Wow, the month of September was pretty busy for me. On September 16, I presented at the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg, discussing the role of culture and history in Mexican-American identity and tying Mexican Bestiary in to Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations. Awesome conversation with a receptive audience.
Then on September 21 I was at the Region 20 Library and Media Conference in San Antonio. Diana López, Lupe Flores and I were on a panel together discussing the use of culturally relevant texts to appeal to struggling readers. The three of us, along with about ten other Texas writers and illustrators, also entertained with side-stitching authors’ theater. Signed some books, met some neat people. Estuvo padre.
September 28 I presented at the Region 1 Library and Media conference in Edinburg, Texas. Guadalupe García McCall (author of Under the Mesquite and Summer of the Mariposas) and I did a panel with Laura Purdie Salas concerning the use of Mexican(-American) mythology and legends in young-adult/children’s fiction. I also did a separate presentation called Rigor, Relevance, Relationships: Reaching Reluctant Readers at which I invited Myra Infante, author of Combustible Sinners to speak.
The Fall Book Festival in Mission took place on September 29, and I went with my son, Angelo Bowles, to speak with young people in that community about literacy and culture and to read from our books. Some great authors were on hand, like Jason Henderson, Keith Graves and Kimberly Morris. Fue un verdadero gusto.