arts and culture sector through a series of core programs. These programs include direct funding support, leadership training, regional and national convenings, and field research.
“It is an honor to receive this generous award,” says NALAC Executive Director Maria Lopez de Leon. “This grant will enable NALAC to provide much needed support to an innovative community of Latino artists and organizations whose work greatly enriches the cultural life of the nation and promotes understanding among culturally and economically linked populations in other communities in the Americas.”
The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), which was launched in 2005 with major support from the Ford Foundation and JPMorgan Chase, has awarded more than $379,000 in three years to 128 Latino artists, ensembles, and small and mid-size Latino arts and culture organizations. The grantees reflect every discipline and region of the country.
The new Transnational Cultural Remittance (TCR) initiative builds on NALAC’s longstanding leadership role in supporting artistic work that addresses issues of social justice, cultural transmission and economic empowerment. The TCR initiative will support the creation and dissemination of new artistic works that directly explore, engage and articulate the complex issues facing transnational communities in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
“We are thankful for the Ford Foundation’s continued support,” says Abel Lopez, Chair of the NALAC Board. “Through their partnership in programs such as the NFA, the Ford Foundation is making a difference in the quality of life in communities across the country. Through the Transnational Cultural Remittance initiative, we look forward to addressing serious cultural issues and creating new avenues for artistic, social and economic participation throughout North America and Central America”
The NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittance initiative builds on NALAC's experience administering the NALAC Fund for the Arts and its long-term commitment to empowering artists and arts and culture organizations working on issues vital to communities in the United States, Mexico, Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Guidelines for the new NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittances regranting initiative will be available later this year.
About the Ford Foundation: The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Russia.
About NALAC: Founded in 1989, NALAC is the only national Latino arts and culture service organization in the United States. It plays a vital role in fostering understanding, providing advocacy, conducting original research, creating networking opportunities, and providing leadership instruction that ensures the health and sustainability of the national Latino arts. NALAC’s core programs include the NALAC Fund for the Arts, the annual NALAC Leadership Institute, Regional Arts Training Workshops, the NALAC National Conference, El Aviso Latino arts magazine, and the monthly eBoletin online newsletter. NALAC is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.
For more information, call 210-432-3982, email maria@nalac.org or visit www.nalac.org
# # #
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Submit, submit: calls for submissions
Call for Submissions - 3 different publications. Read on.
EARTH'S BODY: AN ECOPOETRY ANTHOLOGY
Coeditors Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street are now soliciting submissions for an international anthology of ecopoetry. Here is the blurb they are sending out:
We are looking for a wide and varied array of submissions. Our working definition of "ecopoetry" is flexible; it includes not only what might be called nature poetry, and not only poetry that focuses on environmental issues, but also experimental poetry--poetry that explores language in its relations with the other-than-human. We welcome work by emerging as well as established poets. We welcome serious poems, playful poems, poems in open or traditional forms. Depending on limitations of space, we will consider not only short poems but also poems of several pages. The anthology will include only living poets or poets who were alive as of July 2007, and will include only poems either written in English or already translated into English; for poems not written in English, both the original and the translation must be submitted, and if accepted, both will be published. We will consider work that has been previously published.
The deadline for submissions is DECEMBER 15, 2008. Please send up to six poems to BOTH Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street. You may send them as email text or by snail mail. If they come as email text, make sure the spacing and lineation travel accurately. WE WILL NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS. Please also include a short bio and a cover letter, and an SASE for our reply.
Ann Fisher-Wirth
English Department
Bondurant C-135
University of Mississippi
University, MS 38677
afwirth@olemiss.edu
Laura-Gray Street
English Department
2500 Rivermont
Randolph College
Lynchburg, VA 24503
lstreet@randolphcollege.edu
We look forward to reading your wonderful, very best work!
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: make/shift no. 5
Make/shift—a magazine creating, documenting, and engaging with contemporary feminist culture and activism—is seeking submissions for its fifth issue (spring/summer 2009).
For Issue 5, we are seeking
--investigative journalism
--photojournalism
--critical essays
--personal essays
--profiles of feminist activists, artists, projects, and thinkers
--fiction and poetry
--art and photography
--book, maga/zine, film, art, and event reviews
--hybrid pieces
We are also seeking content for the following regular make/shift features:
--Everyday Actions: scenes of feminist action in everyday life (200 to 400 words; theme TBA)
--Documents: documents of feminist discourse in progress (doodle-covered meeting minutes, e-mail exchanges, and the like)
--Make/Plans: listings for our international calendar of upcoming events (submit info for events occurring between March and September 2009)
--Participate: listings for our community bulletin board (calls for submissions, invitations to participate in community projects, and the like)
Make/shift pays $.02/word plus two copies.
Send pitches or full-draft submissions to info@makeshiftmag.com. Please submit no more than three poems or two pieces of prose at a time. Feel free to pitch multiple ideas at once. We accept pitches and submissions on a rolling basis, but priority for Issue 5 will be given to those received by September 1.
Support independent feminist media—subscribe to make/shift: http://makeshiftmag.com
Be our friend: http://www.myspace.com/makeshiftmag
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
[This submission notice was sent to me by Regina Chavez y Sanchez of the Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. Memorial Foundation, based in Denver, Colorado. Trinidad Sanchez, presente!]
Subject: Call for submissions for the Punto Poetry Project
I am pleased to announce the call for submissions for the Punto Poetry Project™, an intergenerational anthology that will reflect the historic & expansive contribution of Latina/os to the art of performance poetry. There will be updates in the future, but we want to spread the net far and wide, so every voice is heard within the Latina/o poeta universo.
Please forward this info to all your gente.
More info here.
from the website:
PUNTO! Exclamations from Generations of Latina/o Poets
Calling ¡You!
the spoken word artist, the poeta, the crazy performance poet, the storyteller of metaphors, the subtle experimental poet, all of yous, from the casa to the raza cosmica and everywhere in between the transglobal barrio, yes tú, are invited to submit your original poems, slam poems, performance poems, spoken word pieces to ¡PUNTO!: Exclamations from Generations of Latina/o Poets, edited by critically- acclaimed, award winning poets, Jaime “Shaggy” Flores & Robert Farid Karimi.
We seek original work by Latina/o, Chicana/o, Nuyorican writers, performance poets, and spoken word performers for a new intergenerational anthology of Latina& Latino spoken word, performance poetry.
¡PUNTO! aims to give space and voice to Latina/o writers who have helped birth the current evolution of poetry by weaving language, culture, & experiences into a tapestry of performance & poetry on the page. ¡PUNTO! poets display the multifaceted variety of a community that is on the forefront of literature and performance. ¡PUNTO! is an intergenerational book that will reflect the historic & expansive contribution of Latina/os to the art of performance & written poetry across the nation.
FAQ’s/Preguntas?
Questions about this project can be emailed to: someta@puntopoetry.com. Please indicate “anthology” or “preguntas” or “vulcan mind meld” in the subject line to avoid deletion of your email.
Submissions
Must be postmarked no later than November 2, 2008 (Yes, we know it's Sunday :) )
Y por favor, please make sure to remember your ancestors on this day...
Please send submissions to:
someta@puntopoetry.com
Please include “¡Punto!” in subject line.
Punto!
c/o Robert Karimi & Shaggy Flores
p.o box 6151
minneapolis, mn 55406
EARTH'S BODY: AN ECOPOETRY ANTHOLOGY
Coeditors Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street are now soliciting submissions for an international anthology of ecopoetry. Here is the blurb they are sending out:
We are looking for a wide and varied array of submissions. Our working definition of "ecopoetry" is flexible; it includes not only what might be called nature poetry, and not only poetry that focuses on environmental issues, but also experimental poetry--poetry that explores language in its relations with the other-than-human. We welcome work by emerging as well as established poets. We welcome serious poems, playful poems, poems in open or traditional forms. Depending on limitations of space, we will consider not only short poems but also poems of several pages. The anthology will include only living poets or poets who were alive as of July 2007, and will include only poems either written in English or already translated into English; for poems not written in English, both the original and the translation must be submitted, and if accepted, both will be published. We will consider work that has been previously published.
The deadline for submissions is DECEMBER 15, 2008. Please send up to six poems to BOTH Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street. You may send them as email text or by snail mail. If they come as email text, make sure the spacing and lineation travel accurately. WE WILL NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS. Please also include a short bio and a cover letter, and an SASE for our reply.
Ann Fisher-Wirth
English Department
Bondurant C-135
University of Mississippi
University, MS 38677
afwirth@olemiss.edu
Laura-Gray Street
English Department
2500 Rivermont
Randolph College
Lynchburg, VA 24503
lstreet@randolphcollege.edu
We look forward to reading your wonderful, very best work!
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: make/shift no. 5
Make/shift—a magazine creating, documenting, and engaging with contemporary feminist culture and activism—is seeking submissions for its fifth issue (spring/summer 2009).
For Issue 5, we are seeking
--investigative journalism
--photojournalism
--critical essays
--personal essays
--profiles of feminist activists, artists, projects, and thinkers
--fiction and poetry
--art and photography
--book, maga/zine, film, art, and event reviews
--hybrid pieces
We are also seeking content for the following regular make/shift features:
--Everyday Actions: scenes of feminist action in everyday life (200 to 400 words; theme TBA)
--Documents: documents of feminist discourse in progress (doodle-covered meeting minutes, e-mail exchanges, and the like)
--Make/Plans: listings for our international calendar of upcoming events (submit info for events occurring between March and September 2009)
--Participate: listings for our community bulletin board (calls for submissions, invitations to participate in community projects, and the like)
Make/shift pays $.02/word plus two copies.
Send pitches or full-draft submissions to info@makeshiftmag.com. Please submit no more than three poems or two pieces of prose at a time. Feel free to pitch multiple ideas at once. We accept pitches and submissions on a rolling basis, but priority for Issue 5 will be given to those received by September 1.
Support independent feminist media—subscribe to make/shift: http://makeshiftmag.com
Be our friend: http://www.myspace.com/makeshiftmag
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
[This submission notice was sent to me by Regina Chavez y Sanchez of the Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. Memorial Foundation, based in Denver, Colorado. Trinidad Sanchez, presente!]
Subject: Call for submissions for the Punto Poetry Project
I am pleased to announce the call for submissions for the Punto Poetry Project™, an intergenerational anthology that will reflect the historic & expansive contribution of Latina/os to the art of performance poetry. There will be updates in the future, but we want to spread the net far and wide, so every voice is heard within the Latina/o poeta universo.
Please forward this info to all your gente.
More info here.
from the website:
PUNTO! Exclamations from Generations of Latina/o Poets
Calling ¡You!
the spoken word artist, the poeta, the crazy performance poet, the storyteller of metaphors, the subtle experimental poet, all of yous, from the casa to the raza cosmica and everywhere in between the transglobal barrio, yes tú, are invited to submit your original poems, slam poems, performance poems, spoken word pieces to ¡PUNTO!: Exclamations from Generations of Latina/o Poets, edited by critically- acclaimed, award winning poets, Jaime “Shaggy” Flores & Robert Farid Karimi.
We seek original work by Latina/o, Chicana/o, Nuyorican writers, performance poets, and spoken word performers for a new intergenerational anthology of Latina& Latino spoken word, performance poetry.
¡PUNTO! aims to give space and voice to Latina/o writers who have helped birth the current evolution of poetry by weaving language, culture, & experiences into a tapestry of performance & poetry on the page. ¡PUNTO! poets display the multifaceted variety of a community that is on the forefront of literature and performance. ¡PUNTO! is an intergenerational book that will reflect the historic & expansive contribution of Latina/os to the art of performance & written poetry across the nation.
FAQ’s/Preguntas?
Questions about this project can be emailed to: someta@puntopoetry.com. Please indicate “anthology” or “preguntas” or “vulcan mind meld” in the subject line to avoid deletion of your email.
Submissions
Must be postmarked no later than November 2, 2008 (Yes, we know it's Sunday :) )
Y por favor, please make sure to remember your ancestors on this day...
Please send submissions to:
someta@puntopoetry.com
Please include “¡Punto!” in subject line.
Punto!
c/o Robert Karimi & Shaggy Flores
p.o box 6151
minneapolis, mn 55406
Monday, August 11, 2008
Experimental theatre @ 1919 Hemphill tonight in FW--7pm
one show only! doors @ 6:45pm. show starts sharply @ seven.
7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm
opening experimental performances by:
Natalia doin' "The Romanian Girl Who Dreams of Being a Ballet Dancer"
Ramz as THE SHORTEST DISTANCE
and something from Tammy (me!) with Angelique and Natalia.
HEADLINING are the theater collective MISSOULA OBLONGATA,
which consists predominantly of three amazing women artists:
Madeline ffitch, Sarah Lowry, Donna Sellinger.
"The romance of vaudeville, the adrenaline of punk, and the playfulness of the Children's Television Workshop...packing the house with theatre buffs as well as with those who tend to fidget in velvet seats." --St. Louis Magazine
MISSOULA OBLONGATA are graciously making ONE STOP IN TEXAS,
and this is it--tonight @ 1919 Hemphill in Fort Worth--before this group pushes off to the west (Santa Fe, San Francisco, L.A.).
more on MISSOULA OBLONGATA here und
here...
7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm
opening experimental performances by:
Natalia doin' "The Romanian Girl Who Dreams of Being a Ballet Dancer"
Ramz as THE SHORTEST DISTANCE
and something from Tammy (me!) with Angelique and Natalia.
HEADLINING are the theater collective MISSOULA OBLONGATA,
which consists predominantly of three amazing women artists:
Madeline ffitch, Sarah Lowry, Donna Sellinger.
"The romance of vaudeville, the adrenaline of punk, and the playfulness of the Children's Television Workshop...packing the house with theatre buffs as well as with those who tend to fidget in velvet seats." --St. Louis Magazine
MISSOULA OBLONGATA are graciously making ONE STOP IN TEXAS,
and this is it--tonight @ 1919 Hemphill in Fort Worth--before this group pushes off to the west (Santa Fe, San Francisco, L.A.).
more on MISSOULA OBLONGATA here und
here...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Coming next week: MACONDO LIBRE in San Antonio
Check it out! Check it out! I am emcee-ing all 3 events, 3 different noches de palabra y performance! The big big night is on Friday, August 1st with heavyweights Andrei Cordrescu, Ai, and la Sandra Cisneros -- with music by BOMBASTA! All happening on-campus at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. FREE ADMISSION, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. You gotta see me in my Lucha Libre outfits--thanks to Trae the master-seam-ster for hooking me up with nice threads for all 3 nights!! Ahi te miro!
about emcee/Macondista Tammy Gomez a.k.a. RelampaGomez
Tammy Gomez is a spoken word artist and multimedia performer who just returned from the 4th annual Encuentro de Escritores Jovenes in Monterrey last week. In September 2007, the world premiere of her experimental obra de teatro,"She: Bike/Spoke/Love", drew a standing-room only audience and received critical acclaim. Tammy is currently working with musician Ramsey Sprague, creating soundscapes for her lyrical stories. Tammy also produces PALABRAZOS, which is an annual festival of literary performance in Texas.
LA PALABRA ELECTRICA
Tuesday, July 29th - 7-9pm
Alicia Vogl Saenz is a native Angelino of Ecuadorian and Czechoslovakian descent and has had poems in Blue Mesa Review, Drum Voices Revue and Grand Street. Her chapbook is The Day I Wore the Red Coat.
Emmy Pérez is the author of SOLSTICE, a poetry collection. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the MFA program at UT-Pan American in the Rio Grande Valley and teaches poetry in juvenile detention centers. More info at: www.womenwriterscollective.org/emmy.html.
Vincent Toro is a Sorta Rican poet, playwright, and music producer from New York City. He is currently the Theater Arts Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Vincent blogs at: http://sortaricanpoet.blogspot.com.
Julie Marin and Cara Wallace (students from the GCAC's Teen Arts Puentes Project)
Julie Marin is an actress and poet. She has starred in numerous plays at her school, the Edgewood Fine Arts Academy, and at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.
Cara Wallace is a poet and actress who attends Madison High School, where she has earned distinguished honors in the city's UIL One- Act Play Competition.
Amada Irma Perez (not Amanda), a retired teacher and international presenter will read excerpts from her newest award-winning bilingual book, Nana'a Big Surprise/Nana !Que Sorpresa!. She lives, plays and writes children's books in Ventura, California but loves traveling all over the world making friends and promoting cultural understanding.
Anel Flores is an educator at the secondary school level who teaches art and writing. She is also an artist who explores painting in abstract forms. Anel identifies as a lesbian writer and is developing her thematic base from her cultural background as a Chicana.
Writer and photographer Beatriz Terrazas has documented a range of topics, including a pontiff’s visit to Cuba, the Mexican vanilla harvest, and the philosophy of a resolved death.
Carla Trujillo is the author of What Night Brings (Curbstone Press), editor of Chicana Lesbians: The Girls Our Mothers Warned Us About, and Living Chicana Theory (Third Woman Press).
Gabriela Jauregui (b. Mexico City, 1979) is the author of Controlled Decay, her debut poetry collection published by Akashic Books this June, which, according to The Brooklyn Rail "reaches a passionate fever pitch we associate with Latin giants like Ernesto Cardenal and Nicanor Parra," and the El Paso Times says it "is solid with craftsmanship, passion and authority." She has work forthcoming in the Afro-Hispanic Review and has published her critical and creative writing in BOMB, Hayden's Ferry,
Guernica Magazine, Líneas de Fuga and The Aesthetics of Risk, amongst others.
John Olivares Espinoza just published his first full-length collection of poems, The Date Fruit Elegies, from Bilingual Press. He lives in San José, California.
INTERMISSION ---- with music by Rodolfo Lopez y el Dueto Harmonia
Liz González’s poetry and fiction have been published widely. Manifest Press published her chapter book, Beneath Bone, in 2002. For more information visit www.lizgonzalez.com.
Margo Chavez-Charles grew up in southern New Mexico, wandered the world a bit, and returned to live in New Mexico, where her heart resides. She lives in Santa Fe and teaches part-time at the University of New Mexico and at the Santa Fe Community College.
Michelle Otero is the author of Malinche’s Daughter, an essay collection based on her work with women survivors of sexual assault in Oaxaca,Mexico.
Award-winning author Norma E. Cantú is professor of English and U.S. Latina/o Literature at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her scholarly interests include folklore, Chicana literature, and borderlands studies. She edited Flor y Ciencia: Chicanas in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (2006) and co-edited the anthologies Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios (2001) and Chicana Traditions: Continuity and Change(2002). She is also author of the award-winning Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera (1995).
Rachel Jennings is a San Antonio poet and scholar who teaches at San Antonio College. She is originally from East Tennessee.
Ruth Behar lives in Michigan and Miami. Her new book, An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba, is a memoir about going back to lost places.
Vicente Lozano, an Austin based writer, has been trying to make sense of South Texas and his family's place in it since moving back after his father's Air Force retirement. He was a 2006-7 Dobie Paisano Fellow, and is completing his first novel, when not minding the computers as a Systems Analyst for the University of Texas.
____________________________
LA PALABRA TREMENDA
Wednesday, July 29th - 7-9pm
Carolina de Robertis is a writer, translator and compulsive reader based in Oakland, California. Her first novel, The Invisible Mountain, is forthcoming from Knopf in 2009.
A San Antonian, Ignacio Magaloni has read at the San Antonio Poetry Festival, The McNay Art Museum, and other poetry venues. Published in magazines such as The Texas Observer, and A Quien Corresponda, and in the anthology Is This Forever, Or What?, edited by Naomi Nye, Ignacio teaches literature and writing at Northwest Vista College.
tatiana de la tierra is a Colombian-American writer, publisher, editor and librarian. She’s the author of For the Hard Ones/ Para las duras.
Amelia María de la Luz Montes is a Chicana Lesbian writer y profesora. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Califas—she now resides on the Great Plains of Nebraska and is busy writing a memoir, a collection of short stories, and teaching literature.
Angie Chau was born in Vietnam and has since lived on three continents and an island. She graduated with a master's degree in creative writing from the University of California, Davis where she also taught undergraduate fiction and was the fiction editor for The Greenbelt Review. Her work has appeared in the Indiana Review, Santa Clara Review, Slant, and the anthology, Cheers to Muses. She now lives in Northern California.
Ben V. Olguín is a translator, poet and literature professor at UTSA. His poetry has been published in Borderlands, Callaloo, North American Review and other publications.
Erin Bad Hand is from a small town in the southwest. She is interested in long conversations with good people and is sometimes overly cautious.
ire’ne lara silva lives in Austin, TX and was the Executive Coordinator for the Macondo Writing Workshop and Macondo Foundation from 2004 to 2008. Her poetry and prose has appeared in CIPACTLI, The Worcester Review, Rhapsoidia, Soleado: Revista de Literatura y Cultura, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Palabra, The Mesquite Review, The Weight of Addition: Texas Poetry Anthology, Cantos al Sexto Sol Anthology, and the 2001 AIPF di-verse city odyssey anthology. She is the 2008 recipient of the Gloria Anzaldua Milagro Award.
Leslie Larson is the author of Slipstream. Her second novel, Breaking Out of Bedlam, will be published by Random House/Shaye Areheart Books in 2009.
Lorraine Lopez is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University and associate editor of Afro-Hispanic Review. She's the author of two books and has a novel (The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters) coming out in October 2008.
INTERMISSION ---- with music by The Krayolas
Maria Limon is currently working on a novella called Disco Boots. "Imagino un mundo sin límites—repleto de compasión y risa— como en Macondo."
Miryam Bujanda is from la frontera El Paso, but now lives in San Antonio. Her life experiences have taught her early on that truth telling is difficult. She is working on a memoir about love, sex and betrayal.
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Pat Alderete writes about the beauty and brutality of varrio life, rendering the complex inner worlds and strict social hierarchies of a community too seldom observed in literature.
René Colato Laínez is the author of Waiting for Papa, Playing Loteria, and I Am Rene, the Boy. Colato Laínez is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults. He has been a bilingual elementary teacher at Fernangeles Elementary School, where he is known by the students as "the teacher full of stories." More info at: www.renecolatolainez.
Rosalind Bell is the current writer in residence at Macondo House/Cafe Azul. COLORLINES magazine named her an INNOVATOR of 2008. In November 2007 and March 2008, The University of Puget Sound produced her play, "The New Orleans Monologues" to sold out audiences. Her screenplay, "Le Cirque Noir" about the rise and fall of the Duvaliers of Haiti will be read as part of the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival. Rosalind was writer-in-residence at The University of Puget Sound Fall 2007 and has been invited back as writer-in-residence for the fall of 2008.
Trey Moore is a poet, wanderer, filmmaker, artist working the wonder of life. He is for the little guys and gals, ants, flies, moths. Where would we be without them?
Wendy Call is co-editor of Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide (Plume, 2007) and teaches creative writing at Pacific Lutheran University.
____________________
Sunday, July 13, 2008
I'm off to Monterrey, Mexico for a great writers' event this week
Thanks to the generous recommendation of my colleague in bilingual poetics, Logan Phillips, I've been invited--as one of 15 Southern U.S. writers--to participate in the 4th annual Encuentro de Escritores en Monterrey from July 16-July 18th, in Monterrey, Mexico.
Apparently, master slammer (that's poetry slammer) Joaquin Zihuatanejo--of the DFW--has also been invited to the Encuentro. That's two of us rep-ing the North Texas diaspora of poetas.
I am also going to be accompanied by friend and musician, Ramsey Sprague aka The Shortest Distance , who will be doing a short set with me on Friday, July 18th--the final evening of the Encuentro.
For the complete Encuentro schedule, in technicolor Spanish, read on:
Si están en Monterrey o tienen algún amigo allá, puede interesarles saber que del 16 al 18 de julio se llevará a cabo en aquella ciudad el IV encuentro de escritores jóvenes del norte de México y del sur de Estados Unidos. Les mando el programa de actividades, esperando les resulte útil o interesante.
IV ENCUENTRO DE ESCRITORES JÓVENES DEL NORTE DE MÉXICO Y SUR DE ESTADOS UNIDOS
Miércoles 16 de julio - Aulas anexas de la Casa de la Cultura
19:00 horas Presentación del libro de cuentos Vidas de catálogo, de Liliana Blum (Tamaulipas).
Presentan: Marco Antonio Huerta (Tamaulipas) y Óscar David López (Nuevo León).
19:30 horas Presentación del proyecto Fear is Effective, La línea interdisciplinario (Baja California).
20:00 horas Presentación del proyecto Economy of Gesture, colectivo Lui Velázquez (Baja California).
20:30 horas Presentación del libro Una no habla de esto, de Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny (Sonora). Presentan: Pedro de Isla (Nuevo León) y Sabina Bautista (Nuevo León).
Jueves 17 de julio – Museo Metropolitano de Monterrey
09:00 horas Registro de participantes
10:00 horas Inauguración
10:30 horas Conferencia magistral de apertura: Shelley Jackson.
11:30 horas 1ª Mesa de ponencias: Inmediaticidad: Francisco Meza (Sinaloa), Adrián Herrera (Nuevo León), Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny (Sonora).
Moderador: Luis Aguilar (Nuevo León).
12:30 horas 2ª Mesa de ponencias: Inmediaticidad: Lorena Mancilla (Baja California), Violetta Ruiz (Nuevo León), Irad Nieto (Sinaloa), Julio Pesina (Tamaulipas). Moderador: Luis Aguilar (Nuevo León).
13:30 horas 3ª Mesa de ponencias: Book mix: Norma Alarcón (Chihuahua), Jaime Villarreal (Nuevo León), Sergio Pérez Torres (Nuevo León), Teresa Carmody (California). Moderador: Luis Aguilar (Nuevo León).
14:30 horas Receso
16:30 horas 1ª Mesa de lectura de obra: Abril Castro (Baja California), Gerardo de Jesús Monroy (Coahuila), Juan Miguel Pérez (Tamaulipas), Paloma Vargas (Nuevo León), Teresa Carmody (California).
17:30 horas 2ª Mesa de lectura de obra: Natalia Luna (Nuevo León), Elier Lizárraga (Sinaloa), Magali Velasco (Chihuahua), Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny (Sonora).
18:30 horas 3ª Mesa de lectura de obra: Janice Lee (California), Gidi Loza (Coahuila), Letty Espriella (Sonora), Joaquín Zihuatanejo (Texas), Javier González (Baja California).
Viernes 18 de julio – Museo Metropolitano de Monterrey
10:00 horas Taller de Rocío Cerón: Introducción al libro-objeto. Sala de la Planta baja, Edificio del Antiguo Palacio Federal, CONARTE. Washington y Zaragoza.
12:00 horas 4ª Mesa de ponencias: Point of view: Janice Lee (California), Gidi Loza (Coahuila), Adelaida Caballero (Nuevo León). Moderador: Felipe Montes (Nuevo León).
13:00 horas 5ª Mesa de ponencias: El paisaje no habitual de la palabra: Abril Castro (Baja California), Gerardo de Jesús Monroy (Coahuila), Juan Miguel Pérez (Tamaulipas), Paloma Vargas (Nuevo León), Tammy Gómez (Texas). Moderador: Felipe Montes (Nuevo León).
14:00 horas Receso
16:00 horas 6ª Mesa de ponencias: Objeto de deseo: Letty Espriella (Sonora), Érick Vázquez (Nuevo León), Joaquín Zihuatanejo (Texas). Moderadora: Lucía Yépez (Nuevo León).
17:00 horas 4ª Mesa de lectura de obra: Adelaida Caballero (Nuevo León), Armanda Fabián (Nuevo León), Francisco Meza (Sinaloa), Tammy Gómez (Texas).
18:00 horas 5ª Mesa de lectura de obra: Katia Irina Ibarra (Nuevo León), Sergio Pérez Torres (Nuevo León), Norma Alarcón (Chihuahua), Julio Pesina (Tamaulipas).
19:00 horas Conferencia magistral de clausura: Miriam Moscona.
!Ahi nos vemos!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) - application deadline is Monday! June 16th - 5pm Central Time !
[Victor Payan sent this along from the NALAC office in San Antonio. Thanks, Victor! btw--I received an NFA grant in 2006 for the production of my play "She: Bike/Spoke/Love" in 2007. I could not have staged this play--for three performances--without the support of NALAC and this funding award. Give it a try--submit your app now! ]
Attention Latino Artists And Arts Organizations
NFA Deadline Approaching!
www.nalac.org
The deadline to apply for the NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) is Monday, June 16, 2008.
THE NFA IS A NATIONAL GRANT PROGRAM FOR LATINO ARTISTS AND ARTS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS,
supporting Latino artistic innovation, self-determination and community empowerment.
The electronic application must be submitted by 5:00 pm Central Daylight Time.
Support materials must be postmarked no later than Monday, June 16, 2008
Got a question about the NFA?
View the NFA Guidelines and read the Frequently Asked Questions. Didn’t find your answer? Send an email to grantmanager@nalac.org
Link for Guidelines: http://www.nalac.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=140&Itemid=189
Link for FAQ’s: http://www.nalac.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=41
For more information, visit the NALAC website at www.nalac.org.
"Encounter, Encourage, Envision tu Arte.... en NALAC"
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
PALABRAZOS 08 - May 9th - FRIDAY!
The word is spreading like word-fire! From Dallas to Houston, folks are making plans to attend our FIRST ANNUAL (yes, there'll be more like this) PALABRAZOS FESTIVAL of literary performance. Save your Friday night for us!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Palabrazos 08 will be the first in a series of annual festivals organized for the purpose of unveiling, promoting, and
celebrating the most exciting achievements in performance poetry and spoken word.
For this inaugural event--to happen Friday, May 9th, 2008 at Embargo Bar (210 E. 8th) in downtown Fort Worth, Texas--
an explosive bill of touring and local performers will be presented. Verbobala, based in Cuernavaca, Mexico and Arizona, will travel to Texas to headline Palabrazos 08.
“The idea is to sample everyday life like a DJ samples a record. Our pieces are basically big remixes, putting together voices and images from where ever we’ve traveled,” says Verbobala frontman Logan Phillips. “The audience should come expecting something really unique. Digital storytelling in Spanglish isn’t nearly as common as it should be.”
In addition to Verbobala, local performing writers Gabo Montemayor, Priscilla Rice, Rodrigo Pessoa, Tammy Gomez, Mi Lengua Nopal, and Cesar Hernandez will present new multimedia works in literature.
Post a comment w/ your questions, etc., about PALABRAZOS 08, coming to your senses on Friday!!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Palabrazos 08 will be the first in a series of annual festivals organized for the purpose of unveiling, promoting, and
celebrating the most exciting achievements in performance poetry and spoken word.
For this inaugural event--to happen Friday, May 9th, 2008 at Embargo Bar (210 E. 8th) in downtown Fort Worth, Texas--
an explosive bill of touring and local performers will be presented. Verbobala, based in Cuernavaca, Mexico and Arizona, will travel to Texas to headline Palabrazos 08.
“The idea is to sample everyday life like a DJ samples a record. Our pieces are basically big remixes, putting together voices and images from where ever we’ve traveled,” says Verbobala frontman Logan Phillips. “The audience should come expecting something really unique. Digital storytelling in Spanglish isn’t nearly as common as it should be.”
In addition to Verbobala, local performing writers Gabo Montemayor, Priscilla Rice, Rodrigo Pessoa, Tammy Gomez, Mi Lengua Nopal, and Cesar Hernandez will present new multimedia works in literature.
Post a comment w/ your questions, etc., about PALABRAZOS 08, coming to your senses on Friday!!
Friday, May 02, 2008
Latino Cultural Center on Saturday, May 3rd: HECHO EN TEJAS will bring da house up!!
7:30pm - Latino Cultural Center - 2600 Live Oak St., just east of downtown Dallas - sponsored by Writer's Garret, Latino Writers Having Their Say, and Las Comadres, among other groups.
This will be a feast of Chicano/Tejano/a words and music. Also, Cesar Hernandez (of Cara Mia Theatre Company will be providing excerpted footage of an El Paso performance by raulrsalinas (qepd) for the ofrenda (tribute altar) that I will be erecting in the lobby at the Latino Cultural Center. raul, after all, is with us in spirit and, as one of the contributors to the HECHO EN TEJAS anthology, deserves to be remembered and included in our public performance events.
My set list for the night: "Mexicano Antonio" and "On Language" (both from the HECHO EN TEJAS anthology) and a very new piece never-before performed: "Work Out in a Huipil".
Blurb from the press release:
"The Dallas performance will feature master accordion player Santiago Jimenez Jr. with his conjunto and critically acclaimed alternative musician David Garza with Joel Garza, as well as award-winning authors, such as Dagoberto Gilb and Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. Gilb and Hinojosa-Smith, who were honored for their contributions to Texas Literature at the Texas Book Festival in 2007, will read their prose and share meaningful stories about Tejano history and map a view of the future for Mexican Americans in Texas. Authors on stage will be: Tony Díaz, Tammy Gomez, Christine Granados, Macarena Hernández and Diana López..
Hecho en Tejas contributors have already traveled statewide, promoting the book to the general public and to teachers and students in San Marcos, Houston, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. Writers in the anthology will descend upon Dallas to read from the book and celebrate its historical success with the public.
Tickets for the show are $15, $10 and $8 and can be purchased at the Latino Cultural Center. (NOTE: THE SHOW IS EXPECTED TO SELL-OUT.)
The Latino Cultural Center is a division of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs. The mission of the Latino Cultural Center is to serve as a catalyst for the preservation, development and promotion of Latino and Hispanic arts and culture in Dallas. The Center is located at 2600 Live Oak, Dallas, Texas 75204 and is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information please call 214-671-0045 or visit THE LCC web site at, www.dallasculture.org/latinocc."
This will be a feast of Chicano/Tejano/a words and music. Also, Cesar Hernandez (of Cara Mia Theatre Company will be providing excerpted footage of an El Paso performance by raulrsalinas (qepd) for the ofrenda (tribute altar) that I will be erecting in the lobby at the Latino Cultural Center. raul, after all, is with us in spirit and, as one of the contributors to the HECHO EN TEJAS anthology, deserves to be remembered and included in our public performance events.
My set list for the night: "Mexicano Antonio" and "On Language" (both from the HECHO EN TEJAS anthology) and a very new piece never-before performed: "Work Out in a Huipil".
Blurb from the press release:
"The Dallas performance will feature master accordion player Santiago Jimenez Jr. with his conjunto and critically acclaimed alternative musician David Garza with Joel Garza, as well as award-winning authors, such as Dagoberto Gilb and Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. Gilb and Hinojosa-Smith, who were honored for their contributions to Texas Literature at the Texas Book Festival in 2007, will read their prose and share meaningful stories about Tejano history and map a view of the future for Mexican Americans in Texas. Authors on stage will be: Tony Díaz, Tammy Gomez, Christine Granados, Macarena Hernández and Diana López..
Hecho en Tejas contributors have already traveled statewide, promoting the book to the general public and to teachers and students in San Marcos, Houston, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. Writers in the anthology will descend upon Dallas to read from the book and celebrate its historical success with the public.
Tickets for the show are $15, $10 and $8 and can be purchased at the Latino Cultural Center. (NOTE: THE SHOW IS EXPECTED TO SELL-OUT.)
The Latino Cultural Center is a division of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs. The mission of the Latino Cultural Center is to serve as a catalyst for the preservation, development and promotion of Latino and Hispanic arts and culture in Dallas. The Center is located at 2600 Live Oak, Dallas, Texas 75204 and is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information please call 214-671-0045 or visit THE LCC web site at, www.dallasculture.org/latinocc."
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
set list for friday, april 25th reading
So much has been going on this month. I find that, as my foot heals, my pace becomes increasingly hectic--and that is something I somewhat lament. Funny, before--in the first few weeks of my temporary incapacitation--I lamented not being able to be so active and productive. Oh well, humans are funny people...
The reading last week seems like it happened months ago. The folks from the Writer's Garret were sweet and supportive; co-founders-directors Thea Temple and Jack Myers seemed remarkably chill, as they sat, slung low on a couch, hearing the poets of the night. I was on second, after Carol Nace, whose near-whisper-delivered reading felt incantatory. Before the reading, she and I exchanged battle wound stories, as we both have broken our feet. I'd like to read her stuff on the page, to get a better sense of it.
Michael Grabell (writer for the Dallas Morning News) had some funny poems, pulling alot of laughs from the audience of about forty folks. Jack Myers finished up the evening with some very nice flavors--why does his name now make me think of Jack Daniels and Myer's Rum? All in all, a very nice reading experience. I sold a bunch of books, without even trying--now that's a nice way to top off the night. Got to chat w/ Beatriz Terrazas about Macondo and future lit stuff together. Special nod to Karen X, who had her own event to host at the Priya Yoga space, yet rushed upstairs to give me a quick greeting hug before rushing off to do her thing.
Note to self: "A Piece Based on Two Incidents at the Same Lake" might actually be full-complete, in its final version. That's what Thea Temple kept telling me, as she raved about this poem. I'm glad to hear this feedback, as the poem is so personal that I think I've quite lost my ability to be objective about it as a work of literature. See--this is another great reason to get out and read your stuff in public!
National Poetry Month reading - April 25, 2008, Paperbacks Plus
poems performed by Tammy M. Gomez: my set list for the event, accompanied (with stellar precision) by Ramsey Sprague
aka The Shortest Distance:
"Quetzal"
published online at: xxcommunicator.blogspot.com, posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007, Poem #305 of 365
"Donde Esta’ Adam"
published in Terra Firma (Austin: Agave Noir, 2004)
"In This Love"
published in North Texas Neruda Love: poems, essays, testimonios in tribute to Pablo Neruda
(Fort Worth: Tejana Tongue Press, 2006)
"A Piece Based on Two Incidents at the Same Lake"
(unpublished, NFS)
"Delivery of Nouns"
published online at: xxcommunicator.blogspot.com, posted on Friday, November 02, 2007, Poem #306 of 365
"Nepal Child Poem 2"
published in Terra Firma (Austin: Agave Noir, 2004)
for more info:
about Tammy - www.myspace.com/sunlitdoorway
about Ramsey - www.myspace.com/theshortestdistance
The reading last week seems like it happened months ago. The folks from the Writer's Garret were sweet and supportive; co-founders-directors Thea Temple and Jack Myers seemed remarkably chill, as they sat, slung low on a couch, hearing the poets of the night. I was on second, after Carol Nace, whose near-whisper-delivered reading felt incantatory. Before the reading, she and I exchanged battle wound stories, as we both have broken our feet. I'd like to read her stuff on the page, to get a better sense of it.
Michael Grabell (writer for the Dallas Morning News) had some funny poems, pulling alot of laughs from the audience of about forty folks. Jack Myers finished up the evening with some very nice flavors--why does his name now make me think of Jack Daniels and Myer's Rum? All in all, a very nice reading experience. I sold a bunch of books, without even trying--now that's a nice way to top off the night. Got to chat w/ Beatriz Terrazas about Macondo and future lit stuff together. Special nod to Karen X, who had her own event to host at the Priya Yoga space, yet rushed upstairs to give me a quick greeting hug before rushing off to do her thing.
Note to self: "A Piece Based on Two Incidents at the Same Lake" might actually be full-complete, in its final version. That's what Thea Temple kept telling me, as she raved about this poem. I'm glad to hear this feedback, as the poem is so personal that I think I've quite lost my ability to be objective about it as a work of literature. See--this is another great reason to get out and read your stuff in public!
National Poetry Month reading - April 25, 2008, Paperbacks Plus
poems performed by Tammy M. Gomez: my set list for the event, accompanied (with stellar precision) by Ramsey Sprague
aka The Shortest Distance:
"Quetzal"
published online at: xxcommunicator.blogspot.com, posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007, Poem #305 of 365
"Donde Esta’ Adam"
published in Terra Firma (Austin: Agave Noir, 2004)
"In This Love"
published in North Texas Neruda Love: poems, essays, testimonios in tribute to Pablo Neruda
(Fort Worth: Tejana Tongue Press, 2006)
"A Piece Based on Two Incidents at the Same Lake"
(unpublished, NFS)
"Delivery of Nouns"
published online at: xxcommunicator.blogspot.com, posted on Friday, November 02, 2007, Poem #306 of 365
"Nepal Child Poem 2"
published in Terra Firma (Austin: Agave Noir, 2004)
for more info:
about Tammy - www.myspace.com/sunlitdoorway
about Ramsey - www.myspace.com/theshortestdistance
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
My two most recent publication credits: 2 poems and an essay
Read 'em online now.
Judy Gordon, based in N. Dallas, is the wife and artist-colleague of legendary Texas "outlaw poet" Roxy Gordon (R.I.P., Roxy), who is highly-lauded by many (sometimes they play recordings of Roxy's recorded readings on the Native American music show "Bows and Arrows" which airs on KNON-FM, 88.7, on Sundays at 6pm). Judy's a great organizer and late-blossoming visual artist, and in the wake of Roxy's passing, she's kept pretty busy with literary/art activities. PUTT (Pickin Up the Tempo) is her latest project, and she's been publishing it for about a year now.
Read it online here or sign up to receive each monthly issue via email. Two of my newest poems are featured in the current issue. Click on "TAMMY GOMEZ" in the sidebar to read 'em.
You may also consider submitting some of your latest scribbles and raw words to Judy for a future issue. I like the feel of what she's doing with this publication. Think of it as a literary equivalent to "No Depression," the insurgent country, alt-Americana roots music zine. I guess that might be a useful comparison, maybe not...
Hey, I also have a new essay published online for my compa Bronmin Shumway's new zine HERE THERE MAGAZINE, which just launched in March. My essay describes the history of taking my play "She: Bike/Spoke/Love" from the page to the stage. It was a very useful process for me, writing down some of the tools, steps, and decisions that were necessary to this project gettin' done. In writing the essay, I was very thankful for having taken the time to maintain a a blog that charted this seemingly (to me, at least) epic journey.
My friend, Vicki Grise, has started her own process blog, to document the creative path of her current performance project, "rasgos asiaticos, which she's developing at Cal-Arts in L.A.
Sometimes we forget to leave crumbs, helping us recognize and remember the way we got from point A to point B. If we blog about it, then maybe the mystical magic of our creative productions might actually be replicate-able. Or, at least, it could help others just starting out to know how we accomplished the minor miracles of our artistry.
Judy Gordon, based in N. Dallas, is the wife and artist-colleague of legendary Texas "outlaw poet" Roxy Gordon (R.I.P., Roxy), who is highly-lauded by many (sometimes they play recordings of Roxy's recorded readings on the Native American music show "Bows and Arrows" which airs on KNON-FM, 88.7, on Sundays at 6pm). Judy's a great organizer and late-blossoming visual artist, and in the wake of Roxy's passing, she's kept pretty busy with literary/art activities. PUTT (Pickin Up the Tempo) is her latest project, and she's been publishing it for about a year now.
Read it online here or sign up to receive each monthly issue via email. Two of my newest poems are featured in the current issue. Click on "TAMMY GOMEZ" in the sidebar to read 'em.
You may also consider submitting some of your latest scribbles and raw words to Judy for a future issue. I like the feel of what she's doing with this publication. Think of it as a literary equivalent to "No Depression," the insurgent country, alt-Americana roots music zine. I guess that might be a useful comparison, maybe not...
Hey, I also have a new essay published online for my compa Bronmin Shumway's new zine HERE THERE MAGAZINE, which just launched in March. My essay describes the history of taking my play "She: Bike/Spoke/Love" from the page to the stage. It was a very useful process for me, writing down some of the tools, steps, and decisions that were necessary to this project gettin' done. In writing the essay, I was very thankful for having taken the time to maintain a a blog that charted this seemingly (to me, at least) epic journey.
My friend, Vicki Grise, has started her own process blog, to document the creative path of her current performance project, "rasgos asiaticos, which she's developing at Cal-Arts in L.A.
Sometimes we forget to leave crumbs, helping us recognize and remember the way we got from point A to point B. If we blog about it, then maybe the mystical magic of our creative productions might actually be replicate-able. Or, at least, it could help others just starting out to know how we accomplished the minor miracles of our artistry.
I'm reading @ Paperbacks Plus in Lakewood, Dallas, on Friday, April 25th
Because it's NATIONAL POETRY MONTH--all of April, that is--poets like me get trotted out for some show-and-tell time more often than during other months. That's cool with me, as I always enjoy a good social opportunity with spoken word/poetry in the mix. The Writer's Garret has engaged my "services" at least a dozen times over the past decade, and this Dallas-based nonprofit literary organization does more for the engagement of poet/writers with a live audience than most literary orgs in Texas.
Join us on Friday, April 25th, at the Upstairs Salon - above Paperbacks Plus in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas.
Wine 'n' cheese reception: 6:30pm
Reading/performance: 7pm
Featuring: Jack Myers (former Poet Laureate of Texas and SMU professor), Michael Grabell, Carol Nace, and Tammy Gomez
(accompanied by musician"The Shortest Distance" aka Ramsey Sprague)
FREE and open to the public.
Join us on Friday, April 25th, at the Upstairs Salon - above Paperbacks Plus in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas.
Wine 'n' cheese reception: 6:30pm
Reading/performance: 7pm
Featuring: Jack Myers (former Poet Laureate of Texas and SMU professor), Michael Grabell, Carol Nace, and Tammy Gomez
(accompanied by musician"The Shortest Distance" aka Ramsey Sprague)
FREE and open to the public.
Prairie Fest 2008 - Saturday, April 26 in FW - schedule/info
first: Happy, green, productive, pro-active EARTH DAY to you !!
second: Prairie Fest is only 3 days away on April 26.
Says organizer/founder Don Young: "Come dance barefoot on the prairie--at the Tandy Hills Natural Area
in E. Fort Worth--while you help us save some of it. Our solar-powered stage makes Grammy-winning musicians Brave Combo sound way better."
Who: Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area.
What: The third annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest "Celebrating our connection to the natural world"
When: April 26, 2008. 11am - 7 pm
Where: Tandy Hills Natural Area - 3400 View Street, Fort Worth
Website: http://tandyhills. org/prairiefest. htm/
Contact: Don Young @ 817-731-2787
Prairie Fest is:
- Wildflower/Prairie tours led by master naturalists at the best place to see spring wildflowers, Tandy Hills Natural Area.
- Sustainable and green living exhibitors representing clean energy, green building, yard & garden, recycling, transportation, food & agriculture and conservation. (over 60 booths)
- A forum for all environmental organizations in the the north Texas region, with a keynote speech by Jarid Manos, founder of Great Plains Restoration Council.
- A special gathering of North Texas artists (including Alison Aldrich, Tina Bohlman, Rachel Bounds, Georgia Clarke, Sarah Green, Ginger Head Gearheart, Tom Huckabee, Carol Ivey, Debob Jacob, Sheri Jones, Sunnie LeBlanc, Victor Manuel, Chris McHenery, Rose Marie Mercado, Cecilia Robertson, Julie Wende, and Trish Wise) creating works inspired by Tandy Hills Natural Area in our "Plein Air" painting event. Take one or more of these paintings home with you by bidding on them in an auction during the festival.
- MUSIC, DANCE, POETRY and other performances for all ages.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMERS AND /PRESENTERS:
11am – 12:15pm / The Ackermans (music)
12:15 – 12:30pm / Mimi Kayl-Vaughn (modern dance)
12:30 – 12:45pm / John Snowden |(speaker, Bluestem Farms)
12:45 – 2:00pm / "Trigger Fish" (music)
2:00 – 2:15pm / "Footprints" (dance, music, poetry with Lori Sundeen Soderbergh, Tammy Gomez, Chris Curiel)
2:15 – 3:00pm / Kerri Arista (music)
3:00 – 3:15pm / Elizabeth Samudio (speaker, Elizabeth Anna’s Old World Garden)
3:15 - 4:30pm / Blackland River Devils/Darrin Kobetich (music)
4:30 – 4:45pm / Kathleen Hicks (speaker)
4:45 – 5:00pm / "Footprints" (dance, music, poetry with Lori Sundeen Soderbergh, Tammy Gomez, Chris Curiel)
5:00 – 5:45pm / "The Walking Contradictions" (music)
5:45 – 6:00pm / Jarid Manos (speaker)
6:00 – 7:30pm / Brave Combo (music)
- Food and drink provided by Chadra Mezze and Grill; Hot Damn Tamales; New Belgian Brewing Company; Rahr Brothers Brewery; and Smokey's Barbecue.
- FREE and open to the public!
DIRECTIONS to festival site: 3400 View St. Fort Worth, TX 76103.
Go 13 blocks on Meadowbrook to Tandy Ave. Turn right on Tandy, the park is one block straight ahead.
Don't miss being a part of the greenest of the green festivals. Come to the meadow, where the therapy is always pro bono.
Tammy Gomez performing in "Footprints" at the FringeFest at the Dallas Hub Theatre in Deep Ellum, Saturday, April 12th.
second: Prairie Fest is only 3 days away on April 26.
Says organizer/founder Don Young: "Come dance barefoot on the prairie--at the Tandy Hills Natural Area
in E. Fort Worth--while you help us save some of it. Our solar-powered stage makes Grammy-winning musicians Brave Combo sound way better."
Who: Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area.
What: The third annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest "Celebrating our connection to the natural world"
When: April 26, 2008. 11am - 7 pm
Where: Tandy Hills Natural Area - 3400 View Street, Fort Worth
Website: http://tandyhills. org/prairiefest. htm/
Contact: Don Young @ 817-731-2787
Prairie Fest is:
- Wildflower/Prairie tours led by master naturalists at the best place to see spring wildflowers, Tandy Hills Natural Area.
- Sustainable and green living exhibitors representing clean energy, green building, yard & garden, recycling, transportation, food & agriculture and conservation. (over 60 booths)
- A forum for all environmental organizations in the the north Texas region, with a keynote speech by Jarid Manos, founder of Great Plains Restoration Council.
- A special gathering of North Texas artists (including Alison Aldrich, Tina Bohlman, Rachel Bounds, Georgia Clarke, Sarah Green, Ginger Head Gearheart, Tom Huckabee, Carol Ivey, Debob Jacob, Sheri Jones, Sunnie LeBlanc, Victor Manuel, Chris McHenery, Rose Marie Mercado, Cecilia Robertson, Julie Wende, and Trish Wise) creating works inspired by Tandy Hills Natural Area in our "Plein Air" painting event. Take one or more of these paintings home with you by bidding on them in an auction during the festival.
- MUSIC, DANCE, POETRY and other performances for all ages.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMERS AND /PRESENTERS:
11am – 12:15pm / The Ackermans (music)
12:15 – 12:30pm / Mimi Kayl-Vaughn (modern dance)
12:30 – 12:45pm / John Snowden |(speaker, Bluestem Farms)
12:45 – 2:00pm / "Trigger Fish" (music)
2:00 – 2:15pm / "Footprints" (dance, music, poetry with Lori Sundeen Soderbergh, Tammy Gomez, Chris Curiel)
2:15 – 3:00pm / Kerri Arista (music)
3:00 – 3:15pm / Elizabeth Samudio (speaker, Elizabeth Anna’s Old World Garden)
3:15 - 4:30pm / Blackland River Devils/Darrin Kobetich (music)
4:30 – 4:45pm / Kathleen Hicks (speaker)
4:45 – 5:00pm / "Footprints" (dance, music, poetry with Lori Sundeen Soderbergh, Tammy Gomez, Chris Curiel)
5:00 – 5:45pm / "The Walking Contradictions" (music)
5:45 – 6:00pm / Jarid Manos (speaker)
6:00 – 7:30pm / Brave Combo (music)
- Food and drink provided by Chadra Mezze and Grill; Hot Damn Tamales; New Belgian Brewing Company; Rahr Brothers Brewery; and Smokey's Barbecue.
- FREE and open to the public!
DIRECTIONS to festival site: 3400 View St. Fort Worth, TX 76103.
Go 13 blocks on Meadowbrook to Tandy Ave. Turn right on Tandy, the park is one block straight ahead.
Don't miss being a part of the greenest of the green festivals. Come to the meadow, where the therapy is always pro bono.
Tammy Gomez performing in "Footprints" at the FringeFest at the Dallas Hub Theatre in Deep Ellum, Saturday, April 12th.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
"Facing the Change: Grassroots Encounters with Global Warming" - submit yr. writing
[Thanks to friend, poet, and world traveler Lorena Caputo for sending me the following call for submissions. Please respond to the email address/mailing address provided below. ]
INVITATION TO SUBMIT TO ANTHOLOGY ON GLOBAL WARMING
"Greetings and best wishes!
Facing the Change: Grassroots Encounters with Global Warming will be a completely new kind of book about global climate change. Instead of experts talking at you, this hard-copy anthology will feature personal responses to global warming - what everyday people are feeling and thinking as well as what they are doing. Stories, essays, and poetry are welcome, from concerned citizens from all walks of life and all ages. Please go to www.facingthechange.org for more information, writing suggestions, and submission instructions (including a printable version of the full Invitation to Submit).
Submission deadline: MAY FIRST, 2008 - 5/1/08.
Please consider submitting your own writing to the project. You can also help by forwarding this invitation to anyone who may be interested - colleagues, students, friends, family, or community members. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions you might have. Your interest and assistance will be much appreciated.
The world needs your insight, strength, and concern. Join with me in Facing the Change.
Thanks, Steve"
Steven Pavlos Holmes, Ph.D.
Independent Scholar in the Environmental Humanities
21 Eldridge Rd., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 USA
steve@facingthechange.org
www.facingthechange.org
INVITATION TO SUBMIT TO ANTHOLOGY ON GLOBAL WARMING
"Greetings and best wishes!
Facing the Change: Grassroots Encounters with Global Warming will be a completely new kind of book about global climate change. Instead of experts talking at you, this hard-copy anthology will feature personal responses to global warming - what everyday people are feeling and thinking as well as what they are doing. Stories, essays, and poetry are welcome, from concerned citizens from all walks of life and all ages. Please go to www.facingthechange.org for more information, writing suggestions, and submission instructions (including a printable version of the full Invitation to Submit).
Submission deadline: MAY FIRST, 2008 - 5/1/08.
Please consider submitting your own writing to the project. You can also help by forwarding this invitation to anyone who may be interested - colleagues, students, friends, family, or community members. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions you might have. Your interest and assistance will be much appreciated.
The world needs your insight, strength, and concern. Join with me in Facing the Change.
Thanks, Steve"
Steven Pavlos Holmes, Ph.D.
Independent Scholar in the Environmental Humanities
21 Eldridge Rd., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 USA
steve@facingthechange.org
www.facingthechange.org
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
"Footprints" debuted at Barefoot Brigade show last weekend
"I step gently on the earth...You can hardly see the marks I leave behind."
"Mama, mama, look at the sky! The colors so bright at night!"
"...how i have trampled this territory."
We're onstage again this weekend to perform "Footprints", as part of the annual Dallas FringeFest in Deep Ellum. We do the piece at 4pm, and then again at 9:45pm. Come check us out if you are into seeing some experimental performance on Saturday, April 12th. The show's at the Dallas Hub Theater, which is located at 2809 Canton St.
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 6, 2008
By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
msputnam@sbcglobal.net
Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer who covers dance.
"I was worried there for a little while. What if no one in the Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival went weird Friday night?
I need not have worried. Footprints did the trick. Eight mannequin legs littered the floor, one leg rudely impaled with a Styrofoam cup, the rest stuffed with plastic bags.
Upside down, Lori Sundeen Soderbergh wiggled her feet. Eventually, she's was upright. The theme, or at least part of it, was to take responsibility for one's footprint that damages the Earth. But it was difficult to take seriously because of some props, such as a fish mask and a part that mocked strangulation.Next to that bit of nonsense, everything else seemed pretty straightforward from the area troupes at the dance festival."
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Ruben Salazar - collaboration for Waco art exhibit in February 2008
I've always loved working with other artists in collaboration, especially when the artists involved are working in genres other than the ones I'm usually exploring. Back in January, I got to work with Waco-based visual artist 
RUBEN SALAZAR, who invited me to send him some of my political poems for possible use in some of his artwork. Ruben and I met via a phone call back in 2005, which kind of spooked me, because he 1) phoned after midnight and 2) he happened to know that I was about to board a train to travel to San Antonio for TeatroFest at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Disconcerting, for reals. I was polite but cautious, as Ruben listed off the names of some of our mutual friends. Turns out, Ruben was just super-friendly and maybe a bit lonely for Chicano/a artist kinship. He knows alot about Chicano/a art and has traveled a bit throughout the southwest to study, work, and network. I ended up on his email mailing list and began to figure--from the content of many of his forwards and messages--that he is an environmental activist and practitioner of what is often termed "advocacy art." He's really good at creating provocative "papel picado" ("cut paper") designs, a couple of which you can see here.
We've shared alot of musings online, and looked forward to the day that we might collaborate on some project together. He is trying to bring some "life" and "culture" to Waco, and I can tell that he often feels like he's waging a one-man campaign to do so.
Anyway, back in December (2007), Ruben announced that he was going to have a show of his work in McLennan Community College's art gallery. He invited me to submit a few pieces of my writing for his consideration, as he hoped to find inspiration for a couple new works from reading these poems. This, in turn, motivated me to pen a new piece, "Steps on the Earth", which Ruben included in a multimedia collage--as shown below--which he created specifically for his exhibit.
I took the train (yay, Amtrak!) on the afternoon of Friday, February 15th, so that I could check out his one-man show and also to perform at the reception. ((A long sidenote now ensues: Ramsey kindly dropped me off at the Amtrak station in time for my scheduled departure, but we didn't have time for him to swing by my bank ATM beforehand. No problem, I thought. I'll buy my ticket and then skip over to the ATM which was surely to be found in the rail station lobby. Problem: I had just received a replacement ATM card from my bank the day before and had neglected to test-drive it. Reason for getting a replacement card, in the first place, was because some bozo had been trying to do a heist using that bank's ATM system, so all customers were required to trash their old cards and pick up a new (safer) one. Okay, so I had just enough cash to purchase my one-way ticket to McGregor. Waco doesn't have a rail stop because the powers-that-were and the powers-that-be continue to resist having Amtrak service their city. Lame. Anyway--once I purchased my ticket, I was left with the equivalent of about $1.25 in coinage. Sad. I had no idea if my ATM card was going to work whatsover, in any machine. I had not the slightest clue if I'd be able to withdraw any money for my weekend journey, which would have me moving on to Austin from Waco--Cesar and Miguel were scheduled to pick me up in Waco, alongside the interstate, at one of the fast-food restaurants across from Baylor U. on Saturday morning. I realized that I had to fall back on my time-tested belief that things would all work out, and that my needs (food, drink, etc.) would be met without the safety net of money. In a pinch, I could also borrow from Cesar.))
Anyway, after my reading at the gallery on Friday night, Ruben passed around a basket for donations, and I was offered the total amount collected--which equaled almost exactly the amount I would have withdrawn from the ATM to cover my anticipated expenses for the weekend. The universe always provides a safety net; we only have to trust in it.
Ruben introducing me at his art show reception--McLennan Community College in Waco.
RUBEN SALAZAR, who invited me to send him some of my political poems for possible use in some of his artwork. Ruben and I met via a phone call back in 2005, which kind of spooked me, because he 1) phoned after midnight and 2) he happened to know that I was about to board a train to travel to San Antonio for TeatroFest at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Disconcerting, for reals. I was polite but cautious, as Ruben listed off the names of some of our mutual friends. Turns out, Ruben was just super-friendly and maybe a bit lonely for Chicano/a artist kinship. He knows alot about Chicano/a art and has traveled a bit throughout the southwest to study, work, and network. I ended up on his email mailing list and began to figure--from the content of many of his forwards and messages--that he is an environmental activist and practitioner of what is often termed "advocacy art." He's really good at creating provocative "papel picado" ("cut paper") designs, a couple of which you can see here.
We've shared alot of musings online, and looked forward to the day that we might collaborate on some project together. He is trying to bring some "life" and "culture" to Waco, and I can tell that he often feels like he's waging a one-man campaign to do so.
Anyway, back in December (2007), Ruben announced that he was going to have a show of his work in McLennan Community College's art gallery. He invited me to submit a few pieces of my writing for his consideration, as he hoped to find inspiration for a couple new works from reading these poems. This, in turn, motivated me to pen a new piece, "Steps on the Earth", which Ruben included in a multimedia collage--as shown below--which he created specifically for his exhibit.
I took the train (yay, Amtrak!) on the afternoon of Friday, February 15th, so that I could check out his one-man show and also to perform at the reception. ((A long sidenote now ensues: Ramsey kindly dropped me off at the Amtrak station in time for my scheduled departure, but we didn't have time for him to swing by my bank ATM beforehand. No problem, I thought. I'll buy my ticket and then skip over to the ATM which was surely to be found in the rail station lobby. Problem: I had just received a replacement ATM card from my bank the day before and had neglected to test-drive it. Reason for getting a replacement card, in the first place, was because some bozo had been trying to do a heist using that bank's ATM system, so all customers were required to trash their old cards and pick up a new (safer) one. Okay, so I had just enough cash to purchase my one-way ticket to McGregor. Waco doesn't have a rail stop because the powers-that-were and the powers-that-be continue to resist having Amtrak service their city. Lame. Anyway--once I purchased my ticket, I was left with the equivalent of about $1.25 in coinage. Sad. I had no idea if my ATM card was going to work whatsover, in any machine. I had not the slightest clue if I'd be able to withdraw any money for my weekend journey, which would have me moving on to Austin from Waco--Cesar and Miguel were scheduled to pick me up in Waco, alongside the interstate, at one of the fast-food restaurants across from Baylor U. on Saturday morning. I realized that I had to fall back on my time-tested belief that things would all work out, and that my needs (food, drink, etc.) would be met without the safety net of money. In a pinch, I could also borrow from Cesar.))
Anyway, after my reading at the gallery on Friday night, Ruben passed around a basket for donations, and I was offered the total amount collected--which equaled almost exactly the amount I would have withdrawn from the ATM to cover my anticipated expenses for the weekend. The universe always provides a safety net; we only have to trust in it.
Ruben introducing me at his art show reception--McLennan Community College in Waco.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Premiere of new work "Footprints" in Barefoot Brigade showcase this weekend
Lori, Chris, and I have been developing this new performance piece--"Footprints", about the impact of our carbon footprint on the planet--since late January. It's been an easeful process, as Lori has coordinated this project in a way that has allowed us rehearsal studio time (at the Margo Dean Ballet Studios--thanks to Margo Dean!) for jamming on our ideas in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, moving towards precision. I met Lori--as I like to honor my collaborators with a memory of our meeting--at the "Save the Trees" rally last September. She heard and appreciated my poetry performance at the mic, and expressed her desire to get together on a project at some point. Lori also came out to see my bicycle play ("She: Bike/Spoke/Love") and was totally impressed. Now, we're premiering our first collaborative effort tonight (at the Bath House Cultural Center--see details below), and I must say, I'm pretty stoked about our conceptual and performative achievements in this work. Chris Curiel (co-founder, with his wife Tamitha, of the experimental musical project SWIRVE), as usual, is a 100% pleasure to work with--he's always spot-on with his musical accent choices. (I enlisted him as musical coordinator/composer/performer in last year's "365 Days, 365 Plays" project that I produced at the Jubilee Theater of one week's worth of plays from the Suzan Lori-Parks epic cycle.)
"Footprints" is part of the Spring 2008 Barefoot Brigade program, which showcases dance/movement and performance art works being created by some of DFW's most active (and sometimes prolific) artists. My personal favorites being performed alongside our work are the dances performed by MUSCLE MEMORY DANCE THEATER and the DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATER companies. A very provocative program.
Also need to mention: "Footprints" will be performed multiple times in the Metroplex this month. Check it out next Saturday (details below) at the upcoming DALLAS FRINGE FESTIVAL, and again at the annual PRAIRIE FEST in Fort Worth towards the end of the month. Hope you can join us at one of these performances!
FOOTPRINTS
D/FW premiere performances in April
"What is our footprint on this planet? Is it time to get mad or get moving? Are we too late?"
"Footprints" is a new dance/music/poetry collaboration by choreographer Lori Sundeen Soderbergh (FW); musician/composer Chris Curiel (Dallas); and performance artist Tammy Gomez (FW).
Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival
Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas
Friday, April 4 at 8pm and Saturday, April 5 at 3pm
For more information: www.cdfw.org/programs
3rd Annual DFW Fringe Festival
hosted by Dallas Hub Theater
Saturday, April 12 at 4pm and 9:45pm
For more information: www.dallashubtheater.org
3rd Annual Fort Worth PrairieFest
Tandy Hills in Fort Worth
Saturday, April 26 -at 2:30pm and 5pm
FREE admission!
For more information: www.tandyhills.org/prairiefest contact:
"Footprints" is part of the Spring 2008 Barefoot Brigade program, which showcases dance/movement and performance art works being created by some of DFW's most active (and sometimes prolific) artists. My personal favorites being performed alongside our work are the dances performed by MUSCLE MEMORY DANCE THEATER and the DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATER companies. A very provocative program.
Also need to mention: "Footprints" will be performed multiple times in the Metroplex this month. Check it out next Saturday (details below) at the upcoming DALLAS FRINGE FESTIVAL, and again at the annual PRAIRIE FEST in Fort Worth towards the end of the month. Hope you can join us at one of these performances!
FOOTPRINTS
D/FW premiere performances in April
"What is our footprint on this planet? Is it time to get mad or get moving? Are we too late?"
"Footprints" is a new dance/music/poetry collaboration by choreographer Lori Sundeen Soderbergh (FW); musician/composer Chris Curiel (Dallas); and performance artist Tammy Gomez (FW).
Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival
Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas
Friday, April 4 at 8pm and Saturday, April 5 at 3pm
For more information: www.cdfw.org/programs
3rd Annual DFW Fringe Festival
hosted by Dallas Hub Theater
Saturday, April 12 at 4pm and 9:45pm
For more information: www.dallashubtheater.org
3rd Annual Fort Worth PrairieFest
Tandy Hills in Fort Worth
Saturday, April 26 -at 2:30pm and 5pm
FREE admission!
For more information: www.tandyhills.org/prairiefest contact:
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tonight, March 21st: UN TRIBUTO A MUJERES / a Tribute to Women - Rose Marine Theater & Gallery - 7:30pm
http://www. rosemarinetheater. com/
Arrive early (5:30 on) to shop at the Women's Mercado (market of handcrafted items by women - in the Gallery)
THE PROGRAM -- in the Theater -- begins at 7:30pm.
FIRST half: panel discussion on culture, literature, and art
INTERMISSION: enjoy art in the Gallery as well as the Women's Mercado
SECOND half: tributes to women w/ performances by:
ANGELIQUE (with Carla Ayala) - "The Labyrinth Ladybrainth"
TAMMY GOMEZ (accompanied by guitarist Ramsey Sprague and assisted by Breanna Herrera) - "Donde Esta Adam?", "Quetzal Dream", and "Mujeres Fuertes"
GABRIELA LOMONACO - tribute poem to her grandmother
AND
after the show: check out the art, the Women's Mercado,
and LOTERIA CARD READINGS by Tammy Gomez!
Un Tributo a Las Mujeres / A Tribute to Women
March 21, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
This celebration of influential women in Latin American society is told through music, art and dance.
Join us for a tribute to our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters as we explore the beauty, strength and resilience of women!
Special tribute to visual artist CELIA ALVAREZ MUNOZ, who was recently honored by the CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA). Celia has created art books, installations, and other works for many exhibits, galleries, and events across the United States. She showed work in the Whitney Biennial in 1991, and has been awarded two NEA fellowships. Currently based in Arlington, Texas, we should be proud to have an artist of Celia's talent and stature in our midst.
$12 General, $7 Students / Seniors
For more information: 817.624.8333
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Talent Round-Up on Saturday - audition for over a dozen production companies @ once!
[Adam Dietrich, artistic director of The Butterfly Connection--based in Fort Worth--sent along the following announcement. I don't know that auditioning artists would take very graciously to being alluded to as "cattle", but I guess the Butterfly folks were taking a stab at alliteration. I might stop by, as I am looking to recast a few roles for my play "She: Bike/Spoke/Love.]
COWTOWN CATTLECALL
Date: March 15th, 2008
Location: Rose Marine Theatre at 1440 N. Main Street in Fort Worth
Time: 10am-4pm with 5 minute appointments
Requirements: 1 Minute Monologue, 1 Minute Acapella Song, 1 Minute Dance Routine with CD Accompaniment, and 2 minutes of improvisation and auditors questions. (If talent does not sing or dance, no song or routine is required.)
Reps and talent scouts from such notable Metroplex theaters as Casa Manana, Circle Theater, Hip Pocket, Kitchen Dog, Teatro de la Rosa, and Pantagleize will be in the house, taking notes and names.
They're considering all performing artists/talent, whether Equity or Non-Equity.
Bring headshots, resumes, and the usual sell-yourself materials.
For more info, please phone 817 333 4028 or email Adam Dietrich at adamjdietrich@gmail.com.
COWTOWN CATTLECALL
Date: March 15th, 2008
Location: Rose Marine Theatre at 1440 N. Main Street in Fort Worth
Time: 10am-4pm with 5 minute appointments
Requirements: 1 Minute Monologue, 1 Minute Acapella Song, 1 Minute Dance Routine with CD Accompaniment, and 2 minutes of improvisation and auditors questions. (If talent does not sing or dance, no song or routine is required.)
Reps and talent scouts from such notable Metroplex theaters as Casa Manana, Circle Theater, Hip Pocket, Kitchen Dog, Teatro de la Rosa, and Pantagleize will be in the house, taking notes and names.
They're considering all performing artists/talent, whether Equity or Non-Equity.
Bring headshots, resumes, and the usual sell-yourself materials.
For more info, please phone 817 333 4028 or email Adam Dietrich at adamjdietrich@gmail.com.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Firehouse Gallery presents annual "eVeryDAY a Woman" art & performance showcase - Saturday, March 15th
It's almost time for the annual theatrical performance of Eve Ensler's powerful work "The Vagina Monologues" in Fort Worth.
So, how do we get ready for this?
How do we raise a little awareness to the ongoing struggle to end violence against women & girls?
How do we help raise a little $$ to stage the play and contribute to the V-Day Fund?
Well, what we do is attend and support the annual
"eVeryDAY a Woman ARTS AND PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE" !
Open to the public - free admission, but DONATIONS accepted.
When: MARCH 15 - SATURDAY
Time: 6 to 10pm
Where: Firehouse Gallery, 4147 Meadowbrook Drive (corner of Meadowbrook & Oakland Streets)
(Phone 817.534.3620 for more information.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...and don't miss this year's production of "The Vagina Monologues" (hilarious, poignant, and performed by all women):
March 29th -- Fort Worth Vagina Monologues -- Texas Wesleyan University, Martin Hall, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
You can find more info here.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
MY FORT WORTH: three shows in the 76104 of 817 tonight
It's a virtual FXFW (fall by fort worth) in one night tonight, cuz there're three shows happening in the Fairmount neighborhood aka Hospital District aka coolest neighb in the city. I'm on a broken foot, so I'll be glad if I can get a spot on the Chat Room patio, within earshot of Birds and Batteries' early night (before midnight) set. I'd recommend this SF (San Francisco) band for the more mellow audience; head out to the Cri Crow-hosted bash at 1919 Hemphill, with headliner Prizzy Prizzy Please if you have two stable ankles, opposable thumbs, and feisty fists to raise. Then there's an underground punk show at an undisclosed (sometimes this helps preserve the spot, on the d.l.) venue, with Florida favorites This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. Whatever you do, get out and check out the bands falling by Fort Worth tonight--on their way to SXSW in Austin.
Monday, March 10, 2008
PETRA'S PECADO opens (finally) in Dallas on Thursday, March 13th
[ Omigod, the setbacks that PETRA'S PECADO ("Petra's Sin") has encountered since the Cara Mia Theatre first tried to stage this Rupert Reyes-scripted comedy late last year. First, there were problems with securing their venues, and then their lead actress fell ill and could not be immediately replaced--the director tried to yank me into it, but my schedule would not allow, sorry Rodney. The shows were cancelled and the whole production was put on hold until just now. Still more casting dilemmas arose, but lo & behold, the magical miracle of all miracles has seen to it that the SHOW WILL--FINALLY--GO ON!! If anybody deserves a "courageous stamina in the face of adversity award", it would be Rodney Garza & the whole Cara Mia Theatre gang. Y'all break a leg on Thursday! ]
Cara Mia Theatre
presents
the Dallas premiere of
the original Spanglish comedy
by Rupert Reyes
PETRA'S PECADO
(highly recommended ! )
PETRA'S PECADO (Petra’s Sin), is a unique script that beautifully blends language so that it is enjoyed by English- and Spanish-speaking audiences alike. PETRA'S PECADO is a hilarious comedy that has touched people’s hearts by reminding us of life’s everyday miracles.
For this revamped production, Guest Director Rodney Garza ("El Chuco y La Che" & "Martin"), has assembled a mini-reunion of the world premiere cast of PETRA'S PECADO. He brings award-winning actress Irene Gonzales from Austin, who played the original Petra Dominguez in the first sold-out runs in San Antonio and Austin. Ms. Gonzales was nominated for an Austin Critic’s Circle Award for her portrayal of Petra. Also joining this Dallas cast is Maria Elena Salcedo ("Las Nuevas Tamaleras") from San Antonio. Ms. Salcedo will be reprising her role as Clara Ramirez, Petra’s co-worker and feisty friend.
Garza, Gonzales, and Salcedo have worked together on various productions, including the world premiere of "Petra’s Cuento", the second installment of Reyes’ Petra’s Trilogy. Garza is elated that the schedules worked out. Says Garza, “Everytime I work with these ladies I feel like the luckiest director. They’re so natural in their roles that they make my job easier. The DFW area is in for a treat.”
Cara Mia Theatre also introduces some new talent to the DFW theatre community. The role of Lupita Montana will be shared on alternating weekends by Valeria Perdomo and Eleonor Hernandez. Also new to the cast of PETRA'S PECADO is Helen Lozano, who will be portraying the role of Petra’s cranky friend Tacha Alvarez. All three actors have taken on their parts with refreshing enthusiasm and zeal.
Returning cast members from the production that was supposed to run last winter include: Liza Marie Gonzalez as the conniving business rival Tina Tamayo; Cesar Hernandez as the high school drama teacher Rudy Diaz; Hector Bernal as the new priest in town Father Johnson; Jaime Lopez in the role of the cantankerous Chano Orozco; and Fred Cizek playing the role of Petra’s unwitting husband Rafael Dominguez.
When: March 13, 14
Where: Latino Cultural Center
2600 Live Oak St., Dallas
When: March 20 & 22
Where: Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth
**All Shows at 8 PM**
Ticket prices: Adults-$12 Students & Seniors-$10
Special Discount: 2 for 1 Thursdays
Buy tickets online for $2 off.
For more information contact: 214-946-9499 or www.caramiatheatre.com
Cara Mia Theatre
presents
the Dallas premiere of
the original Spanglish comedy
by Rupert Reyes
PETRA'S PECADO
(highly recommended ! )
PETRA'S PECADO (Petra’s Sin), is a unique script that beautifully blends language so that it is enjoyed by English- and Spanish-speaking audiences alike. PETRA'S PECADO is a hilarious comedy that has touched people’s hearts by reminding us of life’s everyday miracles.
For this revamped production, Guest Director Rodney Garza ("El Chuco y La Che" & "Martin"), has assembled a mini-reunion of the world premiere cast of PETRA'S PECADO. He brings award-winning actress Irene Gonzales from Austin, who played the original Petra Dominguez in the first sold-out runs in San Antonio and Austin. Ms. Gonzales was nominated for an Austin Critic’s Circle Award for her portrayal of Petra. Also joining this Dallas cast is Maria Elena Salcedo ("Las Nuevas Tamaleras") from San Antonio. Ms. Salcedo will be reprising her role as Clara Ramirez, Petra’s co-worker and feisty friend.
Garza, Gonzales, and Salcedo have worked together on various productions, including the world premiere of "Petra’s Cuento", the second installment of Reyes’ Petra’s Trilogy. Garza is elated that the schedules worked out. Says Garza, “Everytime I work with these ladies I feel like the luckiest director. They’re so natural in their roles that they make my job easier. The DFW area is in for a treat.”
Cara Mia Theatre also introduces some new talent to the DFW theatre community. The role of Lupita Montana will be shared on alternating weekends by Valeria Perdomo and Eleonor Hernandez. Also new to the cast of PETRA'S PECADO is Helen Lozano, who will be portraying the role of Petra’s cranky friend Tacha Alvarez. All three actors have taken on their parts with refreshing enthusiasm and zeal.
Returning cast members from the production that was supposed to run last winter include: Liza Marie Gonzalez as the conniving business rival Tina Tamayo; Cesar Hernandez as the high school drama teacher Rudy Diaz; Hector Bernal as the new priest in town Father Johnson; Jaime Lopez in the role of the cantankerous Chano Orozco; and Fred Cizek playing the role of Petra’s unwitting husband Rafael Dominguez.
When: March 13, 14
Where: Latino Cultural Center
2600 Live Oak St., Dallas
When: March 20 & 22
Where: Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth
**All Shows at 8 PM**
Ticket prices: Adults-$12 Students & Seniors-$10
Special Discount: 2 for 1 Thursdays
Buy tickets online for $2 off.
For more information contact: 214-946-9499 or www.caramiatheatre.com
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Carl Stone, audio sampler extraordinaire, at the Cliburn Recital Hall -- one more night!
I got to hear Carl Stone's set last night, as presented by local producing outfit OTHER ARTS. It was awesome fabulous, and I was jettisoned to other worlds/words as I sat listening to Stone's electronic aural improvisations. Highly recommended.
[Thanks to producer, Herb Levy, for daring and caring to offer some great music events here in Cowtown, which probably would never be presented otherwise. Here's the promo blurb that Herb sent out via email this week. Get on this man's email list today...]
Just a quick reminder that Other Arts is presenting two concerts by live computer music pioneer, Carl Stone this weekend.
Using a MacBookPro running the software suite Max/MSP, Carl creates his music by cutting, splicing, layering, distorting, and otherwise digitally altering samples of music by popular, classical and world music artists. He's presented his work on every continent except Antarctica and these are Carl's first performances in North Texas. You won't want to miss this chance to hear him.
[ALREADY HAPPENED: IT WAS SO COOL !!!! Friday, March 7th - a program of recent short works, including pieces
from his recently released CD /Al-Noor]
TONIGHT * TONIGHT * TONIGHT
Saturday, March 8th - /Guelaguetza, /an hour-long work for digital sound and images
8:00 PM at Cliburn Recital Hall, 330 4th Street in downtown Fort Worth.
Tickets are $25, $15 for students and seniors; combined ticket packages
for both shows are $40, $25 for students and seniors. Tickets are
available from Bass Tickets 817 212-4280; online at www.basshall.org, or
at the door on the evening of the performances.
[Thanks to producer, Herb Levy, for daring and caring to offer some great music events here in Cowtown, which probably would never be presented otherwise. Here's the promo blurb that Herb sent out via email this week. Get on this man's email list today...]
Just a quick reminder that Other Arts is presenting two concerts by live computer music pioneer, Carl Stone this weekend.
Using a MacBookPro running the software suite Max/MSP, Carl creates his music by cutting, splicing, layering, distorting, and otherwise digitally altering samples of music by popular, classical and world music artists. He's presented his work on every continent except Antarctica and these are Carl's first performances in North Texas. You won't want to miss this chance to hear him.
[ALREADY HAPPENED: IT WAS SO COOL !!!! Friday, March 7th - a program of recent short works, including pieces
from his recently released CD /Al-Noor]
TONIGHT * TONIGHT * TONIGHT
Saturday, March 8th - /Guelaguetza, /an hour-long work for digital sound and images
8:00 PM at Cliburn Recital Hall, 330 4th Street in downtown Fort Worth.
Tickets are $25, $15 for students and seniors; combined ticket packages
for both shows are $40, $25 for students and seniors. Tickets are
available from Bass Tickets 817 212-4280; online at www.basshall.org, or
at the door on the evening of the performances.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Book review of HECHO EN TEJAS
Wow, this anthology, HECHO EN TEJAS, was released over a year ago, yet the reviews keep a-coming. This latest assessment appeared in the Sunday magazine of the Santa Fe New Mexican this week.
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