It has just been announcedthat Rigoberto González is toreceive a Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award at the Poets &Writers’ annual dinner, In Celebration of Writers, on Monday, March 18, 2013, inNew York City. The other recipients are listed here.
Established in 1996, theBarnes & Noble Writers for Writers Awards celebrate authors who have givengenerously to other writers or to the broader literary community. Nominationsare solicited from past winners, other prominent writers, members of thepublishing community, and Poets & Writers’ Board and staff. Thesenominations are reviewed and winners selected by a committee comprised ofcurrent and past members of the Board of Directors. Title of the award has beengiven to Barnes & Noble in appreciation of their extraordinary support ofPoets & Writers.
Rigoberto González is anassociate professor of English at Rutgers University - Newark. He is the authorof thirteen books of poetry and prose and is the editor of Camino del Sol: FifteenYears of Latina and Latino Writing. Next month, the University ofArizona Press will publish his book of essays, Red-InkedRetablos. He is the recipient of Guggenheim and NEA fellowships and agrant from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and winner of the AmericanBook Award, The Poetry Center Book Award, and The Shelley Memorial Award of ThePoetry Society of America. He is a contributing editor for Poets & Writers Magazine and amember of the executive board of directors of the National Book Critics Circle.
He kindly agreed to answera few questions for La Blogaregarding this honor.
DANIEL OLIVAS: The award is meantto celebrate authors who have given generously to other writers or to thebroader literary community. How would you describe your particular role thatresulted in this honor?
RIGOBERTOGONZÃ�LEZ: Well, the official citation in thepress release is that I am receiving this honor “for championing Latina/owriters.” In the decade I wrote for TheEl Paso Times, I managed to write 206 book reviews, all Latina/o authors.This work opened other doors for me: editing the University of Arizona’s Caminodel Sol anthology, and serving on the executive board of the National BookCritics Circle these last 6 years—two more years until my term ends! Throughwhatever opportunity presents itself to me, I make it a duty to put forth aLatina/o title that I believe has merit and warrants additional attention. Itkeeps me reading and expanding my respect for our cultured and creativecommunity.
DO: How did you find outthat you were one of the recipients? Were you surprised?
RG: I was actually on the road, justcoming home from the Latino Poetry Now event in Minneapolis last October. I hadjust said my goodbyes to Kristin Naca and I was waiting for a cab at JFK when Ireceived the call from Elliot Figman, the executive director of Poets & Writers Magazine. I had toagree to keep quiet until the official announcement was made this many monthslater. I was overwhelmed because I had attended this event a few times as atable host and I got to see Junot Diaz, Maxine Hong Kingston and Kwame Dawesreceive the honor. Those are folks I admire immensely so I was thrilled to bein that distinguished company.
DO: Are you going towrite an acceptance speech or simply let the spirit take you wherever it may?
RG: I’m still debating it. I thinkfolks in the audience appreciate the extemporaneous approach. I have a fewthoughts. For example, I plan to dedicate this award to my mentors and otherveteran writers who did the same kind of work I’m doing now but outside of theline of sight of New York City. The fruits of their labors is evident in thoseof us who have moved forward in the writing profession, stepping through doorsthey kept opened.
IN OTHERLITERARY NEWS…
◙ Sergio Troncoso,most recently the author of From This Wicked Patch of Dust (University of Arizona Press)which won the Southwest Book Award, reviewsMatt Méndez's new book, Twitching Heart (Floricanto Press), which he calls “anevocative collection of stories set in El Paso that challenges the reader toexplore the dynamics of relationships, gender roles, politics and faith. Theprose is simple but true, and the stories are suspenseful and often withouteasy conclusions, which encourage the reader to ponder the layers of meaning inMéndez’s prose.”
◙ AjaySingh, editor of Eagle Rock Patch,reviewsand carefully analyzes Otto Santa Ana’s new book, Juan in a Hundred: The Representation ofLatinos on Network News (University of Texas Press).
◙ I just discovered a new blog called Literanista that was created by ValerieM. Russo who describes herself as a “native New Yorker born to Puerto Rican& Sicilian parents in Spanish Harlem’s El Barrio...[who] is a SocialMedia Strategist, a published poet/writer, has worked at Hachette BookGroup, Aol, Thomson Reuters and scouts the web for multicultural literary news,tech trends, innovation, working on her debut novel & about a million otherthings.” Check it out.
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| ValerieM. Russo, editor of Literanista |
◙ My short-short story, “Mamá’s Advice,” appears today in the newonline edition of the lovely literary journal, PANK. This story will be included in mycollection-in-progress tentatively titled, The King of Lighting Fixtures andOther Stories. PANK is edited by the talented (and patient) Roxane Gay and M. Bartley Seigel.
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