Report back from East LA and beyond

So I've decided to get over my resistance to writing on my blog and start to write in this more public forum once again. we'll see how it goes.

We had an amaaazing time in East Los/Boyle Heights and the always lovely Long Beach. So many beautiful people, so much talent and inspiration and so much support, my heart is full. I don't exactly know how I made it through with this horrible flu (my ears are still plugged up from the plane) and actually with all the remedies I was partaking of, ginger tea, nasal washes (don't knock it till you try it. its like getting water up your nose in the pool but so so helpful it rocked my world) throat lozenges, throat coat, zinc, vitamins, kambucha (thanks Leah!) and finally some advil, dayquil, or theraflu when it got really rough..., who knows what was real and what was delirium...I didn't get to talk with as many folks as I wished because my voice wasn't there but man did I realize what a little adrenaline can do to get you through. And the folks of CASA 0101 are the best!

On to the next one. This weekend we will be in San Jose at Teatro Vision opening up before House on Mango Street 7:30 sharp so don't be late and there are still a few slots for the workshop with LM3 on Saturday 2-4pm if you know any women who would like to take the workshop. What a great month! Looking forward to some down time to write write write, apply for grants and plan for next year. Abrazos thank you all for your support and feedback!



Friday, October 24- Las Manas Tres: The all mujer hybrid performance troupe Las Manas Tres come down to San José for a special set full of the flava, conciencia, humor and style that is their work. 7:30pm in the Teatro lobby.

Saturday, October 25- Creative Writing/Performance Workshop: Led by Las Manas Tres and inspired by the work of Sandra Cisneros, this workshop is open to women aged 11-25 and is free with attendance to any performance of La Casa en Mango Street. 2-4pm at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. To sign up, contact Carlos Velázquez by email carlos@teatrovision.org.



http://www.teatrovision.org/english/?mission

Epicentro Poetic Epidemic

CASA 0101 Presents:
Epicentro Poetic Epidemic
Friday Oct. 17, 2008
Doors open at 7:30 PM
Show at 8:00 PM
CASA 0101
2009 E. First St.
Los Angeles, CA 90033

For tickets: tickets@casa0101.org or 323-263-7684
More info:casa0101.org
myspace.com/casa_0101


(October 7, 2008) – Los Angeles, CA – Revolutionary Central American poets
and friends straddle the lines that divide in this evening of art and action. Why
blend in and give in to invisibility?

This night of music and poetry builds alliances with Bay Area artists, Tocayo; Las
Manas Tres: Maya Chinchilla, Milta Ortiz, Cruz Grimaldo; Ana Miranda
Maldonado and Leticia Hernandez-Linares author of Razor Edges of My Tongue.
LA cultural activist Raquel Gutierrez of Butchlalis de Panochtitlan joins other
Epicentro Poets including Jessica Grande, Karina Oliva-Alvarado, in this explosive night of poetry and performance.

This offering creates space for those who have lost their home, who were taken
from their home, who had it stolen, who decided it was time to leave and for
those who carry their home in their heart and need a place to rest. It is about
recovering, documenting and making personal histories and demanding rightful
place among cultural, political and literary movements. Testimony is given to
resurrect memory, inspire action, and laugh loudly to heal old wounds. This
fundraiser supports the publication of DESDE EL EPICENTRO: An Anthology of
U.S. Central American Poetry and Art, co-edited by Karina Oliva-Alvarado and Maya Chinchilla.

Las Manas Tres at Los Medanos College Oct 8, 2008

LMC EVENTS CALENDAR

Puente Program At Los Medanos College

Mangos, Pinta & Junot

Get out and support some beautiful writers and artists in the Bay!

Mangos with Chilethis Thursday at La Peña in Berkeley,
Pinta tu Propio Mundo Saturday@ Galeria de la Raza in the Mission in SF,
and Junot Diaz at several locations in the Bay...
See you there!


QTPOC Traveling Cabaret
Encuentros 2: Dispatches from the Queer Borderlands


Thursday September 18, 2008
$10-$15 sliding scale - 8pm

Mangos with Chile Productions presents: Encuentros 2: Dispatches from the Queer Borderlands. Curated by Ms. Cherry & featuring tales from immigrant & first generation queer & trans artists. Through story, hip hop, dance, burlesque & theater, artists reveal the queer sides of immigration and the struggle to survive these war years.
**************


Sat., Sept 20
Time: 7:30pm
Admission: $15 General $10 Students & Galeria Members


Pinta Tu Propio Mundo
Hosted by Leticia Hernández
Featuring: Raquel Gutierrez, Lysa Flores, Kirya Traber, Kim Addonizio, Amie Suzara, and DJ La Rumorosa


For seven years, the Pinta tu Propio Mundo/Create Your Own World series has gathered cutting edge artists that celebrate the creative expression and resistance of women. Founded by spoken word artist Leticia Hernández, this event has grown from a reading among friends to a multidisciplinary gathering of established and emerging women artists. This year, DJ La Rumerosa will open the doors to the voice of slam champion Kirya Traber, Butchlalis de Panochtitlan founder, Raquel Gutierrez, Chicana rocker, Lysa Flores, award winning novelist and poet, Kim Addonizio, East Bay phenom Amie Suzara, and Mission poetista and host, Leticia Hernández. Amelia Berumen of Izpapalotl Clothing, will sell her one of a kind cloth poems at the event.



************
Junot Diaz readings in the Bay (I hope to be at the Oakland one!)
September 18
City Arts and Lectures, In conversation with Paul Lancour, Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 8:00 pm.
September 19
Barnes and Noble, 98 Broadway, Jack London Sq., Oakland, CA, 7:00 pm.
September 20
MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Americana), San Jose, CA, 8:00 pm.

Las Manas Tres on KPFA TONIGHT

KPFA La Raza Chronicles Tonight 7pm 94.1 www.kpfa.org

Tuesday Sept. 9, 2008

La Raza Chronicles fills the airwaves with its Spanglish enchantments with public affairs, news sin fronteras, musica y poesia. Nina Serrano interviews the dynamic poetry trio Las Manas about their original poems and spoken performance-art pieces- are you ready to be shocked with what is innovative and fresh in feminista Latina thinking? We will also hear from C`tone about the latest La Raza Chronicles Blogspot and the story of his involvement in community media. Mr Chuch brings us the buzz from the Streets of Aztlan. Emiliano Echevarria shares his expertise and fabulous collection of Musica de Cuba.

Negotiating the Weary

Negotiating the Weary

 

 

How to read poetry indeed. I wanted to share first off that the anxiety of returning to school to be and do Poetry with a capital ‘P’ has me all wound up. I am facing down some demons of sorts by entering into the academy as a POET. A poet who only believed she could write poetry because she learned of adults in Central America learning literacy and revolution through poetry.  Because of poetry with no rules, but baptized in the comfort of oral tradition. Because of community based poets telling it like it is from the heart. Only learning of poetry from living poets mouths.

I sit down to read poetry. Even though the words like to dance out of place when I read or hold them down for enough time to get a sentence out.

It seems fitting, anxious as I am that the first set of poems from Langston Hughes speaks of dreams, growing older and claiming a place in society that keeps you at the margins. Hughes writes “Help me to shatter this darkness, to smash this night, To break this shadow into a thousand lights of sun, into a thousand whirling dreams of sun!” These metaphors speak to me. I feel the weight. Only a few lines before he says he is the shadow lying in the darkness of a wall that is keeping Hughes from his dreams. 

Flor y Canto en el Barrio: A Celebration of Latino Poetry

Date: Thurs., July 24
Time: 8pm
Admission: FREE



Brave New Mundo
Featuring: Javier O Huerta, Alejandra Mojica, Marc Pinate/Tocayo and Las Manas Tres.

Join us at Galeria de la Raza, in San Francisco, one of six venues participating in the Flor y Canto en el Barrio kick off and Lit Crawl, on Thursday, July 24. Translated to mean "Flower and Song in the Neighborhood," the festival brings young, unpublished poets alongside authors such as two-time winner of the American Book Award, Alejandro Murguía, and San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman for poetry readings, workshops, and a special exchange of culture and history. "Flor y Canto is about the pursuit of peace through the celebration of poetry, art, culture, and friendship," said the event's curator and critically acclaimed poet Alejandro Murguía.

The Festival will begin on Thursday, July 24 with a kick-off party at 6:00pm in Balmy Alley (24th St. between Harrison and Folsom) and a Lit Crawl of both established and emerging poets. The Lit Crawl will take place at over six different venues on 24th Street (between Mission and Bryant). Poetry readings and workshops for various ages and interests will continue throughout Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26. For locations of the poetry crawl or for more details visit the Friends' website at www.friendssfpl.org.


Thursday, July 24

Event 1:Festival kick-off party and Lit Crawl with young poets
6:00 pm; Balmy Alley, 24th St. between Harrison & Folsom; Lit Crawl locations include:

7:00 pm—"Other Voices/Many Americas"
Café La Boheme
3318 24th St.
(415) 643-0481
7:00 pm—"La Nueva Flor"
Philz Coffee
3101 24th St.
(415) 282-9155
7:00 pm—"El Corazon de la Misión"
Sundance Coffee
3000 24th St.
(415) 824-1706 8:00 pm—"Breaking Borders"
Accion Latina (El Tecolote Headquarters)
2958 24th St.
(415) 648-1045

8:00 pm—"Fuerza: From Sor Juana to the Mission"
L's Café
2871 24th St. 8:00 pm—"Brave New Mundo – Cutting Edge of the 21st Century"
Galería de la Raza
2857 24th St. @ Bryant
415.826.8009

Event 2:Reception for young poets
9:00 pm; Casa Sanchez, 2778 24th St



Contact: Katie Ambellan
(415) 626-7512 ext. 123
Katie@friendssfpl.org



Friday, July 25

Event 1: The Word From The Street (Tomas Riley of Youth Speaks hosts teen reading)
2:00 pm; Mission Branch Library, 300 Bartlett St. @ 24th St.

Event 2: Nuestra America I (Main Reading featuring six poets)
7:00 pm; Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St.

Saturday, July, 26

Event 1: The Word Made Perfect: The Art and Craft of Translation (Translation reading/workshop)
2:00 pm; Mission Branch Library, 300 Bartlett St. @ 24th St.

Event 2: Nuestra America II (Main Reading featuring six poets)
7:00 pm; Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St.

Featured Poets



v Lorna Dee Cervantes
v José Montoya
v Mamacoatl
v Roberto Vargas
v Jackie Mendez
v Alfredo Arteaga
v Nina Serrano
v Alejandro Murguía
v Cipactli
v Norman Zelaya
v Melissa Lozano
v Javier O Huerta
v Kim Shuck
v Francisco X Alarcon
v Victor Valle
v Naomi Quiñonez
v Marc Piñate
v Milta Ortiz
v Darren de Leon
v Las Manas Tres
v Alejandra Mojica
v Tomás Riley
v Barbara Jane Reyes
v Jack Hirschman
v Leticia Hernández
v Alfonso Texidor
v Catrióna Rueda Esquibel
v Jorge Argueta
v Janet J Cruz
v Adrian Arias
v Noelia Mendoza
v Walter Huracan Gomez