Happy Birthday to us!!!! 17 years of Nuestra Palabra
by Tony Diaz on 04/22/15
17 years of Nuestra Palabra
On Wednesday, April 22, 1998,
Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say convened for the first time.
Our first literary showcase took
place in the party hall of Chapultepec Restaurant, in Houston, Texas.
People told us that no one would
come. People told that us that our community was not interested in books. People
told us that there were not enough Tejan@, Latin@, or Chican@, writers for us
to even hold more than one showcase.
It is a pleasure and an honor that
17 years later, we are still proving everyone wrong.
It has been thrilling to see our
community come together to share our stories.
It has been powerful to watch us
unite to defy all the odd and shatter records never before imagined.
We began as a monthly reading series
featuring writers from our community, from our familias, presenting their
writing, their stories, their poetry, in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.
Together, we have unleashed
thousands of new voices who shared the stage with nationally published authors
like Dagoberto Gilb, Sandra Cisneros, Carmen Tafolla, Lorna Dee Cervantes,
Jimmy Santiago Baca, just to name a few national stars who went on to become
our familia.
We have created more published Latino
authors and more Latino MFA’s than even the University of Houston Creative
Program.
Together we have created the number
one rated Latino Literary radio show in the state: Nuestra Palabra: Latino
Writers Having Their Say ON THE AIR, broadcasting at 100,000 watts on 90.1 FM
KPFT, Houston, Texas since 2002.
We organized the largest book fairs at the time in
the state, with the Houston Latino Book and Family Festival attracting over 30,000
people to the George R. Brown Convention Center.
And then in 2012, when Arizona dared
to ban our History and Culture, we called upon our literary familia to unite to
organize the Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle the books banned by the state
back to the students in Tucson, our familia de Arizona, who inspired us with
their courage and tenacity.
We are honored represent our
community that humbly started in the Party Hall of Chapultepec restaurant throughout
the South West, throughout the nation, and throughout Texas as we spread
Mexican American Studies so that every familia can be inspired by our culture
and history.
We thank all of you for your support
as we enter our 18th year of service to our community.
We truly appreciate you lending your
time, energy, and genius to Nuestra Palabra.
And we promise to keep working hard
to spread Our Word to every corner of the State, the South West, and the
Nation.
Happy 17th Birthday, to
our entire Nuestra Palabra Familia
Warmest regards,
Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante,
Founder/Director
Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers
Having Their Say
