Críticas Magazine

One year ago the author Francisco Goldman lost his wife Aura Estrada in a terrible accident in Mexico. He is reaching out now to the book community to honor her life and writing by offering a prize for other Mexican female writers, under 35, who write in Spanish, like Aura did. Here’s Goldman’s touching letter from the Aura Estrada Prize website if you or your institution would like to contribute a donation to this prize. A benefit will be held on September 18th, 2008  in New York City and the prize will be officially launched at this year’s FIL with a reading by Paul Auster. You can read regularly updated information about the benefit, and the prize, at ...Read More

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One of the winners of this year’s Maria Moors Cabot prize winners for outstanding reporting on Latin American and the Caribbean was the journalist and author Sam Quinones. How cool, especially since I recently mentioned Quinones on this blog recommending his books about Mexico. Given by the Columbia School of Journalism, the Cabot gold medal goes to journalists covering the Western Hemisphere and furthering inter-American understanding. Quinones, a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Times is also the author of ...Read More

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 Summertime in NY is Latino time. And for some reason, my hometown of Nueva York starts jumping with Latino cultural festivals, concerts and arts exhibits, when the weather starts getting tropical. Here’s a handy arts and culture listings if you’re visiting the great urban sprawl anytime soon:

The New York International Latino Film Festival
(NYILFF)

July 22 to July 27

...Read More

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This past week in pleasant and sunny Gijón, Spain, darkness and criminal activities were celebrated among bookish types. Since 1987, the Spanish author and journalist Paco Ignacio Taibo II has reigned over this fair celebrating noir and mystery fiction in his hometown of Gijón. Held this year from July 11th-20th., many big name authors in the noir genre like Eduardo Mendoza, Roberto Ampuero, and Ronaldo Hinojosa were invited  to discuss all things criminal writing. I was lucky to be able sit down in Madrid with one of the fair’s guests this year representing the U.S. and Cuba and drink some ...Read More

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When the El Paso City Council commissioned a larger-than-life statue of the Spanish Conquistador Juan de Oñate, they weren't expecting the controversy they'd stir up.  They asked the artist John Houser to create a large scale public sculpture of Oñate. They wanted it to be the largest bronze equestrian statue in the world. Houser and El Paso’s council reps envisioned a magnificent and long-overdue tribute to the contributions of Hispanic culture and history to the United States.

But that’s not what happened.

New York based filmmaker ...Read More

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For your weekend viewing I want to offer you 3 entertaining videos within the world of Latino arts and culture, such as this blog promises…

The first is by the Peruvian author and media darling Jaime Bayly. He gave a smart and cutting talk about Ingrid Betancourt’s release from captivity. He’s anti President Chavez, pro Colombian President Uribe, and catty about Betancourt’s cold shoulder given to her husband. Delicious political dishing. Think Jon Stewart meets Charlie Rose, but in Spanish.
 

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Since there’s a new book in town about the great metropolis of Mexico City, I thought I’d list some more books with cameos in D.F. that I've liked, too.

 
David Lida’s new book, First Stop in the New World (Riverhead, June 2008), has got blurb support from Latin American writing hot shots such as Dagoberto Gilb, Francisco Goldman and Jon Lee Anderson giving it thumbs up. Anderson: “If Burroughs were alive and planning a return visit to Mexico today, he’d want to take this book with him." Lida , who has lived and worked as a writer and editor in Mexico City for ov...Read More

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Back in 2002, I had lunch with Ingrid Betancourt. Then a few months later she was kidnapped. Whisked out of sight by the FARC guerrillas and into the jungle. Six years ago, nobody outside of Colombia knew who she was. I got my chance to meet Betancourt when she was in the States that year as a Colombian presidential candidate for her own independent party and promoting the English-language version of her book, Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia (Harper Ecco, in Spanish: Rabia en el corazón, Random House Mondadori, Gr...Read More

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All right, it’s finally July 4th weekend. That official time to get outdoors, entertain and socialize. Don't panic, if this sort of thing does not come easy to you. I've got a book to recommend that will make those times away from the computer easier. Need tips on how to live the good life, but cheaply? We all do. And when a book by a fun-loving and gorgeous Mexican-American from Texas is your guide, all the better.

On July 1st, Robyn Moreno, my good friend and editor for Border-line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, and Cultural Shifting published the book Practically Posh: The Smar...Read More

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On the cover of this month's issue of Writer's Digest is the stripper, memoirist and Juno's Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody ready to share her most intimate writings tips. But if you flip through the pages you'll also find an an article about Latino literature, dubbed an "emerging genre." Hm. Nonetheless, here's a excerpt of the article that was featured on Marcela Landres' newsletter which I highly recommend subscribing to if you want to stay on top of the latest Latino/Hispanic literary events, contests and writing opportunities by reading this former Simon & Schuster editor’s site. I can't reprint the entire article  for you (nor can their website), but here's a sampling of how it sounds.

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On the heels of this month’s sad closing of Tu Ciudad magazine, a Los Angeles bimonthly glossy magazine that dedicated content to a more assimilated Latino reader, I’m relieved to find out that another publication dedicated to Latino writing is debuting. (Good ying and yang in the world then). This new journal of writing by Latino authors is called the ACENTOS REVIEW and it just announced its inaugural issue online. Its site includes a photo exhibit gallery and links to other Latino poetry projects. If you’re a creative writer or a visual artist interested in submitting your work or if you&r...Read More

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MEXICAN HIGH by Liza Monroy.
(Random House. Spiegel & Grau). Fiction.
A novel which people are describing as a Mexican-themed teenage angst is about a non Latina girl whose diplomat parents take her to Mexico City’s world of “fresas” — rich and fast kids.

 THE GIFT OF TIME by Jorge Ramos
(HarperCollins. Rayo). Non-fiction.
The charismatic Univision journalist talks about the deep worries, fear, and love that every parent experiences when raising children in an increasingly tu...Read More

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