Memoir of Un Ser Humano: A Curated Reading

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5 PM Saturday, 14 April 2018

Red Salmon Arts Presents

Memoir of Un Ser Humano: The Life and Times de raúlrsalinas: 

A Curated Reading

Event starts at 5:30 PM

Memoir of Un Ser Humano reveals dimensions of raúl “Roy” “Tapón” Salinas’ life that few of his readers and even many of his closest family and friends knew little about. Divided into five sections that mark raúl’s many journeys, transformations, and evolutions, the memoir, a scattered and fragmented collection of mostly unpublished writings is rife with Salinas’ musings, sketches, sweet and bittersweet recollections of his life as a boy become hipster-pachuco, social rebel, drug addict, father, prisoner, writer of prose and poetry become revolutionary. Raúl’s distinctive voice is presented in new ways as we read his many efforts to tell his life’s story, and we are gifted with new understanding of the many layers of this beautifully complex human being.

“Memoir of Un Ser Humano is a labor of love and resistencia, a breathtaking collection of aquellitas painstakingly selected by raúl salínas’s comrade, Louis Mendoza. Capturing the texture of both pain and pleasure, these love letters, jailhouse articles, legal documents, manifestos, lists, stories, and poemas (re-)introduce us to the extraordinary life of one of our most important Chican@ poets. salínas’s perpetual swerve toward “the cool,” his lifelong love of blues and jazz, his homespun homage to East and South Austin, his efforts to simultaneously rise to the challenge of feminism and detail the way that women moved him sexually—all of these are enlivened by his generous willingness to be raw, vulnerable, and self-reflexive.”
– Sandra K. Soto, Associate Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona

“The rhythms, the humor, the righteous anger, and the commitment to justice that made up the essence of the man are all here. So are many of the most pressing issues for communities of color both then and now. raúlrsalinas was a force of nature and a towering figure of late 20th century American literature. If you are still in doubt about the deepest meaning of the term ‘chicano,’ read this book.”
– Jorge Mariscal, Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego

Red Salmon Arts (casa de Resistencia Books) is a Native American/Chicanx/@/Latinx/@-based cultural arts organization with a history of working within indigenous communities of Austin since 1983.

Resistencia Bookstore, Casa de Red Salmon Arts, is a neighborhood center for aspiring writers, providing quality literature to Austin communities since 1983. Specializing in indigenous, Native American, Chican@-Mexican@, Latin@, African American, queer, feminist, and children’s bilingual literature.

COA_CA_hz_fc_300smThis project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.