Guest Blogger: Author and Editor Michelle Herrera Mulligan

Michelle Herrera Mulligan is the editor of, and a contributor to Juicy Mangos: Erotica Collection (Atria Books, 2007), the first-ever collection of Latina erotica in English, which Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos called “not only a tantalizing read, but a deeply rewarding one as well.” In 2004, she co-edited Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, and Cultural Shifting (HarperCollins/Rayo, 2004), an anthology of essays on the contemporary American Latina experience. She received an American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Ruth Bennett Outstanding Contributions to Hispanic Studies Award in spring of 2006. Michelle has worked as an author and journalist in New York City for twelve years. She has contributed to Time, Woman’s Day, Latina, Teen People, and Publisher's Weekly, among many others.

Why It’s Worth It to Edit (and Contribute to) an Anthology

by Michelle Herrera Mulligan

You’ve all seen them. They drift into your inboxes with deletable subject lines like “FW:FW:Re:Please forward: New anthology editor seeks stories about sisterhood, motherhood, growing up in Miami, Detroit, Peoria...,” you get the idea. If you actually click on the message, you might make it to the part where it says compensation consists of a “small stipend upon selection.” That is, if you haven’t deleted it by then. And you probably have. I certainly did. Plenty of times. That is, until I thought of an anthology of my own.

My friend Robyn and I didn’t plan on doing an anthology, or even a book together. We mostly hung out in offices and laughed hysterically at all the weird things our mothers had in common, like favoring makeup for fifth graders, and loving telenovelas way too much. But after a while, we realized we had another important thing in common: we weren’t seeing professional women like ourselves (educated, sophisticated Latinas navigating multiple realities) on T.V., or in any of the novels or essays we were reading at the time. And we wanted to do something about it. So we decided to pose a couple of emailed questions of our own: “What has being Latina meant for you?” “What has it meant to your identity at different stages of your life?” We didn’t just send the questions to anybody. We asked the best writers and most outrageous thinkers of all of the talented women we knew. And what we got back overwhelmed us.

For about two years after we got a book deal, our lives became consumed by edits, negotiations (though the individual contributor contracts started out identical, many required tweaking and much discussion), and long phone therapy sessions, pronounced by panic about what family members, former lovers, and friends would say once it all hit the shelves. The work was consuming and costly (I could have made more money writing a long magazine feature at the time). Robyn and I became infamous editors in the process; we sent the essays back for revision after revision (and put ourselves through the same). But what we ended up with in the end was worth it: a tight-knit group of friends and colleagues, a tour around the country (that we paid for ourselves), where we met young women touched by our stories, conversations started about Latina identity in the press, and most importantly, the stories themselves, gathered in a volume called Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, and Cultural Shifting (HarperCollins/Rayo, 2004), which is still being used in college curriculums around the country.

At the end of that process, I was happy and done. I was going solo. I’d never do it again. And yet, one day I got a call, just like that classic email, asking if I would be interested in contributing to someone else’s anthology. Only I didn’t politely decline out of turn. I took a minute to listen, and that moment proved to be transformational.

The job at first seemed absurd (“Me, an editor of erotica? Are you kidding?”). I had to edit in English and Spanish, and make writers that were more experienced than me sound amazing and polished as they wrote a heavily sexual, literary, novella. And I also had to write one of those novellas myself (“I know, what?!”) “There goes another year (or two), there goes my novel,” I thought. But my capacity as a writer was challenged, yet again, expanded beyond my expectations—as was the final product: Juicy Mangos:Erotica Collection (Atria Books, 2007). As with Border-Line, the experience sparked friendships that I treasure to this day.

You may hear that anthologies don’t sell, will suck your time, and are going the way of the hardcover. What you won’t hear is this: if you get a chance to work on one that features a topic you’re passionate about, jump at the chance. You’ll never take a class that will teach you more.

Michelle Herrera Mulligan, Elisha Miranda, and Sofia Quintero, will be reading from their stories from Juicy Mangos on Thursday, October 22 at the East Harlem Café, 1651 Lexington Avenue, 7-9 p.m.

Hispanic Heritage Month Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest, especially the new followers. I was very impressed by the amount of thought and consideration that went into some of the suggestions for the blog, and pleased as well, since I interpreted that great care to mean that you feel a sense of ownership with it, which I of course hope you do. Please know that I will consider your contributions carefully and plan on implementing quite a few of those suggestions. I look forward to continuing the conversation, and thank you again for your support.

And now, the winners of the Hispanic Heritage Month Giveaway!

Oscar Bermeo
Christine Womack
Esther Bonilla-Read
Eileen Hu
Deborah Rosen

Each will receive a set of the five books featured in the giveaway. Books will ship directly from the publisher. Congratulations to all!

Come join me in Los Angeles this weekend!

I will be at this year's Latino Book and Family Festival in Los Angeles this Saturday and Sunday, participating on panels on the state of publishing, and interviewing the fabulous Pat Mora. Come check it out, this year's festival promises to be the best one yet! Click here for more information, and for the festival's full program, which includes events in English and Spanish.

To enter the Hispanic Heritage Month Book Giveaway, click here.

Hispanic Heritage Month Giveaway!

Hachette Book Group has once again generously provided copies of 5 of their new books by Latino authors to give away to readers of VOCES in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Five winners will received the whole set of five books!

To win your copies, do the following:

1. Become a follower of VOCES by clicking on the appropriate box on the side bar.
   
2. Once you have become a VOCES follower, send me an email to adrianasblog@gmail.com confirming that you have done so, and include the following information:

• Your name and shipping address, so that we can know where to send the books.
• An idea for a future post for VOCES, a feature that you'd like to see added to the blog, or feedback on what you like and may not have liked so much about my posts so far. This feedback benefits us all!

*Current followers of the blog will also qualify. If you are already a follower, please let me know in your email message and include the rest of the information requested.

Five winners will be chosen randomly and announced on the site on October 15th, the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month. Good luck!

To find out more about the books, click on their titles below:

Zumba® By Beto Perez , Maggie Greenwood-Robinson ISBN: 0446546127
Evenings at the Argentine Club By Julia Amante ISBN: 0446581623
Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz By Belinda Acosta ISBN: 044654051X
Tell Me Something True By Leila Cobo ISBN: 0446519367
Amigoland By Oscar Casares ISBN: 0316159697

**Books will be delivered by publisher. Contest is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Books will not be delivered to P.O. boxes.

Carolina De Robertis discusses her powerful debut novel, The Invisible Mountain

Uruguayan American Carolina De Robertis’s powerful debut novel, The Invisible Mountain, takes readers on an epic journey through the lives of three generations of women, exploring an important part of South American history and paying homage to the resilience of the human spirit. The newly celebrated author shares details with former Críticas Children's Reviews Editor Adriana Domínguez about her inspiration and some of the elements that made it possible for this ambitious project to come to fruition.

Did you purposefully set out to retell the history of Uruguay through the eyes of women?
In a way. I knew, when I began, that I wanted to write a narrative inspired by the family stories I had heard while growing up, from my parents’, grandparents’, and great-grandparents’ generations. It quickly became clear that the history of Uruguay itself was also central to the project and that women would form the heart of the book. In my family’s oral tradition, the male ancestors tended to come with long, elaborate stories, while the women were often summed up in a brief sentence or two. Where did they come from? What did they see in their world, and breathe back into it? What treasures lie buried in their silence? One of the marvelous things about fiction is its ability to excavate, explore, or reinvent such treasures, when the original truths have been lost.

The novel spans the lives of three different women over 90 years. Was it challenging to develop a project of such a broad scope?
Let’s put it this way: it was an adventure, and like many true adventures, it involved setting out without a map, a compass, or an inkling of how long or arduous the road would be. If I had known what would be required, how many years (eight) and how many drafts (I lost count), I would have been too terrified to begin. The truth is that I had no idea what I was doing when I started: I began, not because I thought I could actually write this novel, but because I was enraptured by something I could not yet see, could not hold in my hands but longed to. It was a reckless leap into the creative process, armed only with my own hunger and curiosity. Fortunately, this allowed me to embark and saved me from getting daunted until it was too late to turn back.

The narrative mentions many real-life people and events and is partly based on your own family’s history. How did you balance the story’s historical, autobiographical, and fictional elements?
My family history provided the impetus—the initial spark that gave birth to the characters—and lit up the essence of their lives. Extensive historical research provided them with a ground to walk on, a climate to inhabit. The sociopolitical landscape of the book is true to historical reality, and some of the historical figures who make appearances have even kept their names: Evita and Che, of course, but also less famous figures such as Ernesto Bravo, a young man brutalized and framed by the Peronist police in 1951, and Dan Mitrione, the torture trainer sent by the United States in 1970. Finally, of course, there was the element of fiction, of sheer invention, which is more limber than oral or formal history and so has freer ways of exploring truth. The end result is a kind of braid, woven from three intricate strands: family stories, actual history, and pure imagination.

Have you traveled to Uruguay?
I grew up in England, Switzerland, and California. My parents attempted an assimilationist approach to coping with the immigrant experience, and I visited Uruguay only twice as a child and teenager. Nevertheless, my second visit, at the age of 16, imbued me with images and sounds and smells and textures and relationships that changed the way I approached the world and my place within it. Since then, the longing to return has never left me.

Do you feel connected to your Uruguayan roots?
When I was in my mid-twenties, my parents disowned me for marrying a woman, and the journey of writing Uruguay and Argentina became an even more urgent journey of reclaiming roots I had been cut from. I returned three times while writing the novel, and each time I connected with my wonderful extended family, who did not follow my parents’ suit. I conducted research in every way I could: finding and reading books, sparking conversations, asking questions, sifting through old photographs, taking road trips, prowling the streets, smelling the streets, watching strangers, listening to the songs of a neighborhood. All of these experiences have poured into the novel. In some ways, this book is my sprawling, intimate love letter to the nation, whose culture, people, and legacies continue to capture and amaze my heart.

Some aspects of The Invisible Mountain are reminiscent of works by Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and Junot Díaz. Where do you place yourself within the continuum of authors writing about Latin America?
I am immensely nourished by, grateful for, and indebted to a range of Latin American authors. There are tremendous riches in the Latin American tradition, as well as in contemporary literature emerging from Latin America and from bicultural Latino writers in the United States, and I could spend many lifetimes plumbing these riches. At the same time, writers have always read widely and drawn from many streams of literature, and Latin American writers are no exception. Gabriel García Márquez was deeply influenced by the magic realism of Metamorphosis (though Kafka never receives that label), and Jorge Luis Borges was inspired by The Arabian Nights and William Faulkner. I always remember these examples and hold them close to my heart, because my own sources of inspiration also transcend borders.

What is your next project?
My second novel, which is well underway, tells the story of a young Argentinian woman raised in a military family, whose world is shaken when a dripping, haunted man appears in her living room. He turns out to be the ghost of a desaparecido—one of thousands the government kidnapped, tortured, and threw from airplanes into the sea in the 1970s—risen from his watery grave, and his presence forces her to confront the hidden, violent past that connects them. In some ways, this is a very different book; for one thing, it spans three decades rather than nine. But some of the underlying themes—such as the interplay of historical forces and everyday life, the truths hidden inside silence, and the twisting path toward authenticity—seem to be returning to the fore.

© Library Journal, 2009. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission.
Original interview found on Library Journal's site, at: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6686713.html

Click here for an excerpt of the book.

Carolina De Robertis' THE INVISIBLE MOUNTAIN

I'd like to first take this opportunity to thank you all for the wonderful messages of support you have sent me regarding my new venture as a newly-minted literary agent. I appreciate them very much. I want to clarify that I will continue working on this blog, not only to fill you in on my new adventures and let you in on what I am doing on that score, but more importantly, to do my part to continue to further the cause of Latino and Spanish language literature.

To that end, I have been working closely with Uruguayan-American author Carolina De Robertis' publisher and two other blogs, to spread the word about this exciting new book that has already garnered so much praise, including a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Below, you will find a description of the book, as well as a personal introduction from the author to what will be the first in a series of three excerpts from the book posted by three separate blogs. The subsequent excerpts will be posted on La Bloga and Little Pink Book PR (in that order). Please let others know about this book and spread the word about the excerpts. Coming soon: my interview with the author for Library Journal. Enjoy!


About The Invisible Mountain
On the first day of the millennium, a small town gathers to witness a miracle and unravel its portents for the century: the mysterious reappearance of a lost infant, Pajarita. Later, as a young woman in the capital city — Montevideo, brimming with growth and promise — Pajarita begins a lineage of fiercely independent women. Her daughter, Eva, survives a brutal childhood to pursue her dreams as a rebellious poet and along the hazardous precipices of erotic love. Eva’s daughter, Salomé, driven by an unrelenting idealism, commits clandestine acts that will end in tragedy as unrest sweeps Uruguay. But what saves them all is the fierce fortifying connection between mother and daughter that will bring them together to face the future. From Perón’s glittering Buenos Aires to the rustic hills of Rio de Janeiro, from the haven of a corner butchershop to U.S. embassy halls, the Firielli family traverses a changing South America and the uncharted terrain of their relationships with one another. Click to buy the book.

About the Author

Carolina De Robertis was raised in England, Switzerland, and California by Uruguayan parents. Her fiction and literary translations have appeared in ColorLines, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and Zoetrope: All-Story, among others. She is the recipient of a 2008 Hedgebrook Residency for Women Authoring Change and the translator of the Chilean novella Bonsái by Alejandro Zambra. She lives in Oakland, California.

Author's introduction and first excerpt

Pajarita

Montevideo, Uruguay, 1924: Pajarita grew up in the country and first arrived in the city as a seventeen-year-old bride. Now, her husband has not been home for days, leaving her alone with three small children and a house that has run out of food. Her friend Coco, the butcher’s wife, has come over to visit.

“First of all,” Coco said, pushing a hefty package into Pajarita’s hands, “you’re taking this meat. I don’t care what you say. I know your husband’s gone—the desgraciado.” She sat her ample body down at Pajarita’s table. Pajarita stared at the gift.

“I have no way to thank you.”

Coco continued as if she hadn’t heard. “Secondly: your plants. They’re strong. You should sell them.”

“Sell?”

“To women in the barrio. You can start in the store, behind the counter with me. Look, once word spreads about your cures, better than a doctor and cheaper too, you’ll be putting food in those boys’ bellies.” It had never occurred to her, but she couldn’t think of a reason not to try. She took her children and a basket of leaves and roots and barks to the butcher shop. The boys resumed an epic pretend game of gauchos-in-the-campo, riding imaginary horses among the chunks of flesh that hung from the ceiling. In one corner of the room, between the chopping block and meat hooks, Pajarita arranged two small wooden stools and sat down on one. Ignazio, she thought, I want to kill you, to kiss you, to carve you like a flank; just wait and see how I’m going to live without you by my side.

Coco served as a living advertisement. Women began to come. Some of them just needed to be heard; they told sprawling, unkempt tales of death in the family, brutal mothers-in-law, financial pressures, wayward husbands, violent husbands, boring husbands, loneliness, crises of faith, visions of Mary, visions of Satan, sexual frigidity, sexual temptation, recurring dreams, fantasies involving saddles or bullwhips or hot coals. She offered them teas for comfort, luck, or protection. Other customers came with physical conditions—pain in their bones, a stitch in their side, numbness in hips, ears that rang, forgetfulness, sore knees, sore backs, sore hearts, sore feet, cut fingers, quivering fingers, wandering fingers, burns, headaches, indigestion, excessive female bleeding, a pregnancy that wouldn’t come, a pregnancy that had to end, cracked bones, cracked skin, rashes no doctor could diagnose, aches no doctor could cure. There were housewives, maids, sore-handed seamstresses, sweaty-handed adulteresses, great-grandmothers swaying with canes, young girls swooning with love. Pajarita listened to them all. She sat still as an owl as she listened. Then she handed them a small package and explained what to do with its contents. Word spread. Women came to see her from all corners of the city. She could barely keep up with harvesting from cracks in the sidewalk, nearby parks, and the pots in her own house. To Coco’s delight, the seekers often picked up their daily beef along with their cures. Pajarita set no price. Some gave her pesos, others fruit, a basket of bread, a ball or two of handspun wool. Anonymous gifts appeared on the Firielli doorstep—baskets of apples, jars of yerba mate, handmade clothes for the children. They had enough.

She had developed a peculiar sort of fame. Her name was whispered through the kitchens and vegetable stands of Montevideo. Pajarita, she cured me, you should go see her too. And when I almost. You saw me then. If it hadn’t been for her. Strange, she thought, that all of this should grow from something as familiar as plants, such ordinary things, opening new worlds, drawing the souls and stories of this city to her doorstep, unveiling a startling thing inside her: a reach, a scope, adventures with no road map, forays into the inner realms of strangers where she roved the darkness in search of something that bucked and flashed and disappeared, slippery, evasive, untamable.

One sweltering afternoon, as a hunchbacked woman who smelled of garlic confessed her infatuation with the new priest, Pajarita felt something stir inside her body. Her mind reached in to feel. She was pregnant. A girl. She filled with the memory of conception, that final night, the clawing, Ignazio’s torn and hungry skin. And he was gone. She almost imploded from the sadness.


Excerpted from THE INVISIBLE MOUNTAIN by Carolina de Robertis Copyright © 2009 by Carolina de Robertis. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

My Big Happy News!

Here is the official press release announcing my new venture. I wanted my readers to be among the first to find out about this. Thank you for your support!

Adriana Domínguez, Former HarperCollins Executive Editor,

Joins Full Circle Literary

Adriana Domínguez has joined Full Circle Literary as its newest agent, effective immediately. Ms. Domínguez has over ten years of experience in publishing, most recently as Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children's Books, where she managed the children’s division of the Latino imprint, Rayo.

Prior to her work at HarperCollins, Ms. Domínguez was Children’s Reviews Editor at Críticas magazine, published by Library Journal. She is also a professional translator, and has worked on a number of Spanish-language translations of best-selling children’s books.

At Full Circle Literary, Ms. Domínguez will continue her strong list of children’s picture books, middle grade novels, and literary young adult novels. She will also represent authors writing for adults in the following genres: literary fiction, women’s fiction, and historical fiction. For her adult nonfiction list, she will seek women’s interest, multicultural, pop culture, and how-to books.

Full Circle Literary founder Stefanie Von Borstel says, “We are very excited to have Adriana on board. Her eye for spotting and developing authors is unparalleled and we feel her taste is very much in tune with our global interests. Adriana and I met while working on Latino-interest projects at Rayo. I was impressed by her detail-oriented editing and her strength as an advocate for authors throughout the publishing process. I am certain that those skills, among others, will make her an excellent agent.”

“I am very much looking forward to helping published and unpublished authors develop their work and navigate the complex world of publishing from concept through publication, and beyond,” adds Ms. Domínguez. “I am particularly excited about having joined an agency that shares my interest in publishing the work of Latino authors, and that has the awards and recognition to prove that it does it well.”

Ms. Domínguez will be based in New York City and will serve as Full Circle Literary’s

East Coast representative. She can be contacted by e-mail at Adriana@fullcircleliterary.com.

Full Circle Literary is a California-based literary agency. Founded in 2004 by Stefanie Von Borstel and Lilly Ghahremani, the agency represents a wide range of children’s and adult authors. For more information, visit their website: www.fullcircleliterary.com.

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[Please note that I will resume posting next week.]

The 2009 National Latino Writers Conference in Albuquerque, NM: Part III

René Colato Laínez is the award-winning author of WAITING FOR PAPÁ, PLAYING LOTERÍA, and I AM RENÉ, THE BOY. He is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults, and a bilingual elementary teacher at Fernangeles Elementary School, where his students know him as "the teacher full of stories." René’s mission as an author is best described in his own words: “My goal as a writer is to produce good multicultural children's literature; stories where minority children are portrayed in a positive way, where they can see themselves as heroes, and where they can dream and have hope for the future. I want to write authentic stories of Latin American children living in the United States.”

René conducted an excellent workshop on writing picture books at the NLWC, and has generously provided a portion of it to VOCES below. I am sure that aspiring (and published!) picture book authors will find this information extremely helpful. For more information on René’s work, visit http://renecolatolainez.com. René also contributes to the following blogs: http://labloga.blogspot.com, http://www.losbloguitos.com.

René and me after his panel at the 2009 NLWC

HOW TO WRITE A PICTURE BOOK MANUSCRIPT

By Award-Winning Author, René Colato Laínez

I am René Colato Laínez, the Salvadoran author of many picture books, including PLAYING LOTERÍA/ EL JUEGO DE LA LOTERÍA and the forthcoming books RENÉ HAS TWO LAST NAMES/ RENÉ TIENE DOS APELLIDOS, THE TOOTH FAIRY MEETS EL RATÓN PÉREZ, and MY SHOES AND I.

When I started to submit my manuscripts to different publishers in March 2001, I received many rejection letters from editors. I wondered what was wrong with my stories. I thought I was writing wonderful stories but was not having any luck getting them published. So I decided to take some children’s writing classes and joined the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I was eager to learn the craft. I rolled up my sleeves and submerged myself into the children’s writing world. A year and a half later, I signed my first contract for my manuscript WAITING FOR PAPÁ/ ESPERANDO A PAPÁ. Yeah! My dream of becoming an author was becoming a reality!

But what does a picture book manuscript need to have in order to be considered by an editor? What do you need to do to get your chance at the publishing world?

Below, I’ve compiled some tips that I’ve learned on my way to becoming a published author. Take note and get inspired!

• A question that I have been asked many times is: “Do I need to hire an illustrator for my manuscript?” The answer is no, you don’t need to illustrate your own manuscript to become a children’s author. Editors will look at your manuscript on its own, and if they like it, find an illustrator for your work once they’ve acquired it.

• In a picture book manuscript, every word counts. This is why you need to select them very carefully. 1000 words would be the maximum for a picture book manuscript. 500 words would be ideal!

• When writing a manuscript, think in terms of scenes. A 32 picture book has 14 to 16 scenes. Break up your story into that many scenes to make sure that it will work.
• Each scene needs to be less than 70 words if you are aiming for a 1000 word count. But try to write your scenes in 50 words or less.

• Write using action words and use your five senses. Long descriptions of places, decorations, and room environment are not necessary. All of those details will be taken care of by the illustrations. Every time I start a new scene, I do this writing exercise:

- I see ___________
- I hear __________
- I smell _________
- I taste __________
- I touch _________
- My heart says_________

If I fill most of the blanks, I know that I have a good scene that can be illustrated.

• Your story needs to move and evolve from scene to scene. If, after writing three scenes your story in not going anywhere, you can merge those three scenes into a single one.

• Try to follow this format when writing. It works for me:

-Scene 1 Introduce your character and the problem.
-Scene 2 Give more details about the problem.
-Scene 3 Your character reacts: What will he or she do about it?
-Scene 4-10 Action, action and more action. Your character is the story’s hero.
-Scene 11-12 Think about the story’s climax.
-Scene 13-15 Solve the problem.
-Scene 16 Happy ending!

• After writing the manuscript, share it with your peers for critique. It is wonderful to be part of a critique group. The website for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is a great resource to help you find a group near your area (among other things).

• At the end of the critique, take what you consider valuable and can turn your manuscript into a better story. And listen; your group can have great ideas that at first may sound silly but may later bring you to say: “Yeah! They were right!”

• Once you have a fantastic manuscript, submit it. Rejection letters may come your way, but believe in your story and don’t give up. One day, you will hear someone give you the wonderful news you long to hear: “We want to publish your story!”

Saludos and good luck,
René Colato Laínez
www.renecolatolainez.com

The 2009 National Latino Writers Conference in Albuquerque, NM: Part II

For my second installment in my series of posts following up the conference, I would like to print some of Dr. Felipe Ortego y Gasca’s enlightening comments during his opening keynote address. For those of you who may not know, Dr. Ortego y Gasca has long been considered the founder of Chicano Literary Studies. His seminal work, entitled Backgrounds of Mexican American Literature (Univ. of NM, 1971), was the first study published in the field. He is also credited for being the first to write on the subject of Chicano literature for a major publisher with his We Are Chicanos: Anthology of Mexican American Literature (Washington Square Press, 1973). It was truly an honor for me to get an opportunity to see him speak at this conference, and I would like to pass some of that honor on to you.

Ortego y Gasca addressing the participants of the 2009 National Latino Writers Conference.

During his talk, Ortega y Gasca offered these encouraging words to the Latino authors in attendance: “We are still in our gestation period, 1973 is not that long ago”—referring to the date of publication of We Are Chicanos— and adding: “We have to recover the U.S. Latino saga; my family’s history in the U.S. dates back to 1731, before 1776”—obviously pointing to his own Mexican roots, and maybe alluding to that old Southwestern saying: “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.”

He went on to make a distinction between Latin American writers living in the U.S.—who are very much connected to the literary tradition of their homelands—, and Latino Writers— whom, he pointed out, should be identified as U.S.-based Latino authors, such as Sandra Cisneros. I wanted to print this remark in particular because he went on to state that “this distinction is seldom made (by publishers, readers, and the general public), exhibiting a basic misunderstanding and ignorance of the work of U.S. Latino writers, which dates back to the roots of this country—and has a long future ahead.”

Ortega y Gasca also mentioned the demographics with which my readers are already very well acquainted, putting them into perspective, and within the literary context. He said: “By 2040, 1 in 3 Americans will be Latino, and this demographic is changing from the inside, not through immigration.” (Referring to the fact that 1 out of 2 babies now born in the U.S. is of Latino heritage.) “Every county in the US now has Latinos in it.” (A fact that I, for one, was not aware of, and which I found fascinating, since it has endless implications.) Finally, referring to what he dubbed the “tsunamic demographic change” that we are about to face, Ortego y Gasca offered these very simple, wise words to present and future Latino writers: “We should not waste it.”

I hope you are enjoying these posts on the NLWC. Check back at the end of this week, when I will be posting the first of a series of writing tips by some of the published authors who attended the conference.

For more information on the National Latino Writers Conference, and the rest of the programs at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, click here.

The 2009 National Latino Writers Conference in Albuquerque, NM: Part I

From May 21st through the 23rd of this year, I had the pleasure of participating in this wonderful yearly event as a guest faculty member. As such, I took part in a panel of editors, and provided attendees with one-on-one editorial consultations. I know that with the current speed of Internet news this probably seems like ages ago, but I wanted those who did not have the fortune of attending this conference to benefit from my participation, so I've decided to write about it, and to post interviews I conducted with some of its participants, as well as valuable writing tips from published Latino authors who directed workshops during the three-day event. Who knows, perhaps some of this information will entice some you to attend the conference next year! Since I intend to provide quite a bit of information, I will do so over a series of posts. So stay tuned, there is plenty more coming. And let me know what you think!

First, I want to acknowledge the wonderful people who put the conference together: Carlos Vázquez, Director of the History and Literary Arts Program at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, where the event is housed, Senior Librarian Greta Pullen who personifies poise and grace, and their dynamic Administrative Assistant, Kate Trujillo, without whom, I’ve been told, the conference may not happen at all! Thank you all for your warm hospitality; you really make this a special event for all involved.

As you might have already guessed, I really enjoyed participating in this conference. But this should come as no surprise, since, in just 7 short years, it has quickly become the most important writers conference in the country for aspiring Latino authors. And why wouldn’t it? Enrollment is limited to 50 registrants, and with 20 faculty members available on any given year, the personalized service provided by this conference is unmatched, particularly considering its rather low enrollment fee. The conference also confers two important awards: The annual Premio Aztlán founded by Rudolfo Anaya and his wife Patricia in 1993 in an effort to encourage and reward the work of Chicano/a authors, and the biannual National Hispanic Cultural Center Literary Prize, or NHCC. The premio Aztlán was moved to the National Hispanic Cultural Center in 2008, and the ceremony became a part of the National Latino Writers Conference during that year as well.

But what makes this conference so wonderful is the caring people who put it together, and who make every effort to ensure that all in attendance get the most they can out of the experience. It is for this reason that I decided to take advantage of Carlos Vázquez’s generosity by asking him to sit down with me and tell me a bit more about what makes this event work. Here is what I learned:

Carlos Vásquez was a faculty member at the University of New Mexico from 1991 to 1999; from 1992 to 1997, he represented the university alongside historians, anthropologists, people in the arts such as musicians, authors, and others, on a design committee that worked together to conceive what would be then called the Research and Literary Arts Program: a documentation center for Hispanic culture consisting of video collections, publications, a library, and archives. Eventually, the center morphed into the current History and Literary Arts Program (HLA), charged with documenting and preserving Hispanic history, culture, and literature. The HLA permanent collection encompasses over 14,000 books, full text electronic databases, 2,000 rolls of microfilm, hundreds of video and audiotapes, and manuscript and photo archives—all concentrated on the history of Hispanics worldwide with a focus on the U.S. Southwest. The HLA programs include historical exhibits based on family and community histories, seasonal book signings, lectures, short courses (Cursillos), a World Book Day/ Día del Libro celebration, and of course, the National Latino Writers Conference.

Carlos Vásquez, Director of the History and Literary Arts program at the National Hispanic Cultural Center welcoming participants to the 2009 NLWC.

“We started this event with one ad in Poets and Writers,” say Carlos Vásquez, noting the preexisting need for a conference of this nature. “From that ad alone, registration filled up quickly, and we ended up with a waitlist of 13 authors from all over the country; at that point, we knew we were onto something.” Carlos is particularly proud of the conference’s famously warm environment: “The experience of being here alone is worth it, and is what has participants come time and time again; it is what has spread the word about the conference and filled it, year after year, along with the fabulous guest faculty we showcase.”

And with workshops ranging from poetry to children’s literature, and panels of editors, agents, and publishers, this conference’s popularity shows no sign of fading. Not to mention that it has borne fruit: participating writers have found agents and publishers for their work, in part because the industry folk who attend it are really interested in finding Latino talent; in part because of the great pains the organizers go through to make sure that everyone gets to know everyone else, and to showcase the writers in attendance. (This year saw the launch of new “Open Mic” sessions that enabled writers to read before all those in attendance, providing them an opportunity not only to share their work, but also to exhibit their presentation skills, and many authors took full advantage of that opportunity.)

This new feature is but one of many planned in a conference that is ever evolving to better adapt itself to the needs of its attendees, and the market. “Plans are already underway for next year to include new workshops for illustrators, travel writers, and in Spanish, for Latin American writers who have moved to the U.S.,” says Carlos, who, when discussing the current state of the U.S. publishing industry is quick to note: “writing is as important as ever.” What can one add to that? Maybe just that it’s nice to know that this conference has its priorities straight.

For more information on the National Latino Writers Conference, and the rest of the programs at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, click here.