Melinda Palacio
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| One of the first Latinos in Lotusland readings at Cal State L.A. 2008 with Reyna Grande, Daniel Olivas, Danny Romero, Helena Maria Viramontes, Lisa Alvarez, and Melinda Palacio |
Consider yourself lucky for not beingable to hear my grito; it's loud. If you are really curious, come by the Autrytomorrow for a pre-grito and celebration of Latino Heritage month with a repriseof your favorite anthology and mine, Latinosin Lotusland: an Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature,Saturday, September 15 at 2pm at the Autry Museum in Griffith Park, 4700Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027.
September snuck up on me. It's coolbreeze taunted the shortened hours of sunshine. This month can't seem to makeup its mind. Here in Santa Barbara, we've had beautiful, beach-weather days andcold, foggy, outright down pouring rain. September rolled around and I evenforgot to update my website. I know there's at least one La Bloga reader whomissed the small announcement I had in my post two weeks ago, in August, when Iannounced my upcoming memoir writing workshop at Sowing of the Seeds in Tucsonlast Saturday. women knew what to do and were very receptive to the memoirwriting workshop I gave. It was a pleasure working with them.
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| Reading from Latinos in Lotusland in 2008 |
However, all of the success I'veenjoyed with my writing, including posting for La Bloga, would not be possiblewithout the support of our Lotuslandeditor, Daniel Olivas. Before he joined La Bloga, Daniel accepted my firstpublished short story. I was determined to be in the anthology. I didn't knowmuch about the publishing world, but somehow I knew that being including in ananthology of Latino writing would help me achieve my goals. I sent Daniel threeshort stories until he replied and said he loved, "The Last Time,"the short fiction that launched my career. In 2006, I had one poem publishedand one short story accepted for publication. I used these credits to apply tothe PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellowship in 2007. By the time the anthology wasfinally published in 2008, I had dozens of short stories and poems published.But I always remained in awe of our editor, Daniel Olivas, who had publishedseveral books.
I've asked some of the contributors,many who will be part of tomorrow's celebration to offer some words about theirLotusland experience and how they first met La Bloga's Daniel Olivas.
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| Latinos in Lotusland, Bilingual Review Press 2008 |
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| Editor of Latinos in Lotusland, Daniel Olivas |
First, some words from La Bloga's Rudy Ch. Garcia:
Gente! Please give your attention to these few words, no lehace que no pueden ver mi cara chida.
On the occasion of another Calif. Lotuslandevent I so wish I could attend, in myabsence, please consider giving Daniel Olivas one chingaso round ofapplause [perdóname]. I don't ask that you do this simply because he isthe Lotusland editor. Or for doing the great editing that mightmake it a classic. Nor do I ask you only recognize him for his own fineliterary work. To mix my metaphors, please give him a hand because of his role comoun sembrador de una onda nueva en la literature chicana, y las obras latinas.
In a period when the concept ofChicano literature was already struggling to break into genres that had beenthe province of non-Latinos, Daniel had created his own, and, through thisanthology, he editorially embraced others' speculative cuentos that were notusually thought of as "our" literature. By doing so, he impartedappreciation and respectability to escritores nuevos who risked exclusionbecause they were judged to be: "not literary enough." I am but onecontributor whose writing career was boosted by my few pages in the anthology.And now I understand que uno de los dÃas mejores fue cuándo encontré a nerdylooking, prieto attorney de Califas who wanted to join La Bloga.My life, and those of others, will never be the same. Que viva DanielOlivas!
Next from Rebel Girl, Lisa Alvarez
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| Lisa Alvarez |
The call I saw for Latinos inLotusland motivated me to take a look at what I had - part of a novelset in and around Los Angeles that had been languishing. I chose achapter, "Sweet Time," that seemed to stand alone and sent it off toDaniel who accepted it almost immediately. I was surprised. I had notsubmitted work in quite awhile and was drifting a bit. Inclusion in theanthology encouraged me to look once again at my work and, while I eventuallyabandoned the novel my Lotusland contribution is taken from, I embarkedon a project that I feel much more strongly about: a series of connected shortstories set in 1980s Los Angeles that profile a circle of female friends, allpolitical activists trying to do the right thing. The stories start inthe 80s and end in the here and now, with my once punk rock artist activistsgrowing older and try to reconcile their past idealism with their present.
The collection is tentatively titled"Ocean Park" after the painting series by Richard Diebenkorn. Iam interested to see if a writer can do a bit of what Diebenkorn does so wellon canvas - capture a time, a light, a mood, a community. Two of thestories have been published so far, one in the Santa Monica Review andthe other in Faultline.
From Sandra Ramos O'Briant
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| Sandra Ramos O'Briant at the Patricia Correa Gallery Latinos in Lotusland Book Party with Bilingual Press |
Imet Daniel on Zoetrope; we'd reviewed short stories for each other. Heput out the call for his anthology in 2006, I think. Being part of itenriched my life. Not only did I have the opportunity to participate inreadings, but I met interesting writers and became part of a community. The book is used in university classes and students have written to meabout "Lana Turner Slept Here." At the time of publication, I'dhad a few stories published, but I was working on The Sandoval Sisters, andwrote short stories to challenge myself. I've had over 20 short storiespublished since then, and that novel is now a reality. My main concern insubmitting to his anthology was whether my story would be "Latino"enough. Believe me, that's a legitimate concern for a kid growing up inSanta Fe with a Mexican mother, but O'Briant for a last name. "Proveit!" was the chant I heard on the playground and in school hallways. There's not enough space here, nor would my description pass censorshiplaws, to explain how I tried to prove myself back then. But, in the hereand now, I do it with my writing. My characters evolve, as does JoeSalazar in "Lana Turner Slept Here," as do the The Sandoval Sisters,as do I.
SandraRamos O'Briant
From El Professor, MichaelJaime-Becerra
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| Michael Jaime-Becerra |
For me, Latinos inLotusland continues as a wonderful mosaic, a validation of the richness anddiversity in our stories and in our storytellers. Gratitude always toDaniel Olivas, the editor with both the vision and the energy to bring it alltogether.
I had met Daniel a few yearsprior to Lotusland and had also invited him to read at UCR as part of ourWriters Week conference. This was 2004 or 2005.
As I recall it, when he putout the call for submissions, I was in the middle of writing my second book andI didn't have anything ready for public viewing yet. Daniel graciouslyagreed to include a reprint from Ladies' Night, my first book.
--Michael Jaime-Becerra
Join Daniel Olivas, Michael Jaime-Becerra, Lisa Alvarez, Sandra Ramos O'Briant, Estella Gonzalez, and Melinda Palacio at the Latinos in Lotusland panel at the Autry, Saturday, September 15 at 2pm.
Countdown to Publication...
Two months until the release of How Fire Is a Story,Waiting.
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New York DaysAhead...
If you findyourself in New York at the Brooklyn Book Festival, September 23, I will be atthe Las Comadres Booth from noon to 2pm, along with Reyna Grande, LucreciaGuerrero, and Toni Margarita Plummer. Join the Party. The next hour includes areading by Luis Alberto Urrea.
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| Las Comadres y Compadres Writers Conference, October 6, 2012 New York |
On October 6,aspiring writers can purse and polish their own dreams of publishing theirnovel, collection of stories, memoir, or book of poetry at the Las Comadres yCompadres Writers Conference in New York, held at Medgar EversCollege, CUNY, Brooklyn. Registration for writersand vendors is now open for the conference. I will be on a poetry panel.
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