University Library News Release
Date: August 16, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (505) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Big Read Festival to Celebrate Bless Me, Última
A reading festival to be held throughout October will see the residents of Doña Ana County avidly reading and discussing the same book, Bless Me, Última, by Rudolfo Anaya.
The month-long Big Read Festival will include a full schedule of programs, book discussion groups, readings, music and dance performances, film showings, contests and other events and activities related to Anaya’s work and the culture it describes. All events are free and open to the public.
The kick-off event, to be held Friday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m. at the Court Youth Center, will feature a keynote address by nationally known author Jimmy Santiago Baca of Albuquerque. The Ballet Folklorico de la Tierra del Encanto will also perform.
The musical group Cipriano Vigil y Familia of El Rito will perform at the Rio Grande Theater at on October 6 at 3:00 p.m.
Among the many other events being scheduled, with the time to be announced, author Nasario Garcia will present two talks on October 27: “Hispanic Fiestas of Yesteryear: From Food and Fun to Fisticuffs” and “Would You Like to Meet the Devil, Bogeyman or La Llorona?”
NMSU professor Mary O’Connell and practicing curandera Cristina Villapardo will speak on October 28 on healing herbs and curandera traditions at the Landscape Garden at the Fabian Garcia Science Center.
Visit the Big Read Festival web site at http://lib.nmsu.edu/bigread/ for the program schedule and information about Bless Me, Última and Rudolfo Anaya.
Jimmy Baca has devoted his life to writing, teaching and speaking about the power of literature and how it can change the lives of those overcoming hardship. A runaway at age 13, he earned his GED in 1979 and received a B.A. in English in 1984 and an honorary doctorate in literature in 2003, both from the University of New Mexico. A prolific poet and novelist, he has received the Pushcart Prize, the American Book Award for Poetry and many more awards and honors. In 1990, Baca received the International Hispanic Heritage Award for his memoir “A Place to Stand.” In 2005, he created Cedar Tree, a nonprofit foundation that provides free writing workshops, books and scholarships to people in all walks of life.
The Ballet Folklorico de la Tierra del Encanto is a professional touring folklorico dance company based in Las Cruces. Its founder and artistic director is Jose Tena, an NMSU faculty member.
Described as an American treasure, Cipriano Vigil is known for his original corridos and his performance of the traditional song “La Llorona.” He has been interviewed on National Public Radio, and he and his family have performed at many arts festivals.
Nasario Garcia, a native of the Rio Puerco Valley, is the author of several books on New Mexico oral history and culture.
The goal of the Big Read Festival is to celebrate and revitalize reading and to bring community residents of all ages together to discuss Anaya’s classic New Mexican novel. Like the popular Harry Potter novels, Bless Me, Última, is a coming-of-age story full of magic, legends and folkways that appeals to a broad range of readers.
The festival is sponsored by the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Library in partnership with the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, the libraries of the Las Cruces Public Schools, the Doña Ana Arts Council, the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico and many other project partners.
Mardi Mahaffy, the NMSU Library’s Humanities Librarian, said “I encourage everyone to get a copy of the book and join us in reading and celebrating Bless Me, Última.”
The Big Read is a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, that encourages reading by asking communities to come together and discuss books. Support for the Doña Ana County festivities is provided by an NEA grant to the NMSU Library and the generosity of private donors and institutional sponsors.
For more information on the Big Read Festival, please contact Mahaffy at (505) 646-6925 or mmahaffy@lib.nmsu.edu.
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