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This week the National Writing for Children Center is sponsoring a 5-day virtual tour for Michael Selden’s new book, The Balance.
Follow along on this tour. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a free month’s showcase here for your children’s books.
Start Michael’s tour here:
Virtual Book Tours
The post Follow Along on the Virtual Tour for The Balance by Michael Selden appeared first on The National Writing for Children Center.
Follow the virtual tour for A Caterpillar, a Bee, and a VERY Big Tree all this week and find out more about the book and the authors.
Read the post at today’s stop on the tour to meet the authors! Just click on the link, below:
Monday – Day 1 – Meet the Authors
Have you written a children’s book that has just been released or will be released in December?
Here’s a Great Idea!
Let us set up a 5-day virtual tour for your book when you register for our December Author Showcase.
Virtual book tours are a great way to help parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians and just anyone who BUYS children’s books learn about you and your book.
Just click on “showcase your book” in the top menu bar of this page.
photo credit: starburst light bulb via photopin (license)
Today is Day 10 of the 10-day virtual book tour for Help Your Child to Thrive, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center.
Today, read a review of the book at As the Page Turns. Just click here:
Review – As the Page Turns
Today is Day 9 of the 10-day virtual book tour for Help Your Child to Thrive.
Read an interview with the book’s author today at Book Publishing Secrets.
Here’s the link:
Book Publishing Secrets – Interview with Liane Brouillette
Author Liane Brouillette
Today is Day 8 of the 10-day virtual book tour for Help Your Child to Thrive, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center.
Today’s stop on the tour features an interview with Liane Brouillette, author of Help Your Child to Thrive.
Author Liane Brouillette
Enjoy that interview here now:
Blogcritics – Interview with Liane Brouillette
Read an interview with author Liane Brouillette today at Straight from the Author’s Mouth.
It’s all part of the 10-day virtual book tour, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center, for Liane’s new book, Help Your Child to Thrive.
Here’s the link to that interview:
Straight from the Author’s Mouth Interview
Today is Day 6 of the 10-day virtual tour, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center, for Help Your Child to Thrive by Liane Brouillette.
On today’s stop on the tour, you’ll enjoy a guest post by Liane Brouillette. She talks about making the best of a struggling education system.
Read the post at:
The Serious Reader
Author Liane Brouillette
Today is Day 5 of the 10-day virtual tour, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center, for Help Your Child to Thrive.
Read a sample chapter of the book today at MomBloggers Club:
Help Your Child to Thrive Chapter Reveal
Today is Day 4 of the 10-day virtual tour for Liane Brouillette’s new book, Help Your Child to Thrive. Today, read a guest post from Liane in The Writer’s Life e-Magazine.
Just click here to read the post:
The Writer’s Life E-Magazine
Author Liane Brouillette
Visit If Books Could Talk today to see the book trailer spotlight on Help Your Child to Thrive.
It’s Day 3 of the 10-day virtual tour for this book, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center.
Click here to see the trailer spotlight:
Help Your Child to Thrive Book Trailer Spotlight
It’s always fun to see how a book came about. Read the story behind Help Your Child to Thrive. It’s Day 2 of the 10-day virtual tour for the book, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center.
Just click here:
The Story Behind Help Your Child to Thrive
The 10-day virtual book tour (sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center) for Help Your Child to Thrive, by Liane Brouillette starts today with an interview with Liane at examiner.com. Go here for that interview:
http://www.examiner.com/article/interview-with-liane-brouillette-author-of-help-your-child-to-thrive
Author Liane Brouillette
Today is Day 10 and the final day of the 10-day virtual tour (sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center) for Helping Herbie Hedgehog.
Read another review of the book at examiner.com. Just click here:
Day 10 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
Today is Day 9 of the 10-day virtual book tour for Helping Herbie Hedgehog by Melissa Abramovitz.
Enjoy this interview with author Melissa Abramovitz on Blog Critics:
Day 9 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
Today is Day 7 of the 10-day virtual book tour for Helping Herbie Hedgehog, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center.
Click here to read an interview with author Melissa Abramovitz at The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection:
Day 7 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
Follow Day 6 of the virtual book tour for Helping Herbie Hedgehog today when the spotlight is on Melissa Abramovitz at the Moms Blogger Club Network.
Just click here to join the tour:
Day 6 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
Today is Day 6 of the 10-day virtual book tour for Helping Herbie Hedghog. Read a guest post from author Melissa Abramovitz at The Writer’s Life eMagazine.
Just click here:
Day 6 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
The tour continues on Monday.
Follow along the virtual tour for Helping Herbie Hedgehog today where it is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Children’s author Beverly Stowe McClure gives a review of the book. She also gives some information about hedgehogs.
Day 4 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog Virtual Book Tour
Today is Day 3 of the 10-day virtual tour for Melissa Abramovitz and her new book, Helping Herbie Hedgehog. This tour is sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center.
On today’s stop on this tour, Melissa tells the story behind Helping Herbie Hedgehog. It’s always fun to find out what inspired authors to write their books or how their books came about, so you’ll want to read this guest post. Just go to:
Mayra’s Secret Bookcase
Follow the virtual book tour for Helping Herbie Hedgehog, by Melissa Abramovitz. Today is Day 2 of the tour. In today’s post you can read a review of the book.
Just click here:
Day 2 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
The 10-day virtual book tour for Helping Herbie Hedgehog, sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center, starts today.
Just click here to start the tour:
Day 1 – Helping Herbie Hedgehog
In today’s post, you’ll learn more about Melissa Abramovitz, author of Helphing Herbie Hedgehog.
One of the ways we help children’s book authors and illustrators get the word out about their books is with a 10-day virtual book tour. We choose blogs that appeal specifically to children’s book readers and buyers to host these tours.
When an author registers for our Blue Ribbon Showcase, a virtual book tour is part of their showcase. In addition to setting up each blog for these tours, we promote the tours through Facebook, Twitter, and Jacketflap, and our various newsletters.
Virtual book tours are a fun, easy way for authors to gain more exposure online for themselves and their books.
Check out our Blue Ribbon Showcase package here now.
This is the second interview for Count on Me: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships virtual Book Tour organized by Condor Book Tours. Las week, Las Comadres interviewed author Lorraine López about her story in this wonderful anthology. To read the interview visit http://www.labloga.blogspot.com/2012/12/guest-comadres-golden-age-of-bookstores.html
Today, Las Comadres interview author Reyna Grande.
Reyna Grande on Count on Me
LAS COMADRES: Have you had a chance to read any of the stories?
REYNA: I have. I think I have read most of the stories and I’m really impressed with them and I think that my favorite is Carolina DeRobertis’ piece- because it was very profound and I just love her writing .As I was reading it, a lot times I felt like getting up to grab a highlighter so I could highlight some of those sentences because they were just absolutely beautiful. The last essay which I just read last night was Luis Alberto Urrea’s piece. And again, they’re just really incredible and very touching and I love the topic – writing about a Comadre. The comadres that I am reading about are just really amazing people.
LAS COMADRES: Is there a character in the book you most identify with?
REYNA: I think I just really enjoy reading these stories because every writer who has written a story for the anthology, they all come from… it’s just interesting to me to see how the writing prompt which was to write about a comadre, how everybody just made that their own, you know? And how diverse each story is… and that is what I really like about this and also I love learning about who the people in their lives are because some of these writers and some of them I have met in person and some of them I haven’t met in person but I’ve read their work and these essays are so personal. But, it really gives me a chance to get to know them through these pieces they turned in for the anthology. For me that’s been one of the reasons why I enjoyed reading the anthology so much because it really gives me a chance to get to know these authors whose works I admire; to get to know them in a more personal level.
LAS COMADRES: Your story is about a mentor and about friend, about somebody that… really – truly is credited with where you are and how you moved forward as a student. What do you hope readers get out of your personal story?
REYNA: Well there’s two things, the first thing is that what I would like them to see is that when you are going through really difficult times its okay to ask for help. I think that sometimes we fail to do that; sometimes we are dealing with problems on our own and we’re afraid to seek help. And for me- that was the best thing I could ever do was to go look for Diana and to share with her what I was going through. Otherwise she wouldn’t have known about it and wouldn’t have been able to offer that help to me. The other thing that I would like my readers to learn from my story is how teachers and especially right now – with the situation that education is in – with so many teachers that are being criticized and being laid off and all these horrible things that are happening to teachers right now I would like people to see what a big difference a teacher makes in the life of a student. There’re so many people like Diana who go above and beyond what a teacher is. They don’t just limit their teaching to the classroom. (But) They also care about their students enough that they worry about their students’ personal lives and what’s going on outside the classroom with them. For me – this is my love letter to Diana and all teachers.
LAS COMADRES: So Diana, does she know about it?
REYNA: Yeah, she knows about it. I sent her a copy just before I submitted it. I wanted her to read it, (just) out of respect, because I wanted (her) to see what I had written about her, and I wanted her to tell me if she was okay with that. Just to get her approval. Yeah, she… I think the first time I ever thanked Diana for what she did for me was in 1999 when I graduated from UC Santa Cruz and the university actually flew her up there so that she could be at my graduation. So, Diana knows and I always make sure to tell Diana how grateful I am for everything she’s done for me. She was very happy when I told her about the anthology and when I told her I was writing about her.
LAS COMADRES: So, you’ve seen the theme of the book and the topic of everybody choosing to write about a comadre. Do you think there’s a distinction between saying you have a friend or saying you have a comadre?
REYNA: In a way – yes, because a comadre, (I think) its a little bit more than a friend. You know, I think the meaning of a comadre definitely goes beyond just a regular friendship. And, for me – that’s why I consider Diana my comadre, because she’s not just a friend that goes in and out of my life. She’s someone that’s really important and whom I’ve known for a long time and who knows everything about me and who is always there for me. And, she accepts me for who I am, and she has always been very encouraging, always pushing me to become a better person. So to me – that’s what a comadre is – and it’s someone you know and you want to have a relationship with for the rest of your life.
LAS COMADRES: So why do you think – give me three (if you can narrow it down to three) main reasons why a woman needs a comadre in her life.
REYNA: Well, I think a woman needs a comadre because… there’s always going to be moments in your life that you cannot face on your own and they can be great moments that you want to share with someone and they could be very difficult moments that you need someone to hold your hand, to tell you that things are going to be okay. And sometimes your family – you might not have that kind of relationship with the family member, and you might find it in a friend that might give you that support and who can be there for you when you need her.
LAS COMADRES: Now I'm going to shift over to questions about you. Where do you get your inspiration from – not just from writing – but just life in general? Are there sources that you get your inspiration from?
REYNA: I’ve always drawn my inspiration from my childhood experiences because I had a pretty difficult childhood and a lot of the things that happened were just very traumatic and they left a lot of scars. And what I've always done –(like) with my writing but also with anything, anything that I try to do; any goals that I have. I always look at my childhood and all the hardships that I went thru and the sacrifices that had to be made. I always tell myself that I have to honor those sacrifices and I have to honor all that pain and hardship and heartbreaks that I went through. The way to do that is by making good choices and by working hard to make my dreams a reality. (So), you know things sometimes get hard but I always tell myself that I have gone through worse. If I made it through that, I can make it thru anything.
LAS COMADRES: So you use your experiences in your childhood.
REYNA: Yeah, I think I definitely learned a lot when I was a kid about sacrifices and working hard and not letting anything bring me down. I learned to find my inner strength. And that’s what I …when things get hard or I have challenges that I’m dealing with, I always look at my childhood and try to find that strength that I know is there within me.
LAS COMADRES: Are there specific literary works that you might draw your inspiration from?
REYNA: I have a lot of favorite books, actually and sometimes when I have writers block and I can’t write, I go to those books and I read through them and I find my favorite sections and I get inspired again to write. Some of those books are The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, which is one of my favorites; The Prophet, by Kaliel Gibron; and I like The Fountainhead by Ann Rand; and I like Margaret Atwood’s works also. So that’s what I do –I just look thru my bookcase and pick out a book and I read – and then pretty soon I feel like writing again.
LAS COMADRES: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
REYNA: My greatest achievement is getting my MFA, because I come from a family that didn’t have a lot of opportunities when it came to education. I know - my grandmothers …probably only went to first or second grade and my own father only went up to the third grade. My mother only studied up to the sixth grade. So, you know going from that kind of background to having an MFA and being the first in my family to graduate from college – to me, that’s the greatest thing because I feel that because I have been able to accomplish that – now my own children are going to go to college and my nieces and nephews are going to go to college because I’ve done it already. I can push them to do it; I can give them advice; I can guide them through their college experience.
LAS COMADRES: Yes, you’ve definitely changed the future for your family, for the next generation…sometimes I think we take that for granted.
REYNA: Yeah, I think so too. But I always tell people –especially, you know I do a lot of speaking at high schools – I always tell those kids that it only takes one person to change the course of a family. And so I encourage them to be that one person that going to make a difference.
LAS COMADRES: Do you get a chance to spend much with family? …with family from Mexico?
REYNA: Oh, from my family from Mexico… I don’t get to see them a whole lot. I try to go to Mexico as often as I can – which is not as often as I would like. I would say maybe like every three to four years I’ll go to Mexico to visit my family. And I have some uncles and aunts and cousins down there and I like to go there because it keeps me humble. You know, I think sometimes I lose sight of things and sometime I forget that there are people that have less than I have and that I shouldn’t complain or that I shouldn’t want more than what I have. So when I go down there, it makes me appreciate what I do have and it snaps me back into reality. Like for example, a few years ago when I had my daughter we were living in a two-bedroom house and one bedroom was for me and my husband and the second bedroom was for my son and when we had my daughter she was sharing our bedroom. You know we had her crib in our bedroom. And then my husband and I decided to start looking for a bigger house. Now that we had two kids we said “well, lets look for a three bedroom house” and I went to Mexico around that time that we were looking for houses. I went to Mexico to see my family and my uncle said ‘oh, what’s new in your life” and I just started telling him that we were house hunting and we were looking into a bigger house because my daughter, who was nine months old, needed to have her own bedroom. And then, I just caught myself and I looked around and I realized who I was talking to; and I was talking to my uncle who lived in a one room shack with his seven children and his wife and I’m telling him that we need a bigger house because my nine-month old needs her own bedroom. Do you know what I’m saying?
LAS COMADRES: Yeah, yeah – it snaps you back to reality.
REYNA: I wanted to slap myself. It’s so inconsiderate and I wasn’t doing it to brag or to be inconsiderate. I just lost sight of where I was or whom I was talking to…. Then I realized that over here in the US, a lot of times we want a bigger house and we want a bigger car and we want more of this and more of that and a lot of times we’re not happy with what we have. When I go to Mexico – I remember that. I remember that! And that’s why I try to go -so that I don’t forget where I come from.
LAS COMADRES: Do you have a favorite motto or quote – something that stays with you every day? That guides you?
REYNA: Well, there’s one that kind of ties in to what I was just talking about, and it goes
“The less I want, the less I need”
LAS COMADRES: Do you know who said it?
REYNA: I don’t know who said it…but it just stayed with me. You know I try to say that to myself everyday. ‘The less I want, the less I need’ because sometimes I do start wanting things that I really don’t need. So, I say that to myself. And then, there is a quote by Ernest Hemmingway that I really love about writing. “There’s not much to writing, you just sit down at the typewriter and bleed”. I love that quote because I feel like a lot of times people don’t understand what – all the emotional exhaustion that comes when you write because you really are bleeding, you know. Especially like my writing – I write about pain and about loss and my writing is really depressing because it comes from this part of myself that has a lot of that pain that just needs to come out. A lot of times when I'm done writing for the day, I just feel so emotionally exhausted, and I do feel that I just bled all over the page.
Guest Columnist: Las Comadres Para Las Americas Interviews Lorraine López
Editor's Note: La Bloga receives this interview from Condor Book Tours, an entrepreneurial public relations firm specializing in virtual book tours and Latina Latino authors. Condor's currently representing Las Comadres Para Las Americas' book, Count on Me: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships. Las Comadres Para Las Americas, a 501(c)(3) organization is an informal internet-based group that meets monthly in many US cities to build connections and community with other Latinas.
I'm happy to join Condor and Las Comadres' virtual book tour widening the readership for a book about nurturing.
--Michael Sedano
Las Comadres Interviews Count On Me Author Lorraine López
Las Comadres: How you were first introduced to Las Comadres?
Lorraine: Well – my book, The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters, came out about, I want to say 4 to 5 years ago I’m not sure. And at the time it was selected as a Las Comadres/Borders pick. That’s how I first became aware of Las Comadres. The same thing happened when my second novel came out – The Realm of Hungry Spirits – so I was interviewed on the air by Las Comadres. They publicized the book and it was just a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for me. Since then, I’ve learned about the organization and have been wholly impressed. I especially admire how after Borders® went under, the organization found a way to continue without that support.
Las Comadres: Do you have any favorites in Count on Me?
Lorraine: oh, I love Carolina de Roberti’s piece, which I read again this morning – very moving piece, just… very powerful. Also, Esmeralda Santiago’s piece I admire and Stephanie Elizondo-Greist, who is a contributor for one collection of ours, another anthology. I know her work and I’ve read her books and I loved her piece. I love the humor in it, the wit.
Las Comadres: Is there a character in the book that you most identify with?
Lorraine: That’s hard to say. I think there’re bits and pieces. I think because Carolina’s piece is so fresh in my mind – I would have to say that impetus to finish a book for someone. That resonates with me. I’ve never done that but I can see the feeling behind that, I can really empathize strongly with that; that desire, that motivation.
Las Comadres: Your story is the only story in the collection that addresses the bond, the Comadre connection between the mentor and the mentee. What do you hope readers get out of your expression?
Lorraine: I hope that they realize as the late Dr. Juan Bruce Novoa has said that this a great time to be a writer when we do have mentors, we do have people like Judith Ortiz Cofer, who are in a position to share their wisdom, share their resources, share pragmatic tips with this generation. This second generation and now even a third generation is emerging and so I hope that there is that recognition that yes, I need to avail myself of this resource of the wise women and men who have come before me and take advantage of this and to reach my potential through this help. There is nothing wrong or bad about it. It’s a great tradition, if fact. I hope that there’s that recognition that we are not alone. We are not alone as a Latina writer. You’re not alone. You have people who have found their way, established a path and you can rely on them. Whether it’s just by being in their physical presence- I was lucky enough to be in the physical presence of Judith Ortiz Cofer but you can also do this with books, by reading the works of pre-established writers who forged the way for us.
I hope that there is something that comes of this.
Las Comadres: Do you feel that there is a strong distinction and difference between saying that someone is a friend or saying someone is Comadre? And if so, how do you describe that distinction?
Lorraine: Comadre… The idea of Comadre, to me, suggests layers of mutual benefit; that symbiosis. Friendship is less layered. For me, friendship is… ‘yes, this is my friend. I enjoy this persons company’ but we are not beholden to one another in the way that comadrazgo does make one beholden to the other person. A friend might, for example- just a pragmatic example – a friend might send me an email. I am under no compunction to answer that for 24 hours. But, if my Comadre sends me an email, I need to answer it right away. If my Comadre calls, I always need to take that call. And it works the other way, too. We need to be…know that we can, as the book says, count on one another. There is that element of ‘yes, I depend on you and you depend on me’. We can be reliable to one another- we MUST be.
Las Comadres: What do you see as the reasons that a woman needs a Comadre in her life?
Lorraine: Wow! Well, first I would start with: Just for the purpose of having someone you trust and rely on. I think that is just the basic building block of human relationship that has depth and substance, knowing there is someone there you can trust and someone you can rely on.
Secondly – and I don’t want to say that men don’t need this as well but – I think relationships between men have been really firmly entrenched in professional systems and academic systems and we even have a name for it in the South, ‘The Good Ol’ Boys Club” and I think women have been locked out of that for a very long time. In fact, there is this big bru-ha-ha because the CEO of Yahoo! ® is now pregnant. The first pregnant woman to ever be a CEO of a major corporation and this is so exciting.Okay, this is 2012 but we’re talking it’s taken so long. So it’s evidence that we are not where we should be; we are not represented as we should be. So, I think, for women this kind of relationship is even more important. In my life it has been integral to my success and to my professional advancement, for sure. That is stated plainly in my essay. I think we need help and we need to help each other because we have been disenfranchised, and we have been marginalized so this is critical, ‘critical’ as such a relationship is.
And third, I would say… it’s just plain fun to have Judith in my life. She’s smart, she’s funny and that goes with the element of trust. You can’t relax and joke with someone you cannot trust.
She’s coming to visit in February to give a reading at Vanderbilt and that is getting me through the semester already, which hasn’t started. Just the idea that she will be here soon, and I can laugh and I can relax and I can be with someone that I trust and love and admire.
Those are three reasons. I’m sure I could continue but… It’s a source – almost like refueling. You meet this person who has become an integral part of your life and when you see her you feel invigorated, re-energized – so I guess that’s number four, (laugh).
Las Comadres: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Lorraine: Well, probably a negative thing. You know, I love my books. I always love my books and I love my writing. My ‘Homicide Survivors Picnic’ was a pen popular finalist and I got to go to D.C. That was a really wonderful day. I feel like that might be the zenith of my writing career and I'm glad to have had that and that’s great. It was also liberating, now I can feel ‘okay, I did that and now I can just write for me.’
So, that was pretty great but I think really, the best accomplishment, the thing I feel proudest about, apart from my children, I'm very proud of my children, is that when I was in a really bad situation, I didn’t do something terrible. I could have done something really, really terrible. I thought about doing something unspeakably terrible that would have changed me forever and I decided not to do it. I'm proud of that. I'm really, really proud at not doing the terrible thing.
Las Comadres: My last question is more like a fill in the blank… I am proud to be a Latina because: ______(fill in the blank).
Lorraine: Because this is the great time to be a Latina, and especially a great time to be a Latina writer. The world is just opening up for us in big and beautiful ways and I feel very lucky to be part of that.
About Lorraine LópezLorraine Lopez’ first book, Soy la Avon Lady, won the inaugural Miguel Marmól Prize. Her novel, Call Me Henri, was awarded the Paterson Prize, and her novel, The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters, was a 2008 Borders/Las Comadres Selection. Lorraine’s short story collection, Homicide Survivors Picnic, was reviewed in La Bloga and was a 2010 Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Prize. She edited a collection of essays titled, An Angle of Vision. Her novel, The Realm of Hungry Spirits, was released in 2011. She has co-edited, with Blas Falconer, The Other Latin@. She teaches fiction writing at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about Lorraine at www.lorrainelopez.net
Arte Publico Announces Secret Discount
It’s a shame brick and mortar booksellers now fade into memory. In ten years, readers are going to recall warmly the golden age of books when most books came printed on paper people shopped for them off physical shelves and if the store didn't have a title you had to order off the internet anyhow. Long before implants, when readers schlepped around iPads.
Until my eyes give out, I'll be one of those tipos insisting on holding the books I read, although I admit to enjoying the swift enlargement of words with the pinch of a finger or a Command + keyboard shortcut, and the space-saving convenience of PDF review copies.
In his column last Friday, Manuel Ramos discerns the existence of a Golden Age for raza writing. Gente are producing increasing numbers of books and related media, there's a universe of literary ephemera like blogs and message board manifestoes. Spoken word art takes on a life of its own in cities across the continent. Writers expand the literary purview into personal essays, travel writing, mystery, speclit, YA, children's picture books.
Who knows what today’s gatekeeping system of east coast publishing houses will look like then, under the competitive onslaught of self-publication and academic and small press?
Gone are the days of driving or walking from bookstore to bookstore, of lingering through the shelves of a friendly bookseller, or leafing through Books in Print for the right edition.
With convenience comes access. Those local bookstores were another gatekeeper. Readers traded immediacy for the bookseller’s inventory policy. With mail-order buying via computer, buyers select from limitless catalogs of new and used books, and see their purchases arrive within a few days of ordering.
Better still, readers can order publisher-direct to gain access to the widest selection of related titles. A recent email from the industry’s premier publisher of latina latino writing, Arte Publico Press, sweetens the prospect. Use the code HOLIDAY12 when checking out and receive 35% discount on titles in Arte Publico’s catalogs.
December 2012 Floricanto to Begin TwelfthmonthArnoldo Garcia, Jabez W. Churchill, Tom Sheldon, Victor Avila, Elizabeth Cazessús
Launching the year's final month is December's first floricanto. This week, the moderators of the Facebook group Poets Responding to SB1070 Poetry of Resistance, nominate seven poems from five poets:"La comuna de la lengua / The commune of the tongue" by Arnoldo Garcia“Credo Particular / My Creed” by Jabez W. Churchill “Petroglyphs” by Tom Sheldon"Grail" by Victor Avila“Desierto en fuga” por Elizabeth Cazessús
La comuna de la lengua | The commune of our tongue [extracts]Arnoldo Garcia
a communionof commotiona commovementof movementswho will revolutionizethe skinof our languagesmakeour tonguesas invisibleas transparentas the most illegal of illegalsas the most undocumented of undocumentedas the most minority of minoritiesas the most queer of the queeras the most visible of the invisibleas the most remembered of the forgottenas the lowest of the lowliestas the most homeless among the homelandlessas the most human of humanitynessso when you put your words in the vibrating airanyone can step into themfeel at hometransliterating freedomsobliterating the mutenessmaking the worldinto jagged piecesthat fit together in their crags and ragged tendernesseseverythingdisperses in orderly chaosorganizes in spontaneous spring-times, whatever the seasonwho dares make the commotion togetherwho dares make the movement differentwho cares about tomorrow, the natural worldwho cares about the land, the communitywho cares about our bones, the windwho dares the sun to return for the sixth time, the continentswho dares to stop timeand return to the starting place?I am a human out of placeI am a human in a country no longer humanI am a human in every road, path, trail, a movementCongealing, coalescing, germinatingon the magnetic waves of tendernesson the gravitational fields of freedomon the bare arms of a campesinaa commotiona communitiona cosmomovement of neighbors.
*
I do not want a revolution of empleadosI want a revolution of emplumados.
*
No quiero una revolución de empleadosQuiero una revolución de emplumados.
Credo Particularpor Jabez W. Curchill
Creo en ambos dioses,el Padre y la Santa Madre,sin nombreen el traqueteo de los otrosy en sus hijos danzarinesengendrados como hojas,como luz,de la misma substanciadiscernible e inimaginablea que todo tiene que sacudir.
Creo que somos encarnadosdel mismo espiritu fotosinteticosin jucio,sin excepcion,destinados todos a la salvación.
Pero no creoque ninguna religióno propio evangeliose aproxime o se acerquesuficiente a la Creaciónpara que justifique criticarmenos condenaro aliviarnosde la responsibilidad particularde florecery en el viento deleitar.
My Creedby Jabez W. Curchill
I believe in both Gods,the Father and the Holy Mother,namelessin the rattle of the rest,and in their sonsand twirling daughtersbegotten as leaves,as light,being of the same substance,seen and unimagined,to which all things must flutter.
I believe we are incarnatewith the same Spirit,photosynthetic,without judgement,without exception.All, destined for salvation.
But I don’t believethat any church,any religious doctrine,approximates Creation,comes close enough to justify opinion, less condemnation,or relieve usfrom our individual responsibilityto fully blossom,revel in the wind.
Petroglyphs ©Tom Sheldon
Clues to the iconic ambiguity
appear like old vines
resting upon eroded hills
dug along the skirt of mesa
the poetic lore.....
tall tales and handed down songs
planted inside children
a shared realm
that live in stone still
faintly etched pictograms
so transparent one can look through
and see the world
Natural luminous things
like tracks in the snow
homecoming myths migrations
of stars ancient origins
of ragged mountains
in deer whose limbs
lie in latent flight
and the suns light
cast and reflected back
Grail for Palestine Victor Avila
A great weight rests on all our tonguesand the barbs around our heartsmakes us barricades of silence.
Tell me then, how can I speak to you if it's not by shouting?
I shout at the hard sky,I shout into the ear of a low hanging star.
I shout when my heart is withering like black fruit-Or when other hearts become brutal hammersof hate and venom.
A bitter knife carves obscenties into my tender stomachand I want to shout to stones,"Please, I am bleeding and my wound is great"-but the stones are pitiless tonight.
So I scream until my voice is filled with hoarse sobs.
And I wait for the wound to heal-I wait for the lost blood to become a great treewhich is heavy with fruit.I wait for lost emeralds to be resetin my God's sick crown.
I become a romantic with ten handsbut am not allowed to use one.
Ultimately, the barricades are not dismantledand the barbs are not pulled free,the weight is not suspended.
Tell me then, how can I speak to you if it's not by shouting?How can my Grail of Hope once again be filled?
DESIERTO EN FUGAElizabeth Cazessús
Salir al camino sin saber a donde ir-porque el saber no está en el mapasi no más adentro de la aventura-descubrir lo semejante,la naturaleza salvaje, lo sagrado desatender la ciudad que vas dejando atrás,sorprenderte como un niñover los campos sembrados, palizadas, osamentas de ballenas, anuncios extemporáneos, largos terrenos de chamizos, palo verde y serpientes extensiones que las nubes bañan de más alládunas en contraste con el mar y ese sentimiento al fondode arenas ensimismadas bajo la luz de sol.hasta que la mirada abarca sabes que son tuyos.Un solitario cactus a contraluz es todo lo que tienesdespués de que has pasado por las ruinas de otro cementerio de piedras y edificios escarpados por el fracaso.Tú, sigues ahí, con tu brazada extendida en el valle de los cirioscon su montaje improvisado y caminos espinosos Todo lo que no verán más tus ojos porque en este instante ya no estamos, ni somos lo que dijimos ser.Seremos otros a contra canto de este aroma del desierto en fuga.
BIOS
"La comuna de la lengua | The commune of the tongue" by Arnoldo Garcia
“Credo Particular / My Creed” by Jabez W. Churchill
“Petroglyphs” by Tom Sheldon
"Grail" by Victor Avila
“Desierto en fuga” por Elizabeth Cazessús
Arnoldo García lives and writes in Oakland, CA. "La comuna de nuestra lengua" is part of a collection of poems and writings called La revolución emplumada (forthcoming). Arnoldo posts poetics, commentary, news & analysis on http://lacarpadelfeo.blogspot.com andhttp://www.twitter.com/arnoldogarcia C/S
Jabez W. Churchill. Born in Northern California, educated in Argentina and California. Single dad, currently teaching Spanish at Santa Rosa Junior College and Mendocino College. (S.R.J.C., since 1986), and California Poet in the Public Schools since 1998. Civilly disobedient since 1969. Submitting poetry for publication since 1979.
Publications:SONG OF SEASONS, Small Poetry Press, 1996CONTROLLED BURN, Small Poetry Press, 1996SLEEPING WITH GHOSTS, Kulupi Press, 1999THE VEIL, Kulupi Press, 2000SANTA CLARA REVIEW, Spring/Summer 2002americas review, 2003languageandculture.net, chapbook series, 2005FIRST LEAVES, Literary and Art Journal, 2009Most currently, in laBloga, Poets Responding to SB1070 and THE ARTS UNITED SAN ANTONIO, May and August, 2012Featured at the Summer Dream Poetry Festival in Vancouver, B.C. 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Cuba, 2000. Spain, Summer 1999.
My name is Tom Sheldon and I come from a large Hispanic family with roots in Spain, Mexico and New Mexico. I enjoy writing poetry which allows me connection and a voice and I write daily. I've had a few small successes in having my poems published. Thank you for reading my work.
Victor Avila is an award-winning poet. Two of his poems were recently included in the anthology Occupy SF-Poems from the Movement. Victor is also a graphic artist whose work has been featured in Ghoula Comix.
Elizabeth Cazessús, Tijuana B. C. México, 1960.BLOG: El palpitar de las letras, letronomo.blogspot.com
Es maestra de nivel primaria, egresada de Esc. Normal Benito Juárez.1978/1982.Realizó Periodismo Cultural, 1983 a 1992 en Tijuana. Dirigió el sumplemento cultural Arrecife, de Sol de Tijuana.
Poeta performancera. Es autora de ocho libros de poesía: Ritual y canto,1994, Veinte “Apuntes antes de Dormir, 1995; Mujer de Sal, 2000; Huella en el agua, IMAC 2001; Casa del sueño, Gíglico ediciones, 2006; Razones de la dama infiel, Gíglico ediciones 2008; No es mentira este paraíso, Colección ed,.Cecut/Conaculta.2009.Enediana, Ed. Giglico, 2010.
Ha participado en varios encuentros internacionales de poesía:Los Angeles California, 1991; Phoenix, Arizona, 2003; Mujeres poetas en el país dela Nubes, Oaxaca, Oax.; 2000 y 2001; La Habana, Cuba, 2003, Chile Poesía Santiago de Chile, 2005; Poetas del Mundo Latino Morelia, Mich, México 2010; Puerto Rico, Ferias del Libros 2004 y 2007; Festival de Poesia, Puerto Rico,. 2011, Festival Latinoamericano de Poesía Cd. de Nueva York, Oct. 2012.
Ha participado presentando su obra. FIL de Guadalajara, No es mentira este paraíso y Feria del Libro del Zócalo,Cd. de México D.F. 2010.
Obtuvo la beca del FONCA, 1998.Ha obtenido los premios: Municipal de Poesía, en los Juegos Florales de Tijuana, 1992;Premio de Poesía, Anita Pompa de Trujillo en Hermosillo, Sonora, 1995;
Su obra ha sido traducida a los idiomas inglés y al polaco.
Esta incluida en las siguientes antologías: “Across the Line”, Junction Press, San Diego Ca. 2003; “Trilogía de Poetas de Hispanoamérica: Pícaras, Místicas y Rebeldes”, México D.F. 2004; Memoria del Encuentro Chile- Poesía, 2005; Antología de Poesía Hispanoamericana, “El Rastro de las Mariposas”, Lima, Perú, 2006; Antología de “Voces Sin Fronteras”, Montreal, Canadá, 2006; “Mujeres Poetas de México” (1945-1965), Atemporia, 2008; Revista, La Nueva Región de los poetas (Nowa Okolica Poetow), Varsovia, Polonia, 2008; San Diego Poetry Annual, Ca. E.U.A. 2008; Nectáfora, Antología del Beso en la Poesía Mexicana, México, D.F. 2009, Antologia del Festival Latinoamericano de Poesía, CD. de Nueva York, 2012.
Ha realizado recitales poético/musicales haciendo montajes con su propia obra y de autores hispanoamericanos, titulados:Ritual y Canto, 1995, “Veinte apuntes antes de dormir”, 1998, “Rosario Castellanos, mujer de muchas palabras”; “Voces Irreverentes, ” (Homenaje a Susana Chávez, poeta asesinada en CD. Juárez, 2010). “ Diosas de la Poesía Hispanoamericana”, Centro Cultural y Feria del Libro ,de Tijuana, 2011.
Acompañó alternadamente a Carlos Monsivaís, interpretando voces de la poesía de la popularidad, en la conferencia: Mamá Soy Paquito, Universidad de San Diego, 2009.
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