Latino Authors

http://www.elpuenteproject.com/?pageId=119 Latino Authors Hispanic Heritage month, September 15 to October 15, and other special events often bring prominent Latino speakers and artists to local communities. In recent years, the authors, whose annotations appear in RED below, have read to and addressed audiences of Latino youth. El Puente worked with local universities, such as IUPUI and Bulter University and the Indianapolis-Marion Country Public Library to invite, co-host or piggyback on engagements with Latino writers. Acosta, Oscar Zeta A powerful writer and speaker, he wrote two books: The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo and The Revolt of the Cockroach People. Alcalá, Kathleen is a writer who wrote a trilogy on nineteenth century Mexico. Alegría, Fernando is a famous Chilean writer. Throughout his writing, he tries to portray the social injustices that are affecting the Chilean people. Allende, Isabel Chilean author of the best-selling novel, The House of the Spirits and her newest book, Zorro. Alurista This poet put the Chicano revolution to verse. Today he looks for his place in a world of changing demographics and hip-hop aesthetics. Alarcón, Francisco X. This Chicano's book of bilingual poetry for children titled Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates risueños y otros poemas de primavera was awarded the 1997 Pura Belpré Honor Award by the American Library Association. Alvarez, Julia Dominican author has given voice to the themes of displacement, alienation, and search for identity in her poetry and fiction. Alvarez won the 2004 Pura Belpre Author Award, for Before We Were Free. Anaya, Rudolfo is a native Hispanic fascinated by cultural crossings unique to the Southwest, a combination of old Spain and New Spain, of Mexico with Mesoamerica and the anglicizing forces of the twentieth century. Anzaldua, Gloria helped make visible the literature of women of color in the USA. Her book, which was first published in 1987, Borderlands has become a classic in Chicano border studies, feminist theory, gay and lesbian studies, and cultural studies. Baca, Jimmy Santiago is an award-winning poet and author who learned to read and write while incarcerated in the Arizona prison system on drug charges from 1973-1978. He tells his story in No Place To Stand. He is also the screenwriter for the popular Hollywood movie Blood In, Blood Out. Barrio, Raymond His works include: The Plum Pickers, Carib Blue, Selections from Walden, and The Fisherman's Dwarf. Benítez, Sandra In 2004, she received the National Hispanic Heritage Award for literature at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Hispanic Business Magazine named her one of 100 Influential Hispanics in the U.S. Castillo, Ana She received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for her first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters. Cisneros, Sandra House on Mango Street has sold over two million copies and is required reading in classrooms across the country, including elementary, middle, high school, and university-level. Campo, Rafael He is the author of The Other Man Was Me which won the 1993 National Poetry Series Award. Escandón, Maria Amparo A best-selling bilingual storyteller, she published her first novel, Esperanza's Box of Saints and its Spanish version, Santitos in 1999. Espada, Martín His last book, Alabanza: New and Selected Poems, 1982-2002 received the Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Achievement and was named an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year. Galarza, Ernesto Mexican-American activist and author of Barrio Boy, among other works, he was nominated in 1976 to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. Garcia, Cristina Dreaming in Cuban, which was nominated for a National Book Award, chronicles the irrevocable effects of the Cuban revolution on the del Pino family from the 1930's to the early 1980's. Gaspar de Alba, Alicia Chicana writer of the awarding winning mystery novel about the 13-year crime wave resulting in the deaths of 400 women around Júarez, Desert Blood: The Júarez Murders. Hernandez, Irene Beltran wrote Across the Great River, her first novel for ESL readers dealing with illegal immigration. Hijuelos, Oscar was the first Hispanic-American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his second novel, Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989). Martinez, Demetria Her autobiographical essays, Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana, was the winner of the 2006 International Latino Book Award in the category of Best Biography. Martnez, Manuel Luis Crossing, was named one of 1999's 10 best books by a writer of color by the PEN American Center, a worldwide organization of literary writers. Crossing also was nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize, an annual national literary award for the best of small press and literary magazine writing. Najera, Rick is an award-winning writer-director-producer and actor with credits in film, television and Broadway, and the creator of the award-winning hit comedy Latinologues. Niggli, Josephina One of the first Latina writers to have her work published by the U.S. presses, was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on July 13, 1910. Ortiz, Judith Cofer Poet and author of adult and young adult fiction. Rivera, Edward Family Installments: Memories of Growing up Hispanic tells the author's story of immigration from Puerto Rico to New York City. Rodriguez, Luis Award-winning poet, activist, and best-selling author of Always Running, his memoir of gang life in East LA and the inevitable death and destruction it leaves behind. Rodriguez, Richard Hunger of Memory tells the story of this Mexican-American writer's education in English-speaking schools in California and its impact of his life. Santiago, Esmeralda When I Was Puerto Rican and Almost a Woman, this author reflects on growing up in New York. Soto, Gary Award-winning poet and author of adult, young adult, children's books. Thomas, Piri Puerto Rican author of Down These Mean Streets made literary history thirty years ago with this lacerating memoir of growing up in Spanish Harlem. Villaseñor, Victor His latest book, Burro Genius, a memoir of growing up Mexican-American in southern California, is a national bestseller, and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize Comment: We genuinely need more writers! Come Together and Create! Peter S. Lopez ~ aka:Peta Sacramento, California, Aztlan Email: sacranative@yahoo.com http://www.NetworkAztlan.com C/S