Bøger udgivet af Arte Publico Press

"In the opening piece, "The Lives of Saints," an immigrant family from Costa Rica regularly prays to a litany of saints to help deal with all that life throws their way-including alcoholism, marital discord, illness and death-all while adjusting to their new circumstances as "Americans." The narrator, a woman trapped in a subservient role supporting her husband, suffers in silence as the men completely disregard her in life-changing decisions. Recounting her family's attempts to balance a traditional, more conservative culture with the new and exciting one in their adopted homeland, she is forced to reconsider gender roles, assimilation and religion. Costa Ricans, or Ticos, living in the United States return to their native country in two of the three novellas in this thought-provoking collection. They discover it's not the "Switzerland of Central America," the perfect country with good healthcare, education and no standing army. In "Las Tres Marâias," three sisters raised in the comparative freedom of Massachusetts who return to live in their parents' home country are barely teenagers when they're labeled gringas and "doomed to become sluts." In "La Familia," Juan Manuel has made a life for himself in Chicago, but when his mother calls him home because his brother has been arrested as a terrorist, he faces an uncomfortable reckoning with his country's involvement in regional violence as the Cold War spreads to Latin America. Revealing the cultural dissonance experienced by immigrants, Diana Rojas' characters grapple with their self-perception as they consider what they're supposed to be and who they want to be. Issues of individualism versus community, loyalty to a distant homeland and a divided sense of identity pepper this intriguing debut"--

"Illusion and the possibility of magic coexist with the pain and joy of daily life in these compelling pieces mostly set in the Texas-Mexico border region. In one, a girl desperately wants to know more about her mother, who died when she was four years old. Did she like being a mom? Would she have preferred partying with her friends? When her eccentric aunt says she can teach her how to travel back in time, the girl is skeptical. Is it really possible to visit the past and communicate with the dead? Each story is a celebration of the narrative's power to transport, enlighten and connect the reader to the myriad facets of the human experience. In "Borges and the Chicanx," a Chicano professor's imposter syndrome worsens when he is asked to teach a course on a famed Latin American writer he has never read and whose work he doesn't understand. And in "Sara's Chest of Drawers," a young man's parents insist he go through his dead twin sister's things even though he doesn't think she would want him to-until she sends him a sign from the beyond. Dreams, memories, visions and superstitions permeate this collection of short fiction that blends the ordinary with the extraordinary, making the fantastical feel surprisingly tangible. Considering themes of outsider status and displacement, cultural representation and authenticity, identity and collective memory, award-winning author Daniel Chacâon once again crafts troubled characters searching for salvation from sorrows they often cannot even articulate."--

"Merced is as strong and determined as the huizache tree her father tried to chop down, but that kept growing back every year, even after he burned its roots. Her aunt marries her off to the most eligible man in their small Mexican town to protect her from her own father, who believes the girl's developing body is his to use. In chapters spanning early twentieth century El Sauz, Mexico, mid-century El Paso and contemporary Los Angeles, this engrossing novel chronicles the harrowing yet darkly funny trials of three generations of resilient women. Merced is a young wife and mother in a loveless marriage when she meets the handsome but faithless Leandro in Ciudad Juâarez. Her first taste of passion drives Merced to uproot her three daughters and embark on a daunting journey to the United States to reunite with her lover. The women struggle with love, loss and survival against the expectations of patriarchal, misogynist societies on both sides of the border. This saga offers a spellbinding look at love conquered and lost, love freely given and purchased, working-class Mexican and Chicano communities and their love-hate relationship with American assimilation--all set to the popular music of both countries.

Three weeks into his first term as a US Congressman, Robert Garcia found himself sitting down for a second time with the president of the United States. The son of a laborer at the Central Aguirre sugar mill in Puerto Rico, he couldn't help but think, "Only in America!" Garcia grew up in the South Bronx and in his autobiography--published posthumously--he shares his story of struggle, rising from poverty to become a Korean War veteran, New York State Assemblyman and Senator and ultimately a US Congressman representing his beloved community. When Garcia was a boy in the 1930s and 1940s, the South Bronx was a poor but safe working-class neighborhood. He and his family did suffer cold and hunger, but he recalls a "happy childhood full of love." Somehow, he avoided drugs when they hit the neighborhood, though his mother surreptitiously checked his arms for needle tracks. At 17, he joined the US Army and went to Korea. Afterwards, he took advantage of the GI Bill, got married, had children and successfully moved into the middle class. Garcia writes his life was forever changed when he gathered signatures to help nominate John F. Kennedy as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. That pivotal moment, combined with his excitement about involving Puerto Ricans in the political process during the heady days of the civil rights movement, led to his immersion in politics. He was the first Latino elected to the New York State Assembly in 1966; he became a New York State Senator in 1967 and a US Congressman in 1978. He recalls key moments, like the founding of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) and the Attica Prison Riot, where he was appointed to a mediation committee by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Garcia also details his indictment for extortion and bribery, his brief time in prison and the ultimate reversal of the indictment by the appeals court. This informative autobiography spotlights one of the first Latino elected officials who is considered a pioneer by later generations of leaders, including Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, who wrote a prologue for this book.

""If you ever sing those songs again, they will kill your daddy," the boy's mother warned him after he continued to sing one of the hymns of the Chilean revolution in public. Rodrigo Dorfman, the son of prominent dissidents, was six years old when his family fled Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship a month after the CIA-backed coup in 1973. In his fascinating memoir, Dorfman writes about his experiences as an exile and a migrant. He was dragged away from his homeland, "seduced by the thrill of flying on airplanes and visiting far-away places," but reassured the family would return soon. They fled to Argentina, and then to Havana, Paris, Amsterdam and finally Bethesda, Maryland. His muse and identity were "sealed and stamped with that curse, with that blessing, with that irresistible myth: the eternal return." Mapping the memory of exile, he remembers the contradiction of living with his seething anger at losing his home and his resistance to settling down. Rebellion was an ancestral badge of honor he wore proudly. At 18, he returned to Chile and fought against the fascist dictatorship, running for his life with bullets and tear gas flying by. Dorfman's involvement in the resistance movement there planted the seeds for his future life as a community-centered documentary filmmaker. His restless search for a place to call his own led to his wandering-around the United States, to Morocco and Turkey and the Path of Sufism. He finally made a home in the American South, where he became a "Latino" and found kinship with other immigrants who settled there. This compelling narrative recounts a displaced man's life-long quest to establish family, roots and a sense of belonging by bearing witness to what he calls the "Nuevo South." RODRIGO DORFMAN is a Chilean-born, Latino award-winning writer and filmmaker. His documentaries have been screened at festivals around the world. His feature, FIESTA! Quinceaänera, on the intersection of quinceaäneras and immigrant traditions in the South, and his feature documentary, Quaranteened, were broadcast on PBS stations. His photographs have been exhibited at museums across the United States. He is an associate member of La Pocha Nostra and a community activist in his adopted hometown of (HE LIVES IN) Durham, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife Primm and their children"--

This collection features eleven essays and four poems in which Latina women of African descent share their stories. The authors included are from all over Latin America and they write about the African diaspora and issues such as colonialism, oppression and disenfranchisement. Diva Moreira, a black Brazilian, writes that she experienced racism and humiliation at a very young age. The worst experience, she remembers, was when her mother's bosses told her she didn't need to go to school after the fourth grade, "because blacks don't need to study more than that." The contributors professions range from artists to grass-roots activists, scholars and elected officials. Each is engaged in her community, and they all use their positions to advocate for justice, racial equality and cultural equity. A fascinating look at the legacy of more than 400 years of African enslavement in the Americas, this collection of personal stories is a must-read for anyone interested in the African diaspora and issues of inequality and racism.

" Benjamin and the Word / Benjamin y la palabra " is a thought-provoking bilingual picture book that explores racism on the playground.

In his new poetry collection, renowned writer Ariel Dorfman expresses the power of love and its persistence beyond death, and indicts--through the voices of deceased historical figures such as Christopher Columbus and Salvador Allende--contemporary US politicians for human rights offenses and war crimes.

"Willie Cuesta, former Miami Police detective turned private investigator, is struggling to pay the bills when he receives a call from an old family friend. Cesar Mendoza is the blind, elderly owner of Tabacos El Ciego, a cigar store in Little Havana. Cesar is worried about Victoria Espada, a friend from the old days in Cuba. As a young woman, she was so beautiful that cigar makers competed to put her image on their boxes. She came from a long line of tobacco growers and married a man from an old, respected clan of cigar makers. The couple, who represented one of the great cigar dynasties of all time, fled the island after the revolution, but things didn't go well. Ernesto Espada ultimately committed suicide, leaving his widow with two young children to raise. Now, her son, a less-than-successful cigar salesman, has gone missing, and the detective is tasked with finding him. Willie's search introduces him to the burgeoning cigar industry. Aficionados want real Cuban cigars, which aren't available in the United States because of the embargo, so smuggling is a lucrative business. The case becomes even more intriguing when Willie picks up a cigar that turns out to be a counterfeit El Embajador, or The Ambassador. The real ones were made in Cuba for Castro and his diplomats to hand out to political leaders around the world, and they're known to be the best in the world-the ultimate Havana. When dead bodies begin to pile up and men with guns turn up at Willie's home to warn him off the case, he suspects he's in the crosshairs of rival gangs. Set against the backdrop of the botâanicas and cigar shops of the Cuban ex-pat community in Little Havana and the glittering mansions and speedboats of the ultra-wealthy, the investigation ultimately takes Willie to the Dominican Republic, where he finds the missing man-and way more than he bargained for! JOHN LANTIGUA is an award-winning journalist and novelist. His novels include Remember My Face (Arte Pâublico Press, 2020), On Hallowed Ground (Arte Pâublico, 2011), The Lady from Buenos Aires (Arte Pâublico Press, 2007), Player's Vendetta (Signet, 1999), Twister (Simon and Schuster, 1992) and Burn Season (Putnam, 1989). His first novel, Heat Lightning (Putnam, 1987), was a finalist for the Edgar Awards Best First Novel. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his journalistic writings, including two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards (2004, 2006) and the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (1999). He lives and works in South Florida"--

Emma Pérez's collection of stories and essays explores issues of gender, race and class.

Fifty prominent Latinas give their top ten tips for being a successful leader.

Renowned writer and activist Ariel Dorfman expresses the power of love and its persistence beyond death in this Spanish-language poetry collection, in which he indicts--through the voices of deceased historical figures such as Christopher Columbus and Salvador Allende--contemporary US politicians for human rights offenses and war crimes.

Young Rene's teacher is calling role one morning, and Rene is dismayed to hear someone else answer to his name. It's not only that he thought he was the only person with that name, but also that the new student who answers is a girl. That afternoon his classmates tease, "Rene has a girl's name." After discussing it with Mama and Papa, Rene decides his name is so beautiful that a girl copied it from him, not the other way around. But the next day at school the new girl sits by him ... is behind him every time they line up ... shares her apple with him ... and at recess tells him she wants to be his best friend ... everywhere he turns, there's Rene the girl. One day at the library, Rene discovers a book called The Meaning of Names. With the book tucked under his arm, Rene endeavors to win the first writing contest of the school year. Complimented by playful illustrations, this bilingual picture book follows Colato Lainez's own experiences, when he was faced with a challenge to his own name as a child. This witty story about a young boy's odyssey to find out the meaning of his name will challenge readers aged 3 to 7 to chart cross-cultural differences by gaining an understanding about themselves and the people around them.

Have you ever been too scared to sleep with the lights off? Were you frightened by a scratching sound inside of your walls or the beady red eyes and knotted green fingers of a duende? In his first collection of scary stories, Xavier Garza asks these questions. The stories in this collection curdle with the creepy and crawling characters of traditional folklore. These stories brim with the supernatural: the mysterious disappearance of children who made deals with duendes, evil trolls who live inside the walls of our houses; the ghostly specter of La Llorona who floats along the creek bed, howling, "!Ay, mis hijos!"; witches that turn into great white owls; a severed hand that hurtles across floors and catches a death grip; and even the Devil himself harvesting wayward souls. These are all cucuys, supernatural beings who have come to haunt the imagination in these tales of wonder and warning. These delicious and frightful stories come down through generations of grandmas teaching children to respect the laws of nature and the All Powerful. These particular spooky cucuys are recounted and illustrated by master storyteller Xavier Garza, just the way he heard them at the knees of other masters when he was growing up in South Texas. Garza has preserved just the right gory detail and startling surprise to frighten the socks off you. And he always insists that you learn your lesson and take heed, or else...