To build "THE WALL" or not to build "THE WALL," that is the question. Will it curtail the flow of illegal immigration? Or is it merely a symbol of unwelcome to immigrants from south of the U.S. border?
Like Liberty Island features the Statue of Liberty welcoming Europeans with a warm poetic phrase ("Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."), so too does the US/Mexico border deserve poetry to adorn the otherwise featureless, cold, and faceless barrier that like an extended, flat-sided hand will stop THOSE immigrants in their tracks, turning them back to whence they came. Submissions are open from February 28, 2018 to July 1, 2018. Deadline is 11:59 pm July 1st. THIS ONE IS AN ALL-POETRY ANTHOLOGY We accept up to three (3) poems (English, Spanish, or mix/bilingual) of up to two pages in length. No previously published work accepted. Submit your work as a Word document along with a short bio to: theravingpress@gmail.com Incomplete submissions will be rejected. Further guidelines: Please submit works that are compelling, passionate, and well-thought-out. Please do not submit rants, name-calling treatises, or exercises in distaste. Write as if you are talking to a family member whom you don't hate, and whose view of the world is diametrically opposed to yours. The Raving Press (through one of its promotional arms "The Raving Press Events" partnered with Barnes & Noble among other entities) is proud to announce the very first book fair event of 2018! We want to invite you to another book signing to kick off 2018's very first book fair by The Raving Press Events hosted by Barnes & Noble. The event takes place in McAllen, Texas (see the flier for details). Being that we actually have stuff written about this by our partners at Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande and Barnes & Noble, we'll just shut up and let you read their messages for yourself. Help us by supporting our efforts in publishing books through various imprints, as well as promoting other local small press publications. You'll also help the Catholic Charities, authors of the Rio Grande Valley, and Barnes & Noble: the last great nation-wide bookstore. This one particular store in McAllen, Texas is supporting local authors and presses in full force. Society simply cannot do without any of these groups.
We hope to see you at our kickoff book signing event on February 23, 2018. It's somewhat of an odd feeling to write about myself here because most of the time this is a blog about events and other things happening along the RGV and the border in general. But I would be remiss if I let you miss out on a gift I am giving to all the people that follow the work that I do here and on other platforms. On October 31, 2017 I will be making my book "The Martian Ones: Tales of Human Folly" available for FREE for four days. This is a somewhat feminist, somewhat political critique, Latino/HIspanic/Chicano-themed sci-fi/dystopian horror collection of fiction stories. ![]() For more on this please CLICK HERE. In other, more pertinent to this blog, news: the anthologies "Bad Hombres & Nasty Women" and "Lost: Children of the River" by The Raving Press are now available for just $0.99 cents on Kindle! However, if you are the type that prefers the paperback you can get a discount by CLICKING HERE. And, of course, if you are in the Rio Grande Valley, you can always pick up a copy of any of these books at our local Barnes & Noble in McAllen, Texas. For their address and other details, CLICK ON THIS.
Support the arts of the borderlands. Buy a book. It's holiday season. Time to start planning gifts. Give the gift of literature. The world will be a better place because of it. Thank you. 1) Straight to business. No mumbo-jumbo. Here is the link to your completely and totally FREE BOOK. The book is our anthology about the unaccompanied minors at the U.S. - Mexico border titled "Lost: Children of the River" (The Raving Press, 2016). But you need to click the link asap because the offer ends at midnight tonight. However, if you are late to this message, as a consolation gesture we will extend another great offer to you. A half price discount on that same book but in the paperback version. For that, you will need to visit our E-Store and use the promo code: D3PPENCT 2) The second topic is a book launch happening today. The book in question is of my own authorship. Yes, I am also a writer. This book is a collection of fiction about the idea surrounding the proposed establishment of a colony on the planet Mars. The book is titled "The Martian Ones: Tales of Human Folly" by Gabriel Hugo. (That be me). The event takes place today August 18, 2017, at Barnes & Noble Palms Crossing at 6 p.m. 3300 Expressway 83 # 1100 McAllen, TX 78501 956-686-4231 3) Why am I plugging my own book here? Because this book along with a whole host of others by different local Rio Grande Valley authors and publishers are all part of our on-going Barnes & Noble Book Fair in support of the great work being accomplished by the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, a non-profit organization out of Harlingen, Texas. If you come into this particular Barnes & Noble store (see address above), all you have to do is say "I support the Young Center Book Fair" at the register and the folks there will make sure that a portion of the money from your purchase goes to that organization.
Folks who are not in the area can also help by going to Barnes & Noble .com and using the book fair voucher id: 12204590 at checkout. The in-store book fair will be running until August 25, 2017. It continues online until August 30, 2017. Thank you all for your support for The Raving Press, local authors and artists, to me, to our local book stores, and to our local non-profits. Have a great weekend! ![]() I won't lie to you. If you miss this event, you will end up hating yourself. Oh, and also, please come out to this event and help us fill up 174 seats!!! It's 12:22 am at the moment this letter is being written. It's a last minute push to put the word out about our event at the Weslaco public library theater. There are 13 1/2 hours to go until we get up on that stage. You might wonder what is a newsletter about books and publishing doing talking about a "show"? I'll explain briefly. I have been around poetry readings and book signings so much that I am more than familiar with the common approach. Usually, it involves people sitting around watching an individual get up to a podium or microphone stand and literally read to the audience. The reader will usually use a book or one of a variety of devices to read from. This approach is good when all you care about is the actual poetry itself more than the person who wrote it. But after many outings to similar events, you start to want something more. That's what happened to me. I wanted to see a show, not just someone reading off a book. That is how "The Raving Press Events" was born. We organize and coordinate events centered around authors and their books. But we ask them to try to make it a show. This is accomplished in several ways: video presentation, dramatic performances, recitation (that is, reciting your works without reading it off a page or a device), and or, delivering a motivational/inspirational/enlightening speech. So, if you are still wondering what an event like this would be like, there you have a gist of it. But you know the best way to experience it? By being there in person. Every time we hold one of these events people leave it with smiles on their faces and books in their hands. I think it is because they realize while they are there that they have been part of something different. Something transcendental. That is what we aim for. That is what you will get. And even if you don't buy books or cds, you can't deny that nothing beats going to a show in a great, classic theater, enjoying a FREE show in the cool a/c while all the other poor souls burn in this South Texas heat. And if you are not in the area, you should plan to come down this way sometime. There is magic happening in the borderlands. You need to be a part of it. Mayor Joe V. Sanchez Public Library (Weslaco public library)
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AuthorGabriel H. Sanchez is an author, poet, actor, editor, and publisher from the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, on the border with Mexico. Gabriel is the author of "Once Upon a Bad Hombre," "The X Series," "The Martian Ones: Tales of Human Folly," and "The Fluid Chicano." You can read more about him and his other projects at gabrielhugo.com or on his Facebook page: @gabrielhugoauthor. Categories
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