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Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

An Evening of Stories and Poetry

 Two award-winning, internationally acclaimed, multi-talented Chicanos will be at the Laredo Public Library, 1120 East Calton Road on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 for An Evening of Stories and Poetry.  The event, taking place at the HEB Multi-Purpose Room, is from 6-7:30 p.m. and will feature Dr. Norma Cantú and Raquel Valle-Sentíes reading from their latest novel and book of poetry, respectively. The event is free to the public.  The presentation will be filmed for a documentary on the George Washington Birthday Celebration, tentatively titled “Las Martas,” by Cristina Ibarra.

 “This is an amazing opportunity for Laredoans to hear great works of art celebrating our culture from two incredibly talented women,” said Maria G. Soliz, director for the Laredo Public Library.  “I am especially excited and proud that both of the authors are native Laredoans who have wonderful stories to tell about an environment, traditions and culture that we can all relate to.”  

 Dr. Norma Cantú, Professor, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&I at Laredo and Kingsville, respectively, and her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. At then-Laredo State University, (now Texas A&M International University), she taught and served as Chair and Interim Dean. She was a senior arts administrator with the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC and was Acting Chair of the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Her teaching interests include Cultural Studies, Contemporary Literary Theory, Border Studies, Chicano/a and Latina/o Literature & Film, Folklore and Women’s Studies.

 Cantú has published articles on a number or academic subjects as well as poetry and fiction. Her publications on border literature, the teaching of English; the quinceañera celebration; and the matachines, a religious dance tradition have earned her an international reputation as a scholar and folklorist. She has co-edited four books and edited a collection of testimonios by Chicana scientists, mathematicians and engineers:  Chicana Traditions: Continuity and Change; Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios and Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos. Her award winning Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera chronicles her childhood experiences on the border.

 Cantú  has just finished a novel, Cabañuelas and is currently working on another novel tentatively titled: Champú, or Hair Matters, and an ethnography of the Matachines de la Santa Cruz, a religious dance drama from Laredo, Texas.   She edits the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Culture and Traditions book series at The Texas A&M University Press.  Dr. Cantú currently serves as Professor of English and U.S. Latina/o Literatures at the University of Texas at San Antonio.    

 Raquel Valle-Sentíes, poet, playwright, and artist was born and raised in Laredo and lived 23 years in Veracruz.  She is the proud mother of 5 sons and has seven grandchildren.  Her first collection of poetry “Soy Como Soy y Que,” was published in 1996 and in 1997, it won the prestigious international Premio Literario José Fuentes Mares awarded by la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez, Chihuaha, Mexico. She was the first woman to win that prize. 

 Her poetry has been published by numerous literary magazines, such as “Saguaro,” University of Arizona; “The Americas Review,” Arte Publico Press; “Weber Studies,” Weber State University; Ogden, Utah; “Puentes,” Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi; “Ventana Abierta,” University of California, Santa Barbara,; “A Quien Coresponda,” Cuidad Victoria, Tamaulipas; and in anthologies “Flor y Canto Sí,” Penguin Books, New York; “Red Hot Salsa,” Henry Hold & Co., New York; “Voices in First Person,” Simon & Schuster, New York; “Cruzando Puenes,” University of California, Santa Barbara; and “Yapanchitra,” Bernani, Prakashani, India; as well as in Fuentes textbooks for students of Spanish, by Houghton Mifflin Co., New York.

 Sentíes’ first full length play “Alcanzando un Sueño” was a winner of the Chicano/Latino Literary Contest, University of California, Irvine.   Her second play “La Mala Onda de Johnny Rivera” was selected to participate in the Isadora Aguirre Workshop and was presented in El Teatro de la Esperanza in San Francisco.  These plays, as well as “Path of Marigolds” have been produced in Laredo, McAllen, and San Antonio.  Her short plays “Nothing to Declare,” and “Fashionably Late,” were presented in the Chicano Theater Festival and Laredo Community College, where it was filmed by renowned Chicano filmmaker Jesus Treviño for his presentation of his documentary “Visions of Aztlan.”  

 As a portrait artist, many of her oil paintings beginning with the Chicana Writers Series have won awards in international and state competitions.  She has participated in group and one-woman shows in Laredo, San Antonio, Nuevo Laredo and La Mesilla, New Mexico.  Her paintings of Chicana writers Denise Chavez and Sandra Cisneros graced the poster of the Latina Letters Conference in San Antonio.  Her portrait of Cisneros was also published by McDougal Littell in a textbook of literature for students of Spanish.  She was the cover artist for Randy Koch’s book of poetry, “Composing Ourselves.”

 For more information on the event, please contact Pam Burrell at the Laredo Public Library at 795-2400, x2268 or pa*@la***********.org " target="_blank"> pa*@la***********.org .