Tony Diaz #npradio

On this Nuestra Palabra Rewind from October 2020, join us as we listen to an early interview Tony Diaz had with Mario Castillo, who at that time made history as the first Latino President for the Lone Star College System being named Interim President at the Kingwood campus for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. It's been a few years since Mario shared his story and demonstrated the power of leaders leading with Latino values, interests, and needs in mind. Ahead of the Celebrating Latino Art & Culture con el Chancellor Mario K. Castillo event on Thursday, April 25th, 2024, relisten to the interview that helped Houston get to know the future leader and now Chancellor, Mario K. Castillo. Join us on Thursday, April 25th, 2024, at Lone Star College - University Park at the Visual & Performing Arts Building at 930 University Park Campus Dr, Houston Texas, 77070 at 12 PM Noon with a special recognition for the Chancellor, followed by the eagerly anticipated 7th Annual Juried Student Art Show. Thank you to the follo

Relive the community event celebrating Mario Castillo making history as the first Latino Chancellor for Lone Star College! La gente celebrated Tuesday, March 20th, 2024, at Spanish Flowers to congratulate Chancellor Mario K. Castillo. We had so many folks join us, including: Lone Star College Partners Art Murillo, Lone Star College Board of Trustee The Latino Cultural Experts Committee LSC LASO Houston North Puente LSC - HN Thank you to our Community Partners: Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say The American Leadership Forum ALMAAHH - Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive Complex in Houston, Harris County Que Onda Magazine LULAC Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, speaks w/ the featured artists for the celebration of poetry, prose, and visual expression w/ a special event: Nuestra Palabra & Tintero Projects Present: Poetry at Torre Latina! The night will feature a Q&A w/ our poets & artists, book signing, visual art exhibits, and a preview of the new Nuestra Palabra offices at Torre Latina are included and the best part is that admission is free. Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 Nuestra Palabra & Tintero Projects Present: POETRY AT TORRE LATINA @ Torre Latina Professional Building 150 W Parker Rd., 5th Floor (I-45N @ Parker Rd) Houston, TX 77076 FREE ADMISSION Our featured guests: ire’ne lara silva The 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate and the author of five poetry collections, furia, Blood Sugar Canto, CUICACALLI/House of Song, FirstPoems, and the eaters of flowers, two chapbooks, Enduring Azucares and Hibiscus Tacos, and a short story collection, flesh to bone, which won the Premio Aztlán. ire’ne is the recipient of a 2021 Tasajillo Writer

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, as part of the Texas Author Series, welcomes Dr. Carmen Tafolla as she presents and reads from her latest book WARRIOR GIRL! Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante and Literary Curator for the GCAC's Latino Bookstore, hosts the Texas Author Series every second Friday of the month. Carmen talks about the book, it’s representation, and how this novel is defying the books bans occurring now and reads several poems from the book. Her book, published through Penguin Random House, is available through various online stores but also at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore and makes an excellent addition to your family library, public library, and underground library. Carmen Tafolla is the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, perfor­mance artist, motivational speaker, scholar, and university professor, she is the author of more than forty b

Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say and the Harris County Public Library invite you to join us for a book giveaway and discussion of Nuestra Palabra's 2024 Big Read selection, INFINITE COUNTRY by Patricia Engel. The first 50 attendees to register will receive a free copy of the book, courtesy of Nuestra Palabra through the Big Read grant. Tony speaks w/ several guests about the Big Read and the importance of literary events like these! Tony speaks with HCPL's Assistant Manager for Youth Services Anjela Martinez, Colombian anthropologist Dr. Esteban Acuña, & Victory Early College Student Andreina Dos Santos about the impact the book and books like it have. Although the event is free and open to the public, limited seating is available. Please use the link below to register: https://hcpl.bibliocommons.com/events/65b003ecf664ce3300228bc5 In addition to receiving a free copy of the book, guests will enjoy refreshments and an interactive panel discussion about the book, hosted by Tony Diaz, Foun

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante and Political Analyst on What's Your Point on Fox 26 News, welcomes Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones. Commissioner Briones shares her work in improving Precinct 4, an important gun buyback program taking place this November 18th, and her literacy advocacy, with her recent appearance at NP's & NEA's Big Read event in September as well as the Harris County Proclamation given to Nuestra Palabra and Tony Diaz for 25 years of cultivating community cultural capital. Join us on NP Live at a special time this Wednesday, November 8th, at 9:00 AM CST as part of our multi stream broadcast. You can check out the show on Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter! Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones is a native Texan and proud Latina who grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border. She is the daughter of teachers, who taught her the importance of education, hard work, and serving others—values that have defined her and which she now brings to the office of County Commissioner for Precinct 4. Upon

The Houston Cultural Treasures Announcement Event and State of the Network Panel - Recorded Live on 11.02.2023 - at The DeLUXE Theater. The BIPOC Arts Network and Fund named the cohort of 11 organizations named as Houston Cultural Treasures. The panel discussion framed learning and hopes from different segments of BANF communities. BANF will invest $5 million over two years (2024-25) in eleven organizations w/ both technical support and unrestricted cash funding. Houston Cultural Treasures invests in the arts organizations that have anchored our communities of color and shaped Houston’s dynamic and diverse culture that we benefit from today. We honor their survival, persistence, and resilience. The Houston arts community has celebrated its ability to collaborate and connect. We celebrate that connectedness as a Houston strength and are building a two-year learning cohort of BIPOC organizations and their leadership as an essential part of the experience. To be a Houston Cultural Treasure is to commit to s

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) in San Antonio Texas, welcomes award-winning Seattle writer, teacher, and editor Alma García as she returns to her El Paso roots with her debut novel, ALL THAT RISES (University of Arizona Press, 2023), a story of secrets, lies, border politics, and discovering what it means to belong—within a family, as well as in the world beyond, ahead of her Texas Author Series appearance on November 10th, 2023 at the Guadalupe's Latino Bookstore. Join us for NP Live on October 9th, 2023 at 7:30 PM CDT via our Nuestra Palabra's multi-stream platform broadcast on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube! Alma García is a writer whose award-winning short fiction has appeared in Narrative Magazine and most recently in phoebe and the anthology Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. She is a past recipient of a fellowship from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Originally from El Paso and later from Albuquerque, she now liv

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) in San Antonio Texas, welcomes professor Dr. Jesús Jesse Esparza, Associate Professor in the Department of History, Geography, and General Studies at Texas Southern University, to discuss his book RAZA SCHOOLS (University of Oklahoma Press, 2023) ahead of his Texas Author Series appearance on November 10th, 2023 at the GCAC's Latino Bookstore. Join us on NP LIve on October 16th, 2023 at 6:30 PM CDT as part of Nuestra Palabra's multi-stream platform broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. In 1929, a Latino community in the borderlands city of Del Rio, Texas, established the first and perhaps only autonomous Mexican American school district in Texas history. How it did so—against a background of institutional racism, poverty, and segregation—is the story Jesús Jesse Esparza tells in RAZA SCHOOLS, a history of the rise and fall of the San Felipe Independent School District from the end o

Internationally renowned ceramicist Veronica Castillo alongside Professor Emerita and Independent Publisher Dr. Josie Méndez-Negrete join us in spotlighting their co-authored book, "Rooted in Clay: El Arte de Verónica Castillo." Tony delves into the book written as a plática in which Castillo shares her life work, inspiration, politics, and history with Méndez-Negrete alongside images of her sculptures and experiences that led her to be one of the first artists requested to submit work for the newly launched Latino Heritage Museum for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. Her artwork, primarily ceramics that focus on the “tree of life,” is deeply connected to her indigenous roots in Mexico as well the transformations in aesthetic expressions that have occurred as a result of her work with revolutionary indigenous groups and moving to San Antonio. *********** Verónica Castillo is an internationally acclaimed artist from Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla, México. At a very young age, under the tutelage of

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center welcomes award winning author and distinguished professor Dr. Norma Cantu to the show to discuss her latest book CHICANA PORTRAITS: CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES OF TWELVE CHICANA WRITERS (University of Arizona Press 2023) ahead of her Texas Author Series appearance on October 13th 2023 at the Guadalupe. Join us for a lively discussion over this amazing anthology that spotlights 12 literary figures from 12 authors who themselves are making a name for themselves. Norma describes the process and reads from the book and shares some of her thoughts on the current state of book bans and censorship culture. Dr. Norma E. Cantú is a scholar-activist who currently serves as the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University. She is founder and director of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa. She has published fiction, poetry, and personal essays in a number of venues. He

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio Texas, welcomes award winning author John Olivares Espinoza to the show to discuss his book THE DATE FRUIT ELEGIES (Bilingual Review Press, 2008) ahead of his Texas Author Series appearance on October 13th 2023 at the Guadalupe. John shares with us his work, reads some of his poems (including unreleased portions of his upcoming book), the inspiration behind his work, as well as his current as editor / poetry coach to several well known literary figures, including Chicana icon Sandra Cisneros. John Olivares Espinoza is a recipient of a 2023 City of San Antonio Project Grants for Individual Artists. Born and raised in Indio, California, and the son of immigrants from Mexico, he received degrees in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside and Arizona State University. He is the author of the poetry collection, The Date Fruit Elegies (Bilingual Review Press, 2008)

Tony Diaz welcomes key members of Main Street Theater’s current production of CARMELA, FULL OF WISHES, playing Sept. 24 – Oct. 21 at MST’s Midtown location at 3400 Main Street, 77002 at the MATCH. Adapted by Nuestra Palabra's very own Alvaro Saar Rios from the best selling book by Matt de la Peña, Tony speaks with Alvaro, Laura Moreno, the play’s director, and Jacqueline Vasquez, the actor playing Carmela, about this wonderful play and it's importance in telling our stories. On our show, we have: Laura Moreno (Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) Last Stop on Market Street (Costume Design) Miss Nelson Is Missing! The Musical!, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Dragons Love Tacos; Alley Theatre: (Assistant Director): A Midsummer Night’s Dream, What-a-Christmas!; Mildred’s Umbrella: Ladies’ Night: Beckett Shorts; Lamar University: The Revolutionists; Jewish Community Center: Photograph 51; Horse Head Theatre Company: Church, Judgement of Fools; Gravity Players: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Duchesne Ac

Nuestra Palabra and the National Endowment for the Arts @neaarts celebrated will Latina Leaders with an amazing event, NP & NEA's The Big Read! The event was a huge success but if you missed it no worries, it is now available on our podcast! Some key moments: As part of our collaboration with the NEA, we gave away 400 copies of INFINITE COUNTRY (@AvidReaderPress) by Colombian American writer Patricia Engel (@patricia__engel) to attendees! The event opened with the powerful poetry of Elisa Garza who shared her previous work from Entre la Claridad and new unreleased poems for our audience. Geraldina Interiano Wise, Board Chair of ALMAAHH, spoke on the importance of having our space, nuestra lugar, and urged folks to fill out the survey for the Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive (ALMAAHH) complex in Harris County. Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Briones shared her passion urging folks not to let others call us "dormidos y hay que levantar y dar pa adelante nuestra fuerz

Tony Diaz, el Librotraficante spotlights Dr. Carmen Tafolla’s latest book WARRIOR GIRL! Carmen talks about the book, it’s representation, and how this novel is defying the books bans occurring now and reads several poems from the book. Her book published through Penguin Random House is available through various online stores but also at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore and makes an excellent addition to your family library, public library, and underground library. Carmen Tafolla is the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, perfor­mance artist, motivational speaker, scholar, and university professor, she is the author of more than forty books and a profes­sor emeritus of Transformative Children’s Literature at @UTSA. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the pres­tigious Américas Award, the designation of first city Poet Laureate of San Antonio, six International Latino

Nuestra Palabra features the book "The Alton Bus Crash" on our latest podcast episode which you can stream on your favorite platform. Tony Diaz speaks with Juan P Carmona about his book on the tragic Alton Bus Crash, which claimed the lives of f 21 junior and senior high school students after a bottling truck collided with the school bus, causing the bus to enter a caliche pit filled with water. This terrible incident led to many changes in several industries but also served as a precursor to other catastrophes that have befallen marginalized communities and the government response. Juan P. Carmona is a Social Studies teacher at Donna High School and a dual enrollment History instructor through South Texas College. He graduated with honors from the American Military University with a master’s degree in American History and he was the Recipient of the 2018 James F. Veninga Outstanding Teaching Humanities Award by Humanities Texas. He is a member of the NACCS Tejas Foco Committee for Mexican American Studies

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Culturalarts Center's Latino Bookstore, spotlights Dr. Mehnaaz Momen's LISTENING TO LAREDO: A BORDER CITY IN A GLOBALIZED AGE. in a lively discussion on place, identity, and the changing conditions of an American border city. Dr. Mehnaaz Momen is an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Texas A&M International University and the author of THE PARADOX OF CITIZENSHIP IN AMERICAN POLITICS AND POLITICAL SATIRE, POSTMODERN REALITY, AND THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (Arizone Press) Her new book, LISTENING TO LAREDO: A BORDER CITY IN A GLOBALIZED AGE, gives an in depth look at the burgeoning Texas town that has grown. Nestled between Texas and Tamaulipas, @officialcityoflaredo was once a quaint border town, nurturing cultural ties across the border, attracting occasional tourists, and serving as the home of people living there for generations. In a span of mere decades, Laredo has become the largest inland port in the United States and

Nuestra Palabra's Tony Diaz El Librotraficante, Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, welcomes Dr. Ito Romo, who will be one of our our featured authors for the Texas Author Series' September reading at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on September 8th at 6:00PM. Tony will speak with Dr. Romo re: his book THE BORDER IS BURNING being released on paperback, his next projects, and even have a reading in advance to Dr. Romo's appearance in San Antonio Westside! Dr. Ito Romo was born and raised on the border in Laredo, Texas. His recent work, dubbed “Chicano Gothic” and “Chicano Noir,” shows the dark and gritty life along Interstate 35 through South Texas, where his family has lived for nine generations since 1750. He lives in San Antonio and is Professor of English Language and Literature at St. Mary’s University. Romo received his PhD from Texas Tech University’s Creative Writing Program and was recently inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. He is the author of Th

Tony Diaz, the Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, welcomes The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva @borderlandsshax (BSC)! Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos (Trinity University), Dr. Katherine Gillen (Texas A&M University–San Antonio), and Dr. Adrianna M. Santos (Texas A&M University–San Antonio), who will be our featured authors for the Texas Author Series' September reading at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on September 8th, at 6:00PM. Dr. Brenda Sarmiento Quezada (Purdue University) joins Tony & the BCS to discuss writing curriculum and how important these works are as educational tools for not just traditionally marginalized folks but for all. These curriculums and coursework is all part of a $102,250 grant for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s Latino Bookstore Education Outreach and Literacy Program. Join us on our show on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston at 7:00 CDT PM or online via www.kpft.org. If not, you can always catch the podcast on our streaming platforms! The Bo

Nuestra Palabra's Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, welcomes author of the acclaimed books ZARZAMORA and WHERE THE RECKLESS ONES COME TO DIE Vincent Cooper, who joins us to talk about his latest book from Mouthfeel Press, INFIDELIS. Tony speaks with Vincent Tuesday on KPFT Houston 90.1 FM on Tuesday August 22nd at 7:00 PM CDT as we discuss Vincent's powerful new book. You can hear it live via KPFT.org if you’re not in the Houston area; otherwise you can catch the podcast afterwards! Vincent Cooper's INFIDELIS is a powerful collection of poetry that delves into the life of a Chicano outcast, drawing from the author's personal experiences as a United States Marine. Through lyric and Blues poetry, Cooper paints a vivid picture of the 9/11 era, capturing the raw and authentic emotions that accompanied his journey. Vincent Cooper is a poet living in San Antonio, Texas. He is a former United States Marine and has published in Ban This! The BSP Anthology of Xicano Literature, Big Bridge Magazine: Refreshing San Anto