LITERANISTA Dialogue on Multicultural Books, Tech & Life

Literanista June 3, 2008

From the press release:

This anthology includes poems by such established poets as Gloria Vando, editor of Helicon Nine Editions and winner of the Latino Literary Hal of Fame for her poetry collection Shadows & Supposes (Arte Publíco Press). Also included are former Taco Shop Poets member Tomás Riley of California, who was featured at the collective’s reading series in Kansas City last year, and Andrés Rodríguez, author of Night Song (Tía Chucha Press). Newer voices include Chato Villalobos, a Kansas City, Mo., police officer; Marcelo Xavier Trillo, a former gang leader and past intern to poet Jimmy Santiago Baca; Gabriela N. Lemmons, who has work forthcoming in Just Like a Girl: A Manifesta (Girlchild Press), and Angela Cervantes, a recent runner-up in The Missouri Review’s Audio Competition. Other contributors include José Faus, editor of the Kansas City Hispanic News, and Linda Rodriguez, author of the forthcoming I Don’t Know How to Cook Mexican Cookbook (Adams Media).

“This is a major first anthology of Latinos in a collective who both accept and defy their identities,” writes Rane Arroyo, vice president of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and long-time Midwestern Latino author, in his preface to the book.
The Latino Writers Collective, based in the Kansas City metropolitan area, organizes and coordinates projects for the larger community, especially to showcase national and local Latino writers and provide role models and instruction to Latino youth. The collective sponsors an annual reading series in Kansas City and plans release of a performance CD later this year.

Primera Página is $16.95 in trade paperback, 173 pp., ISBN 978-0-9791291-1-7. For more information or to request a media review copy, please contact Ben Furnish at (816) 824-6138 or scapegoatpress@sbcglobal.net. This book is available to bookstores and libraries through Baker & Taylor.

More info here: http://www.latinowriterscollective.org/anthology.htm