One Book, One Boulder, One Denver

I've already written about the selection of Sandra Cisneros's book Caramelo for the One Book, One Denver event. (Pedacitos y Pedazos, Friday, March 4, 2005.) So it's double cool that Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima was selected by Boulder for its One Book, One Boulder festivities, especially in light of the flap created by the high school principal in rural Colorado who banned the book. (Life In Colorado 2005, Thursday, February 3, 2005.) What a mistake that turned out to be and what a public relations nightmare for that school.

Boulder has an interesting series of events scheduled for Anaya including An Evening With Rudolfo Anaya, April 22, 7:30 PM, St. Julien Hotel Ballroom. Tickets are free (limit 2 per person; personal pick-up only; no reservations) and until they are gone can be picked up at the main entrance desk of the south wing of the Boulder Public Library (11th and Arapahoe) starting April 12.

Rudy Anaya is another treasure of Chicano culture we should support and acknowledge while he is still with us and, apparently, writing wonderful books. I haven't read his latest yet, Jemez Spring, but it is racking up super reviews. For example, the LA Times, the Albuquerque Journal, the San Antonio Express-News.

Meanwhile, Denver moves on with its One Book celebration. I am scheduled to be on a panel that will discuss Caramelo at the University of Colorado at Denver on April 4 from noon to 1:30 PM at the Auraria Campus Student Center. Other panel participants include Angel Vigil, educator and storyteller who specializes in the traditional stories of the Hispanic Southwest and Mexico; John-Michael Rivera, author and Assistant Professor of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Cate Wiley, poet and Associate Professor of English, University of Colorado at Denver; and Margarita Barceló, Professor of English and Chicana/o Studies at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Should be a good time.