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 Ada Limón, the 24th Poet Laureate, at the Library of Congress. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress. Ada Limón, named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States by the U.S. Library of Congress this past July, assumes her position today, September 29th, with a reading of her work in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library.
The first Mexican American woman to be named to the position, Limón is originally from Sonoma, California, and is the author of several poetry collections. The Carrying, published in 2018 by Milkweed Editions, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. Limón earned an MFA from New York University and is the recipient of various fellowships. Her works have appeared in numerous publications including the New Yorker, Harvard Review, Pleiades, and Barrow Street. Limón is the host of the acclaimed podcast, “The Slowdown,” and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
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War of the Flea Film Screening and Platica / Q&A with film maker Ernesto Todd Mireles, PhD Date: Tuesday, 9/27/22 Time: 12:20 - 2:45 p.m. Where: Berkeley City College (BCC) Auditorium War of the Flea: The Fight for Xicano Studies shows how Xicano students at Michigan State University forced a major university to establish a Xicano/Latino Studies program despite their small numbers and how an increasingly marginalized Xicano/Latino community was barraged by attack after attack from the white power structure. Learn more at waroftheflea.org and watch the trailer below.  Ernesto Todd Mireles, MSW. Ph.D. has worked as a student, community, union, and electoral organizer. Coordinator of the Frantz Fanon Community Strategy Center at Prescott College, he organized for the United Farm Workers, United Steelworkers and American Federation of Teachers. Mireles is the co-director of the Prescott College's Social Justice Community Organizing Masters program where he teaches community organizing. He holds an MSW in organizational and community practice and a Ph.D. American Studies from Michigan State University. His book Insurgent Aztlan, published by Somos en escrito Literary Foundation Press, was awarded an International Latino Book Award, placing second in the Best Political/Current Affairs category.  Look for Dr. Mireles' book Insurgent Aztlán at the event or order a copy from Somos en escrito Literary Foundation Press!
 Bella Coming Mid-November.Somos en escrito is pleased to announce our upcoming publication Bella Collector of Cuentos by Carmen Baca. When she opens an old photo album, Bella falls into a world where the gente of New Mexican folklore are on the verge of disappearing if she, her family, and community forget them: Don Cacahuate y Doña Cebolla, Coyote, duendes, Santa Sebastiana/Santa Muerte, the deadly Malhora, Llorona, and Coco, among others. Ancianos of Bella’s family line teach her what no one else has told her about her culture: the practices of the curandera, the forecasting of the weather through Cabañuelas by the farmer, the history of the Spanish dialect spoken in northern New Mexico and almost nowhere else, and more. But will she survive to pass on the tales? Bella is the youngest in her family, excluded from memories shared between her older siblings and parents, who only ask that she focus on her education. No one asks about Bella the person, Bella the silent observer, never chosen to play with her school peers or invited to parties. She avoids drawing attention to herself, using her long, dark hair as a shield of protection. But could things be different one day? Her first chance to try might be in this alternate realm that resembles her home, but isn’t quite the way she’s ever experienced it. Here is what people are saying about Bella: “Carmen Baca’s work captures reality, mythology and the mystery of years gone by using vivid language and feeling. One can smell every tree, thunderclouds rolling by, fresh tortillas on the grill, or the balls of fire as brujas approach.” Nicolasa Chávez, Deputy State Historian, Author and Curator “An AWESOME read, a New Mexico fantasy in which readers will follow Bella, this book’s heroine, as she wanders the magical alternative world of the Dead and Forgotten. There she meets ancestors and other spirits of animals—both domestic and wild—witches, ghosts, birds, monsters, a curandera, her aunt and her grandfather. Bella Collector of Cuentos: entertaining, knowledgeable, and awesome.” Lani Kyea, NM artist  Carmen Baca taught high school and college English for thirty-six years before retiring in 2014. Her debut novel El Hermano, published in April 2017, was a 2018 finalist in the NM-AZ book awards program. Her third book, Cuentos del Cañón, received first place for short story fiction anthology in 2020 from the same program. To date, she has published five books and close to fifty short works in online literary magazines and anthologies. Her goal to make her mark on New Mexico literature comes from her desire to pass on elements of her Hispano culture which have disappeared almost entirely since she was a child. She believes we should embrace our culture, cherish our roots, and remember our elders to prevent losing important facets of our identities as Hispano people.
 Rosa Martha Zárate Macías accepted an ILBA Gold Medal for Our Grandfathers Were Braceros / Nuestros Abuelos Fueron Braceros on behalf of herself and co-author Abel Astorga Morales. She emphasized the importance of photos and firsthand testimony by Braceros about the labor conditions during the Bracero Program, the ongoing struggle for compensation by Braceros and their surviving family members, and the need to change current laws to improve the rights of people categorized as temporary workers. Click below to watch Rosa Martha accept the ILBA and speak starting at 59:50.  Tell Us How We are Doing!Somos en escrito wants to know our readers better. The questionnaire is short, click our logo or this link. Thank you!
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