As a Chicagoan transplant, I am always excited when the big book fair comes to our fair city. This year, find me volunteering all day Saturday at the Information Table or escorting authors to their events and assisting them with book signings. This year’s fest features many events of interest to Spanish-speakers, and best of all, most do not require tickets.
Printers Row Lit Fest 2014: Saturday, June 7
Narcoliterature: Arturo Santamaria
Moderator: Colin McMahon
Conversation
Arturo Santamaria, researcher at Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (UAS) in Mazatlán and author of “De carnaval: Reinas y narco”, in conversation with Chicago Tribune national content editor Colin McMahon. (In English.)
Octavio Paz and His Century
Conversation
Tinker Visiting Professor at The University of Chicago Center for Latin American Studies Christopher Domínguez Michael discusses the work of Mexican poet Octavio Paz and the influence his work had in his own time and beyond. In Spanish.
The Hoy Way
Fernando Diaz, Andres Lombana, Nicole Suarez, John Trainor
Panel
How does a small team of 20 people publish an award-winning daily Spanish-language newspaper, maintain an international website and produce a newscast? Come find out from the folks who run Hoy. Conversation with Fernando Diaz, editorial director, Andrés Lombana, executive producer and Nicole Suarez, anchor of Hoy Noticias MundoFox.
Cristina Henriquez and Luanne Rice
Cristina Henriquez, Luanne Rice
Moderator: Luis Alberto Urrea
Panel
Cristina Henriquez, author of “The Book of Unknown Americans,” and Luanne Rice in conversation with author Luis Alberto Urrea.
Orlando Menes
Reading Theme: Poetry
Poetry reading with Orlando Menes, author of “FETISH.”
Rebeldes: Tough Women and Rebellious Girls
Panel Theme: Live Lit
Proyecto Latina, a Chicago-based collective that showcases the art and activism of Latina women, presents stories about breaking rules, breaking molds and breaking a few bones, with readings by Proyecto Latina founder Coya Paz, along with Diana Pando, Irasema Gonzalez, Sandra Santiago and Desiree Castro.
Sunday June 8
El Legado de Gabo
Panel
Gerardo Cárdenas, of Contratiempo, Elio Leturia, Columbia College journalism professor, Colombian writer Martha Cecilia Rivera and El Beisman editor Francisco Piña explore the literary, cultural and political legacy of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, Latin America’s most-read writer who died this year but not before leaving an indelible mark in the genre of magic realism. In Spanish.
Young Latino Poets
Panel Theme: Poetry
Contratiempo Executive Director Moira Pujols will moderate a conversation with Jorge Montiel, Miguel Marzana, Silvia Goldman and Noelia Cruz Vásquez. The poets represent new voices in the burgeoning Latino literary scene in Chicago and will read their poetry and share their experiences bringing their Mexican, Bolivian, Argentinian and Puerto Rican heritage to their work and lives in Chicago.
Ann McGlinn and Ana Castillo
Moderator: Carolyn Alessio
Panel
Ann McGlinn, author of “El Penco,” and Ana Castillo, author of “Give It To Me,” in conversation with Carolyn Alessio.
30th Anniversary Event!
La Leyenda del Santo
Conversation
A conversation with El Hijo del Santo, son of Mexico’s most famous masked wrestler, who maintains his father’s legacy and will discuss the importance of lucha libre as a key element of Mexican popular culture with roots in movies, comics and literature. In conversation with Gisela Orozco of
Yoani Sánchez Uncensored
Conversation
Yoani Sanchez, the entrepreneurial journalist and renowned founder of Cuban blog Generación Y, in conversation with Fernando Diaz, Hoy Chicago editorial director. Sánchez started her blog in 2007 even though most people in Cuba have little access to Internet. Her blog posts are passed around in Cuba on memory sticks, uploaded by friends overseas and translated into 17 languages. She uses her cellphone to tweet about Cuba to the nearly 600,000 people who follow her on Twitter at @YoaniSanchez. In Spanish
Hoy. In Spanish
Arturo Santamaria and Thelma Jiménez-Anglada
Arturo Santamaria, Thelma Jiménez-Anglada
Panel
Arturo Santamaria, researcher at Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (UAS) in Mazatlán and author of “De carnaval: Reinas y narco”, and Thelma Jiménez-Anglada, Ph.D. Candidate in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies at the University of Chicago, discuss the history and trends of this drug-fueled genre in a panel moderated by Gisela Orozco, Hoy Chicago’s arts and culture editor. In Spanish.