Contents Next Up On Tour 2004: Houston, October 16 & 17 Co-Hosts Make the Houston Festival A Great Success 8th Annual Los Angeles Festival: Hot, Hot, Hot! Founder's Profile: Ruebén Martínez You Can Help

We are pleased to present Issue 8 of Noticias del Festival. We hope you are enjoying these monthly newsletters. Latino Literacy Now appreciates your continued support of our efforts to reduce illiteracy and promote literary excellence while advancing the cause of reading in the Latino Community. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Next Up On Tour 2004: Houston, October 16 & 17

The excitement is building in the country's 4th largest city as we all get ready for one of the highlights of the year, the 3rd Annual Houston Latino Book & Family Festival. Special Guest of Honor at the Houston event will be comedian/author George Lopez, who will be signing his new book, Why You Crying? My Long, Hard Look at Life, Love, and Laughter. Other special literary guest include Univision news co-anchor and author Maria Antonieta Collins, Giselle Blondet, co- host of Univision's Despierta America, MLS Star and former Los Angeles Galaxy player Mauricio Cienfuegos, Xavier Garza, Lorraine Lopez, Neo Franco Cantu, Diane Bertrand and many others being added daily.

The show floor in Hall A at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston will certainly be a beehive of activity with speakers, entertainment and author readings from the Main Stage, the Folklórico Challenge USA taking place on the Folklórico Stage, author discussions and educational seminars in the Seminar Area and entertainment for the whole family taking place all weekend on two new Sponsor Stages within the Western Union and Nestle Pavilions.

Co-hosts for the Houston Festival are Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say and Pancho Claus Scholarship & Art Fund. (See more about these two fine organizations below).

For the third straight year the Houston Latino Book & Family Festival is honored to have the Houston Chronicle as Presenting Sponsor. The Chronicle has proved to be an excellent partner and has been instrumental in the initial growth of this event - potentially the largest literary event in the State of Texas for 2004. Other major sponsors for the 2004 Houston Festival include Nestle, Western Union, Chase Home Finance, Selecciones: Readers Digest en Espa=F1ol, Barnes & Noble, Continental Airlines, CenterPoint Energy, Nick Jr., Rice University, H-E-B Stores, Univision 45, The Girl Scouts of the USA, HoustonPBS 8, Christus St. Joseph Hospital, KTRK-TV ABC 13, Harris County Public Library, Houston Public Library, Houston Community College, Amerigroup, the Greensheet, The Houston Calendar, NHPO, CACHH, K- LOVE-106.5, 102.9 Estereo Latino, 90.1 KPFT, Telefutura 67, Amerigroup Texas, Blood Bank, Wells Fargo, World Education Guild, and Urban Latino TV.

More About Houston Latino Book & Family Festival

	Co-Hosts Make the Houston Festival A Great Success
Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say Last year, the largest literary event, in the fourth largest city in America was a Latino Event. I like to say that and let that sink in. We are not talking about merely the largest Hispanic event, we are talking about the biggest book event in the city, across the board for all demographics. Even as we hear about the increasing drop out rate for our young, the Latino community was able to come together to enjoy literature, art, culture, in numbers never before seen or imagined. The First Annual Houston Latino Book and Family Festival drew over 15,000 people. The 2003 Festival drew over 22,000. We have come a long way. Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say was founded in 1998. We held our first events in the party hall of Chapultepec Restaurant. We were told that there was not a demand for Latino Literature. We were told that there was not an audience or our literatura. We were told that others had tried and failed. Five years later we were drawing record crowds to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Nuestra Palabra now consists of our monthly literary showcases held at Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts (MECA), a weekly radio program on 90.1 FM KPFT, writing classes for all ages, a Master of Fine Arts Initiative, and of course, the Annual Houston Latino Book and Family Festival. We are proud to have brought the LBFF to Houston for the first time in 2002, and we are excited that it has become an important part of the Houston landscape. Which leads to more good news. This year we are poised to become THE largest book fair in all of Texas, as we draw over 25,000 people. With our stellar line up, with our loyal volunteers, with our fantastic sponsors, and with the support of the community, we are sure to achieve this. And this will send a strong message. Our community is eager to express itself through stories, poems, art. If given a venue that caters to our minds, hearts, and imaginations, the Latino Community will let its souls sing. We are proud to be part of a movement that will make the nation realize that we are a people of endless possibilities. Tony Diaz Director Houston Latino Book and Family Festival Founder/Director Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say Pancho Claus Scholarship & Art Fund Richard Reyes, former executive director of Talento Bilingue de Houston, first donned his Pancho Claus zoot suit 20 years ago for the cultural center's Christmas show. Today, the Latino Santa is a local icon, but in the beginning, getting gigs for old Pancho wasn't easy. "I'd go to elementary schools," remembers Reyes, "where they didn't know me from Adam. I'd walk in in a zoot suit looking like a gangster, and I'd do 30 classrooms in a couple of hours." The kids got a kick out of his Pancho Claus poem, a modern version of The Night Before Christmas that uses a catchy mix of slang in both English and Spanish. "It was the night before Christmas and all through the casa, not a creature was stirring, hey, vato, que pasa?" Reyes would recite, later continuing: " 'Hey, man, there's no chimney up here. What will we do?' Then Pancho Claus said: 'Hang loose, bro. I'll go downstairs and break a bathroom window.' " Most of the teachers enjoyed Pancho Claus as much as the kids did, but every now and then Reyes felt he wasn't wanted. "It used to mess me up," he says. "But now I know you're not gonna please everyone." Here and there over the years, parents or community members have complained about Pancho Claus, saying that he makes light of gangs. Reyes thinks that kids, especially some of the more troubled ones he works with who may be gang members themselves, can relate better to a zoot-suited Pancho Claus than to a more archetypal Latino character. "Who's gonna come for Pancho Claus in a sombrero?" he asks. "The point of Pancho Claus is to draw teenagers in." As Richard explains, "In the beginning, when Pancho Claus came to town, his visit was considered outreach, service to at risk youth, something that mattered in just a certain part of town. We are entering an era where the education of our youth, and the enforcing of our culture, will go beyond the category of marginal programming. We are entering a point in history where because of our numbers, where because of the make up of Houston, of Texas, of the nation, the understanding of our culture is vital to the growth of our city, our state, and our country. As Latinos become the majority population, it will be the act of enjoying and appreciating each other's art that will lead to a greater understanding of our neighbors and ourselves. Which means Pancho Claus will have to make even more toys for more girls and boys. It is our pleasure to be one of the local co-hosts, in conjunction with Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, for the Third Annual Houston Latino Book and Family Festival presented by the Houston Chronicle. And we are also proud that the HLBFF is becoming a national model for how book fairs are conducted, and how Latino arts organizations work." For more information ... »

	8th Annual Los Angeles Festival: Hot, Hot, Hot!
Event: 8th Annual Los Angeles Latino Book & Family Festival Date: September 11-12 Place: California State University, Los Angeles

	Founder's Profile: Ruebén Martínez
Periodically over the next few months this space will be devoted to those individuals whose dedication to promoting Literacy and advancing the cause of reading in the Latino community resulted in the first Los Angeles Latino Book and Cultural Festival held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 1997. We have been to many cities with the now titled Latino Book & Family Festival over these past 8 years, but none of this growth could have been possible without these pioneers who set such a high standard of excellence and commitment. Our first profile is on Ruebén Martínez who taught us all how important a role books and reading can play in a child's life. As Ruebén himself says, "Do you want your child to be ahead of the line or at the back of the line, moms and dads? You have to support, endorse, and read to your kid...if you do that, your kid will be at the head of the line...and be someone special in this world. Reading does it!" Ruebén has been a professional barber and entrepreneur for more than forty years. In 1993, he founded Libreria Martinez Books and Art Gallery, a small business operating out of his barbershop. By 1999, the bookstore had expanded and moved into its own location, and, in 2001, he launched a second venue dedicated to children's literature. Ruebén is a founding member of Santa Ana's Reading City Committee. Ruebén was named the Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year 2004 by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Santa Ana District Office. His selection was announced by District Director Sandy Sutton who said "Ruebén gives to his community above and beyond the scope of his duties and responsibilities as a businessman. He provides valuable support to literary and artistic entrepreneurs." In a lifetime of receiving many prestigious awards, Ruebén was recently honored as one of 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2004. The MacArthur Fellows Program underscores the importance of the creative individual in society. Fellows are selected for their originality, creativity, and the potential to do more in the future. Candidates are nominated, evaluated, and selected through a rigorous and confidential process.=A0No one may apply for the awards, nor are any interviews conducted. Our congratulations go out to Ruebén Martínez and our appreciation for getting us started on the right foot. For ore Information ... »

	You Can Help
We hope you will use the "Forward email" feature below to spread the word about the Latino Book & Family Festival to your friends and business associates. Bring the cover page of this newsletter with you to the next LBFF in your area & receive 25% off all Festival merchandise available at the Information Booth.

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