Reading: Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest

We know its two weeks away, but we just finalized the date and venue for this reading and booksigning. Save the date and come out to join us.

Friday, February 6, 2009 @ 7 p.m.
Held @ Radio Arte, 1401 W. 18th St.
(Radio Arte is in Pilsen. A few blocks East of the CTA pink line stop and there is meter parking nearby.)
Free. Copies of Stephanie's books for sale.

MEXICAN ENOUGH: MY LIFE BETWEEN THE BORDERLINES
Washington Square Press, August 2008
As a biracial American, Stephanie Elizondo Griest has long struggled with her cultural identity, wondering if she is “Latina enough” to pursue race-based scholarships and the like. In 2005, she ventured to her mother’s native Mexico to do a little root-searching and improve her “Tarzan Lite” Spanish. She stumbled upon a burgeoning social movement that shook parts of the nation to its core. MEXICAN ENOUGH chronicles her journey, from the narco-infested border town of Nuevo Laredo to the highlands of Chiapas. She investigates the murder of a prominent gay activist, sneaks into prison to meet with resistance fighters, rallies with rebels in Oaxaca, and interviews scores of migrant workers and the families they were forced to leave behind. Travel companions include a Polish thief, a Border Patrol agent, and a Dominatrix. Part memoir, part journalistic reportage, MEXICAN ENOUGH illuminates how we cast off our identity in our youth, only to strive to find it again as adults—and the lessons to be learned along the way.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: STEPHANIE ELIZONDO GRIEST
Stephanie Elizondo Griest has mingled with the Russian Mafiya, polished Chinese propaganda, and belly danced with Cuban rumba queens. These adventures inspired her award-winning memoir AROUND THE BLOC: MY LIFE IN MOSCOW, BEIJING, AND HAVANA (Villard/Random House, 2004) and guidebook 100 PLACES EVERY WOMAN SHOULD GO (Travelers’ Tales, 2007). She has explored five continents and once drove 45,000 miles across America in a Honda Hatchback named Bertha. A 2005-2006 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, she recently won the Richard J. Margolis Award for Social Justice Reporting. Visit her website at www.aroundthebloc.com

Adelita: preview & interview

Adelita, Pata de Perro
Listen to Jenny Priego's interview with Proyecto Latina Radio, which aired earlier this month where she talks about her art process and her upcoming show Adelita, pata de perro at Tianguis.



12 min, 29 sec

Proyecto Latina's Radio Project

What I am going to remember and probably miss most about this past summer are my Thursday evenings. These were the evenings dedicated to getting the Proyecto Latina Radio project off the ground. After closing shop I would meet up with my fellow co-producer Diana Pando and we would catch a quick bite to eat at either La Cebollita or Los Comales and then stroll over to the Radio Arte studios to meet up with our other team members: Yolanda Cardenas, Ericka Sanchez and Miranda Gonzalez. Jesus Ortiz, the host of the Urban Alternatives show at Radio Arte patiently guided us through weeks of radio training and tolerated my affinity for freestyle music while enlightening me with some knowledge of hip hop music.

We've been a little quiet about our little Sunday project because we are still refining our radio editing and producing skills. The goal of the radio show is to build upon Proyecto Latina and the programming that we have already been doing with our Open mic and reading series. So far we've had the pleasure of featuring work by local Latinas such as Lisa Alvarado, and Tanya Saracho as well as an interview with Mexican author Elena Poniatowska. We encourage you to tune in on Sundays from 6 to 7 p.m. If you are in the area you can probably pick up the frequency on your radio (90.5 FM) or you can tune into wrte.org to listen as it streams online.

We are working on uploading our radio archives so you can access them any time you like. More on this project coming soon...

Proyecto Latina: September recap

This last Monday we got together for our September '09 edition of Proyecto Latina: we had chismes, open mic and a featured reading by Achy Obejas. The Yollocalli Gallery at Radio Arte, where we hosted our event, is currently decked out in various shades of pink because their current exhibit is about the Quinceanera tradition. I thought it was pretty cool and appropriate that our open mic participants and Achy got to read with a Latina deity of sorts (a student piece) watching over them.

If you missed it, we just want to let you know that copies of Achy's latest titles, This is what happened in our other life and Havana Noir are still available at Tianguis. You can also catch Achy September 26th where she will be having a conversation with Junot Diaz at Instituto Cervantes.

The amazing transformations of Desiree Castro

Desiree T. Castro piqued my interest when she sent word of her most recent project, The Cabrona Chronicles. The last time I had caught Desiree on stage she was in drag and playing Diego, a young boy in the men's bathroom with his dad learning about the rules of using the urinals. Next it was the solo piece that Desiree wrote for the Solo Tu show about motherhood.

Desiree explains that The Cabrona Chronicles is a piece about, "exploration of vital turning points in women's lives and those moments that trigger daughters to avenge their families, wives to leave their husbands, timid girls to have fist fights, students to discipline teachers, and grandmothers to mumble in their sleep,"Te estoy viendo cabrona."

I've had some of those turning points, so I can't wait to see Desiree at the next Proyecto Latina where she will be sharing excerpts from, The Cabrona Chronicles. Ginger Gallardo, Desiree's sister will be joining her with musical selections she's composed as part of the project.

This actress, writer, arts-educator, dancer and mother has a list of impressive accomplishments that include Teatro Luna's award winning show Machos and Solo Tu, she is also a company member for Barrel of Monkeys Theatre Company. You can read Desiree's complete bio here.

Come out and join us on Monday, June 21st at the Radio Arte studios, 1401 W. 18th Street, on the corner of 18th and Blue Island for this event. (Use the 18th street door.) Desiree will be our feature, there will be eight open mic slots and every one's favorite the chisme box.