Red Salmon Arts and ACC Creative Writing Present a Joint Book Release & Discussion
Saturday, September 10, 2016
5pm at Resistencia Bookstore
4926 E. Cesar Chavez, Austin, TX
Blood Sugar Canto
By ire’ne lara silva
“silva is a poet-curandera who “sings the body electric,” transforming suffering into song. She probes the ways that love, justice and forgiveness help heal our individual selves and our communities. I am profoundly grateful for ire’ne’s hard-won wisdom and poetic gifts.” –Demetria Martinez, author of The Block Captain’s Daughter
&
Poetry of Resistance:
Voices for Social Justice
With Co-Editor Odilia Galván Rodríguez
and contributors:
Nephtalí De León
Daniel García Ordaz
Edward Vidaurre
Poetry of Resistance is a poetic call for tolerance, reflection, reconciliation, and healing. Bringing together more than eighty writers, the anthology powerfully articulates the need for change and the primacy of basic human rights.
ire’ne lara silva is the author of furia (poetry, Mouthfeel Press, 2010) which received an Honorable Mention for the 2011 International Latino Book Award and flesh to bone (short stories, Aunt Lute Books, 2013) which won the 2013 Premio Aztlán. Her most recent collection of poetry, blood sugar canto, was published by Saddle Road Press in January 2016. ire’ne is the recipient of the 2014 Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award, the Fiction Finalist for AROHO’s 2013 Gift of Freedom Award, and the 2008 recipient of the Gloria Anzaldua Milagro Award.
Nephtalí De León is a Chicano writer known primarily for his poetry, children’s stories, and essays. He is also credited with illustrating most of his books. He was born in Laredo, Texas, as the son of migrant workers. Although neither of his parents received much formal education, Nephtalí says that they were responsible for first exposing him to literature. He published his first book — Chicanos: Our Background and Our Pride — during his senior year of high school. He then expanded his work to include poetry and plays, painting murals and illustrating children’s stories. His first children’s book I Will Catch the Sun received great praise. He has been published in Mexico, France, the U.S., and Spain, with his writings being translated into several other languages (German, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese). Currently, Nephtali is a full-time poet, writer, and painter who performs lectures and poetry at schools, universities, and community events.
Odilia Galván Rodríguez, poet, writer, editor, and activist, is the author of six volumes of poetry, her latest, The Nature of Things, with photographer Richard Loya. Along with the late Francisco X. Alarcón, he also edited the anthology: Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice, University of Arizona Press, She’s also edited Matrix Women’s News Magazine, Community Mural’s Magazine, Tricontinental Magazine in Havana, Cuba, and currently, Cloud Women’s Quarterly. She facilitates creative writing workshops nationally and is a moderator of Poets Responding to SB 1070, and Love and Prayers for Fukushima, both Facebook pages dedicated to bringing attention to social justice issues that affect the lives and wellbeing of many people. Her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies, and literary journals on and offline.
Daniel García Ordaz, an emerging voice in Hispanic American poetry, was born in Houston, Texas in 1971 and raised in Mission, Texas. He is an editor of poetry collections, including Insomnia, by Edward Vidaurre. He’s also a teacher, song-writer, former journalist, photographicationisticator
Edward Vidaurre is the author of four books. I Took My Barrio On A Road Trip, (Slough Press 2013), Insomnia (El Zarape Press 2014), Beautiful Scars: Elegiac Beat Poems (El Zarape Press 2015), and his latest collection Chicano Blood Transfusion (FlowerSong Books) was published this year. Vidaurre is the founder of Pasta, Poetry, and Vino–a monthly open mic gathering of artists, poets, and musicians.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.