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.

Hosting our first poetry workshop

Traffic

Sewer stink fills his lungs

tortillas on his face like a mask

candlewax drips over time like tears

rubber body suit melts into the grooves of the day

there is a red light behind his eyes

cry, cloaca, cry

what did you stop doing?

Listed above is the group poem that was written last Thursday when a small group of folks came together at Tianguis for a free poetry workshop with Naomi Ayala. The event was sponsored and made possible by the Guild Complex.

I can't begin to express how grateful and honored we felt for such a wonderful opportunity for both Tianguis and for the community members that got to participate. Naomi was a blast and we had so much fun, there were lots of laughs and jokes and ultimately we all walked out armed with a writing exercise and a new poem.

Stay tuned, because Ellen at the Guild Complex hinted about doing this again next fall. We will make sure to keep you posted.

May 21st: mojitos and mingling @ Cuatro

When: Wednesday, May 21st.
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where: Cuatro, 2030 S Wabash Ave.

The wonderful women that serve on the Latina Leadership Council for the Chicago Foundation For Women are putting together a lovely event. Its an evening gathering open to everyone, come out for mojitos, do a little mingling and obtain information on the Latina Leadership Council.

Tianguis @ the Mexican & Latino Book Fair in Chicago

We are thrilled to be taking part of this book fair, we invite you to look for the Tianguis booth on Saturday, May 17th and check out the most recent titles by Momotombo Press. The fair will be from Thurs., May 15th to Sun, May 18th but we will only be there one day. Held at University of Illinois at Chicago, Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted. This event is free and open to the public. Details here.

Extended Deadline for Anthology: May 30, 2008

EXTENDED DEADLINE: May 30, 2008

Call for submissions for new anthology focusing on Mexicans/ Chicanos in Chicago and the Midwest.

Edited by: María A. Beltrán-Vocal, Paul Martínez Pompa,
and Irasema González

• Abstract: This anthology explores the experience of Mexicans/Chicanos in Chicago and the Midwest through their writing. By telling the stories of Chicano lives’, we create history and provide a foundation for those attempting to understand the needs and experiences of Chicanos. We also provide direction for self-empowerment.

• The purpose of this book is to record the social, cultural, political, literary experience of Chicanos/Mexicans from their own voice and perspective. This anthology will provide writers and scholars with first hand experience and perspective of Mexicans in Chicago and the Midwest. This anthology will provide Mexicans/Chicanos with the opportunity to explore the presence of Mexicans in Chicago and the Midwest from the end of the XIXth century to today. The writings will allow the reader to view the experience of workers in the railroads, the mills, and the activism of Mexicans in the sixties and seventies to the immigration marches in the XX1st centuries. These writings will give a new perspective of the presence and contributions of Mexicans in Chicago and the Midwest. It will examine the hardships, the struggles and triumphs of Chicanos/Mexicans and how their struggle has changed their perspective of life, politics, activism, education, and gender roles. We are accepting submissions in the forms of essay, poetry, short story, oral histories/testimonies, and autobiographies.

• Postmarked deadline for submissions is Saturday,March 22^nd, 2008

  
  

• Two hard copies of the article, including endnotes and bibliography

§ Submissions should be double spaced, follow MLA format and must not exceed 20 pages.

§ Poets may submit up to five poems

§ Writers may submit up to two short stories no longer than 20 pages

§ Autobiography/testimony, creative, non-fiction/memoir no longer than 20 pages

§ All contributors must submit a brief biography and professional affiliation.

Please send submissions to:

María A. Beltrán-Vocal
Department of Modern Languages
DePaul University
802 West Belden Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
(773)325-7000 ext. 51866

Catch us in the Chicago Journal

This week's Chicago Journal includes a feature about Tianguis and Proyecto Latina. You can also read the article online here.

Proyecto Latina: Redeems and inspires

I first met Josephine Gasca many years back when we both took a Latin American Literature class in college. When we received the syllabus Josephine thought to ask a very important question, "Why is there only one book by a Latina on the reading list?" We read many wonderful books that semester but only one was written by a female writer, with the exception of the authors we chose to write about for our independent projects. Our professor didn't budge and I hesitate to share what this individual answered, but I think you can probably guess what it sounded like. So, some ten years later, being a part of Proyecto Latina is a wonderful privilege and I value the opportunity to learn about and meet so many wonderful, established and emerging Latina writers--its complete redemption for having to sit through that awful class.

The third Monday of every month always inspires me, I would love to share that with you. So, I invite you to join us, Monday, March 17th, our feature is my old friend Josephine Gasca. I'm very excited about Josephine's feature because she will be reading and also doing belly dance performance for us. Remember that we will be meeting at Radio Arte, 1401 W. 18th St, on the corner of 18th and Blue Island. Open mic sign-up begins at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Josephine Gasca graduated from Columbia College with an MFA in Creative Writing. In Chicago, she helped run the family drywall business, raised an amazing daughter, taught in Columbia's Fiction Department and gathered enough material for several novels. She moved to the East Coast a little over four years ago to devote more time to her writing and artistic pursuits. Her teaching repertoire now includes dance. She writes and and book keeps by day and belly dances at night.

February recap: Our February feature was Liz Sandoval. Liz and everyone who joined us, including the Chicago Journal, were wonderful sports and didn't complain much about the last minute venue change. In case you were unable to join us, Liz read a powerful memoir piece, From Zero to Fucked in Six Seconds, that you can go read here- its posted under a different title, White Daisies.