This is a collection of Cuban American short-stories. The island of Cuba absent or present. That one, which some want desperately to escape from; the island that many dream to return to.  Cuba is the common denominator to these fourteen shot stories of love and of love betrayed.

Esta colección de relatos tiene un hilo conductor y un común denominador que es Cuba. La isla ausente o presente; la isla de la que algunos quieren escapar; la isla a la que otros sueñan con regresar. En los catorce cuentos de Teresa Dovalpage hay desengaños amorosos —tarros pegados en vernáculo. Hay amistades traicionadas, abuelas desvirgadoras de mozos no muy tímidos y viejecitas al parecer ingenuas que se quitan, muertas de risas, sus máscaras de ovejas al final. Y no puede olvidarse una vena mexicana que se filtra en los textos, nutriendo con tequila y corridos a la corriente isleña. El fantasma legendario y rechoncho de José Lezama Lima asoma el tabaco en un cuento mientras que en otro, una chica golpeada aprende a defenderse a cucharazos limpios. Pero en todos campea por sus respetos el caimán caribeño de la obsesión.

“Whether straight, bisexual, closeted or openly gay, Latino voices have made a deep mark in the poetry scene.  Despite distinction in style, dialect, and customs within the Latino mosaic, our voices have been unified by a determination to be heard.  Much like poetry in general, whether academic or self-taught, the need to express ourselves cannot be restricted within borders.  Whatever language transferred between pen and paper, it is imperative to share our experiences with the world at large.” 

Mariposas: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino is a ground-breaking poetry collection edited by Emanuel Xavier.  The collection features the work of 17 poets from across the United States and Buenos Aires including: Francisco Aragon, Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, Brandon Lacy Campos, Dino Foxx, Andres “Chulisi” Rodriguez, Urayoan Noel, Yosimar Reyes, Robert Ortiz, Walter Viegas, Joe Jimenez, Will Sierra, Rane Arroyo, Pol Ajenjo, Daniel Torres, Carlos T. Mock, M.D., Xuan Carlos Espinoza-Cuellar and Emanuel Xavier.  Featured poems are published in English and Spanglish with several translated into or from Spanish.

NEW

Brotherhood of the Light: A novel of the Penitentes and Crypto-Jews of New Mexico.

By Ray Michael Baca. 0-915745-66-6  $24.95

A novel about the un-easy and often misunderstood relationships of Crypto-Jews and Hispanos in New Mexico and their deep common roots in Spanish history--conquest and colonization--and religious faith and shared values.

Brotherhood of the Light follows the lives of three men from one family who lived in different centuries but were inexorably bound by the legacy of a cross that was brought from the Old World to the New. A relic that had come to prominence at the battle for Granada, when Spain united to expel the Moors.  Descendants of Sephardic Jews who fled the Inquisition in Spain, the family joined Los Hermanos Penitentes. This secretive society of lay Catholic men in Northern New Mexico, who believe in emulating Christ’s Passion, his trial, his walk, and his suffering on the cross at the end of each Lenten season, was used for a dozen generations as a shield by the family to disguise their Crypto-Jewish identity while they struggled with the legacy bestowed upon them.

Las Niñas: A Collection of Childhood Memories. By Sarah Rafael García ISBN: 978-1-888205-09-1  $19.95

 Las Niñas is a collection of autobiographical childhood memories of three Mexican-American sisters. It recounts their struggles while being raised as the first generation born in America of their Mexican family. Las Niñas portrays common situations that immigrant families can relate to through their own process of cultural assimilation. Each chapter is a different childhood memory celebrating culture, life and change through humor and self-reflection. Its creative style and unique display of a child's perception will entice many genres of readers and provide insight on the possible challenges that many recent immigrants face with their family's new generation in America. The childhood memories lightly touch on issues of immigration, learning English as a second language and assimilating into the American culture. Las Niñas reveals the most humorous, intimate and traumatic events that occurred as Sarita, Chuchen and Nini grew up in their family's new country, ultimately providing the foundation for surviving their father's death at such a young age. The bond among the three sisters allows the reader to feel their family's pride and growth in a dual culture. Nevertheless, the reader's own entertainment and personal relevance will be the greatest contributor to Las Niñas' popularity and triumph. Las Niñas represent an honest and heart-felt account of first generation Latinas, American-born girls, who grew up in a Mexican cultural cocoon, to open it and converge in to their outgoing personalities into middleclass ethnic America. The authoress provides a most candid and enlightening perspective of growing up in America in the Latino barrio. Andrea Alessandra, Northwestern University.

Comprende?: The Significance of Spanish in English-Only Times. By Steven W Bender, ISBN: 978-1-888205-08-4  268 pgs. $26.95

Today, the contentious issue of Latino immigration has spurred backlash efforts to anoint English as the official language in federal and state government to the exclusion of Spanish and other languages, than English. Even cities have weighed in to restrict the legitimacy of Spanish in local government affairs. Last century, European immigrant groups stood accused of failing to assimilate in the American melting pot. But while European immigration has slowed, Latino immigration has surged. This steady immigration, combined with the geographical proximity that brought Latinos into the Southwest long before Anglo immigrants, assures a different cultural dynamic for Latinos than for other groups. The centuries of continued Latino occupation and then immigration have forged a unique, shared destiny between the United States and Mexico, as well as other Latin American countries. U.S. history has hosted more than a casual sharing of Mexican recipes in the kitchen; rather, a passionate and lively mating of cultures-Latino and "American." Foremost among these cultural exchanges is the influence of the Spanish language in the United States. With a foothold of several centuries, and the recent propulsion of mass media and pop culture, Spanish has significantly entered the American mainstream through the open and receptive borders of the English language. Taking a lighter view of the current anti-immigrant frenzy, this book offers considerable and colorful examples of the historical and current cross-pollination of the English and Spanish languages in settings ranging from geography to culture and cuisine. Ultimately, it urges recognition of our increasingly shared languages-not by rejecting Spanish and legislating an official status for English, but by embracing our shared culture as a uniquely American blend of culture and language. In contrast to the anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican, and anti-Spanish forces trying to tear us apart, acknowledging the contributions of Spanish language to our past, present, and future will help to unite Americans and the Americas. Valuing the Spanish language and tapping the resource of our Spanish-speaking youth can be a catalyst of the surprising unity that recognition and respect for difference can bring. The alchemy of Spanish is that it holds the potential for propelling the U.S. into a new realm of multicultural connection and influence with its neighbors that is sorely needed in this time of increased isolation and nativism. ¿Comprende?

This book focuses on how a dictator or a culturally dominant power can use language to impose cultural values. As an instrument of power, language is used by a dictator to educate, induce, or manipulate a nation's citizens into acting in accordance with the ruling power's cultural values and beliefs. Jorge Zalamea's El Gran Burundún-Burundá ha muerto, Gabriel García Márquez's El otoño del patriarca, and Mario Vargas Llosa's La fiesta del Chivo draw attention to how the use of the vernacular can resist cultural imposition by employing specific words in order to represent its own culture and nature of reality. The original significance of these words is then altered in the translated text creating a new meaning determined by the dictator's or translator's ideology and usage. The new words that have substituted the original ones reveal how the construction of language defines relationships of power and resistance between a dictator and his nation, or between one culture and another, such as the relations of the United States over Latin America. The analysis of this relationship will provide an understanding of how language functions as an instrument for the imposition of power to gain or maintain cultural or political supremacy. Peter A. Neissa was born in Bogota, Colombia, and received a Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from Boston College and a Masters from Harvard University. At Boston College, he earned the Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award. He also taught Spanish Language and Latin American Literature at Harvard University where he earned the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning for eight consecutive semesters. Dr. Neissa has published articles and book reviews as well as two historical novels: The Druglord and Under False Colors, which trace the history of Colombian drug trafficking. Dr. Neissa is currently the Chair of the Spanish Department at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Cervantes observed that reading a text in translation is like looking at the back of a tapestry. Neissa wrestles with some of the issues implied in this statement in his scrutiny of the distortions, imperfections, and misrepresentations to which the transference of texts from Spanish to English inevitably lead in the case of three novels of dictatorship by Zalamea, Garcia Marquez, and Vargas Llosa. This is due not only to the paradox and power of the written word within specific cultural contexts, but also to the difficulties, dangers, and at times even abuses, that come from "passing off" a text from one language to another. The end result is that accuracy, authenticity, and truth are often sacrificed for the sake of ideological priorities, political correctness, and hegemonic control. Ironically, these are the same consequences of dictatorial tactics exercised at the expense of individuality and freedom that are portrayed in the very texts selected for this compelling comparative study that will appeal to scholars and lay readers alike. Harry L. Rosser, Latin American Literature & Area Studies, Associate Professor, Latin American Literature, Director, Latin American Studies, Boston College.

Dónde más si no en el Paraíso. By Vicente Cabrera Funes     ISBN 978-1-888205-11-4  176 pages. $23.95

Vicente Cabrera Funes´s latest work of fiction, Dónde más si no en el Paraíso, consists of two novellas, "Dalia" and "Suana en el Paraíso." A major theme of the two is the clash of cultures, expertly portrayed by the author who himself was born in Latin America and has resided in the United States (el Paraíso) for many years.Cabrera's novellas will challenge his readers to discover the underlying irony and tragedy his characters encounter as they struggle to survive in a racially divided, violent and unjust "paradise." George R. McMurray Professor Emeritus Colorado State University El escenario de las dos novelas de que consta el nuevo libro de Vicente Cabrera Funes, Dónde más si no en el Paraíso, es un Estados Unidos que tiene poco de paradisiaco. La orfandad literal y metafórica y la cuestión de la identidad son temas principales de la primera narración, Dalia, cuyo personaje titular no sabe si identificarse como vietnamita o americana. La protagonista de la segunda narración, Suana en el Paraíso, también asiática, tiene un doctorado en psicología pero sus estudios y sus aportes a "este país de maravillas" no la protegen de la campaña de persecución lanzada contra ella. En este caso el narrador es un amigo de Suana pero no se compromete a ayudarla casándose con ella y así resolver sus problemas con el Departamento de Inmigración. La protesta contra la intolerancia, la discriminación que sufren los "intrusos" extranjeros y las muchas vejaciones de las que son víctimas es más fuerte en esta narración donde resulta que el tan cacareado sueño americano es, para muchos, pesadilla. Kathleen Glenn Wake Forest University. Con Dónde más si no en el paraíso, Vicente Cabrera Funes muestra una vez más su gran capacidad creadora, su habilidad para tejer historias que capturan la compleja naturaleza de las relaciones humanas -paradójicamente enfrentadas a la simplicidad de la vida cotidiana- y su talento para capturar el diálogo y las acciones detalladas de cada personaje. En las dos historias que conforman este libro, se nos presenta la difícil experiencia del cambio cultural y de identidad, un cambio que no sólo se ve reflejado desde la perspectiva de quienes inmigran a un país diferente y se integran a la vida académica, sino también de quienes se encuentran fuera de lugar en un país en el que crecieron y lo creían de alguna manera suyo. Dónde más si no en el paraíso solidifica más, indudablemente, la carrera novelística de este talentoso escritor ecuatoriano. Jacqueline Álvarez-Ogbesor Spellman College.

Alvarado's call for "a quiet remaking of cells" is nothing short of revolutionary. Read this book, look at yourself and the world around you and know: anything is possible. Demetria Martínez author, Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana In some respects, this is stark work. "These are nightmare words," says one of Lisa Alvarado's speakers, and it seems so: "Soon the fists will come, soon the belt"-spurring one to yearn for alternative connections: "I want so much to braid myself to him." Or compel us toward acute observation where "each day, / I watched / your small suicides." And yet we sense, finally, that "world is word / word is my body"-that is: language, sculpted, can console "from a place that is tender, deeply so," as in the moving portrait, "La Perdida," that closes this collection. Simply put, Raw Silk Suture is "a scar / that has / become a flower." Francisco Aragón Editor, The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry Founding Editor, Latino Poetry Review (LPR) Lisa Alvarado is a poet, performer, and installation artist, focusing on identity, spirit, and the body. She is the recipient of grants from the Department of Cultural Affairs, The NEA, and the Ragdale Foundation. Lisa is also developing an ambitious trilogy of performance pieces, whose themes are the culture of violence, popular culture and personal redemption.

It presents an illustrated narrative probing the historical, political and international factors that led to the Battle of Puebla of 1862 from pre-Independence to the War of In dependence, international conflicts, War of Reform and the subsequent political and economic crisis of Mexico. It covers the political crisis in Mexico and the United States, itself in the midst of a civil war, and the somber prospects of foreign invasion in Mexico by three major world powers, Spain, Britain and France. It examines the question of the foreign debt, the allied invasion in Mexico in 1861, the subsequent departure of the Spanish and British forces and the extent of the French Intervention. It provides a most detailed account of the forces and activities of the French and Mexican sides, during the last three days before, the day of and the day after the battle itself. Examines also the inspiring history of a triumphant Chicano general, Ignacio Zaragoza, (1829-1862), born in a period of international conflicts and forced to flee from his home as a youth because of the American settler's revolt in Texas in 1836. It includes nine patriotic poems (Spanish-English parallel text) written in California between 1864 and 1865 commemorating CINCO DE MAYO and published for the first time in monographic form. Unquestionably, this is the definitive history book on The Battle of Puebla on the Cinco de Mayo, 1862.

 “This is an amazingly interesting work of historical narrative on Cinco de Mayo dating from 1861, California 1864-1865, and its geopolitical ramifications; ably introduced with a compilation of illustrations from the period…” Dr. G.K. Namazie

 Roberto Cabello-Argandoña has been writing about the French Intervention in Mexico for many years. His main preoccupation has constantly been to bring to light the main historical lessons from a failed foreign occupation, the ever presence of enemies within and without, and the resiliency of the Mexican people and their boundless yearns for freedom and respect.

Esperanza: A Latina story. By Sandra C. Chávez. ISBN: 978-0-9796457-8-5.  356 pgs. $24.95

After surviving a scorching summer heat, Esperanza enters the unfamiliar world of high-school with a tight knot in her stomach. On the very first day, she is sucked into a blunder of catastrophic events beginning with accidentally running into the world’s BIGGEST bully. And it definitely wasn’t an understatement either. Now, she has made herself the prime target for a main course. And, to top it all off, she has to see this girl everyday in P.E! P.E.—the one class Esperanza truly despises the most. Could life be any worse for her? Well, her family could take in a relative hopped up on drugs, a probable shooting can take place right in front of her, and Esperanza could also sit and listen to the crazed ranting of her loud psychotic mother. Oh, wait, all that does happen.  

To make things even easier, her best friend, Carla, won’t stop trying to marry her off to her twin brother, Carlos. And she has these two puny siblings constantly vying for her attention. God, it’s a wonder she doesn’t strap herself in a straight jacket and pretend to be Elvis.

Nonetheless, Esperanza attempts to get through it all. She is a smart and ambitious young kid struggling to survive her life while fighting to make her mark on the world. Her story is filled with pain, strength, and too much loud bickering. It carries a voice enriched with barrio slang and sarcastic humor. Esperanza illustrates what a persistent Latino youth can achieve when they get back up after a fall and keep on walking straight into college.  

“Esperanza is an admirable and too real story of many Latino youth lacking role models, who find themselves lost and isolated in the paved jungles of the inner cities and overwhelmed by the dissonance of barrio life. Sandra C. Chávez has created a resilient and likeable character, Esperanza, who seems closer to a naked truth-seeker than to a barrio kid—desperately trying to get out of a crappy world, but not knowing exactly where she was going to. Highly Recommended.”  Andrea Alessandra, University of California, Berkeley.

The Unfortunate Passion of Hermann Broch. By José María Pérez Gay. Translated by Dr. Eduardo Jiménez. ISBN: 978-0-9796457-3-0. Pgs. 148 $24.95

Having earned its author, José María Pérez Gay, the Austrian Cross of Honor for Arts and Sciences (first class), this acclaimed, concise biography focuses on novelist Hermann Broch's preoccupation with his Austrian-Jewish heritage and examines his obsession with human morality, social and moral decadence and mass psychology, specifically, in relation to the tragic historical events of the first half of the twentieth century. In contrast to Franz Kafka's worldwide fame, the effect that Broch (and his colleague Robert Musil) had on the literary world outside Central Europe has remained, until quite recently, rather unappreciated. At the root of his profound literary achievement is his analytical clairvoyance concerning the crisis of values that would culminate in the ignominious catastrophes of the Second World War. In his trilogy, The Sleepwalkers, praised by Milan Kundera as "one of the greatest European novels," Broch illustrates the decay of values in German society, combining lyricism, essayism and naturalism in three distinct segments, beginning with the demise of the Prussian aristocracy and shifting to the moral bankruptcy of the bourgeoisie. The nadir is reached in the third volume as a nihilistic Zeitgeist emerges, devoid of any moral or ethical principles. The depth of his political critique and his modernist experimentation with form and content undoubtedly owe much to the influence of James Joyce. In The Death of Virgil, described by Thomas Mann as "one of the most extraordinary and profound experiments ever to have been undertaken with the flexible medium of the novel," Broch depicts the epic Roman poet's transformation of everything tangible into an inner, visionary, dream-like experience, as he faces the last hours of his life. The moribund poet, fatigued by the decadence of Roman civilization, carries on a discussion with Caesar Augustus: wherein the former, disenchanted with the efficacy of literature, calls for his work to be burned while the latter wishes it to be preserved for posterity, for it captures the legacy of the Empire. An analogous quest for the 'holy' within a world of eroding values becomes the subject of another of Broch's outstanding novels, The Guiltless. In the midst of an era characterized by moral decadence, Hermann Broch wrestles with pessimism, though he clings to his belief in the capacity for human transcendence as the ultimate purpose of literary expression. Morally and spiritually speaking, he believes that literature must possess a restorative function. He also suggests that science alone is inadequate when faced with the task of grasping the world's totality. Moreover, he implies that perhaps the novelist is better equipped than the church and clergy to apprehend the metaphysical components of existence-for literature stands as the revelation of a mythic unity of being in the world, while men and women strive to come to terms with their mortality. This book introduces us to the gentle, generous soul of one of Europe's greatest modern novelists, contributing to the recuperation of his legacy for the benefit of all those who embrace the moral dimensions of literature. Susanne Kimball, Ph.D. The University of Texas at San Antonio

This is an art book with magnificent black and white photos of prominent Latinas who have made definite and long standing contribution to the Hispanic community and the country at large. This photographic essay constitutes an important collective biography as well, with great journalistic insight and integrity into the lives of leading Latina women in the fields of education, science, literature, business, law, the arts, journalism, politics, and other fields of endeavor. This coffee table monograph, which has been published with art-book quality as a collector's edition, provides stunning artistic, B&W photographs of each subject with a parallel biographic journalistic essay in Spanish and English. The biographies explore the life-changing events of each subject, the personal mix of elements, circumstances, and values which allowed these women to set goals and objectives toward most successful careers and contributions to society. There are 72 leading women included in this collective biography and an extraordinary photographic essay offering the most incredible array of role models to inspire, guide and motivate young Latinas.  This title is an important addition to reference collections and individual libraries for they are testament to the vision and values of la mujer Latina.