Friday, December 17, 2010

Doce cuentos paralelos de Isabel Quílez



Una cazadora de elefantes. Mujeres que van al astrólogo, al santero, al doctor del amor. La mujer de las trenzas púbicas, estrella de un circo local. Estas y muchas otras mujeres pueblan los muy divertidos Doce cuentos paralelos de Isabel Quílez (también conocida como Isabel Abislaimán e Isabel Cadenas, sus apellidos de casada). En su nuevo libro, la autora cubano-puertorriqueña (nacida en Cuba pero radicada en Puerto Rico desde principios de los años 60) nos ofrece una ventana a la sensibilidad de toda una gama de mujeres caribeñas: sensuales, seguras de sí mismas, a veces frágiles, curiosas, empresariales. Los cuentos oscilan desde relatos de corte realista (por ejemplo, la descripción de los improperios físicos de un ex-presidente caribeño que discretamente pellizca a la narradora de “Los presidentes”, dejándole un doloroso moretón en la nalga que ella esconde de su marido) hasta los más fantásticos, en que fantasmas de hombres visitan a mujeres y les hacen el amor. Inspirada por los cuentos de Gabriel García Márquez mientras participaba de un taller literario liderado por Sylvia Domenech, Quílez se da a la tarea de escribir relatos cortos, sintéticos, pero llenos de vida y sorpresa. La autora ofrece muchos detalles biográficos en las solapas y la introducción del libro, lo cual nos permite ir atando cabos y desentrañar las posibles referencias autobiográficas, particularmente aquellas relacionadas a una infancia en Cuba y los Estados Unidos y su vida adulta en San Juan. Uno de los relatos más emotivos es “Los gusanos”, una alegoría sobre insectos ahogados en un jardín que rápidamente se convierte en un comentario político sobre el destierro y el rechazo de la revolución cubana por los que se oponen al régimen. Como comenta Mayra Santos-Febres en la contraportada, “Los cuentos paralelos de Isabel Quílez exhiben un gran manejo de la forma y una imaginación osada y fértil. Son cuentos de quien se inicia en el oficio, pero con paso firme y prometedor. Se nota que Isabel Quílez se ha tomado en serio el oficio de escribir y que lo hace con disciplina, dedicación y, a la vez, con toda la intención de seguir produciendo buena literatura”. Recomiendo estos maravillosos cuentos y espero con anhelo futuras entregas de la talentosa escritora novel.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Call for Contributions: Collection in Memory of Rane Arroyo



Volume Editor: Betsy Sandlin (Sewanee, University of the South)

Submissions of any genre are invited for an edited collection in memory of poet and playwright Rane Arroyo (1954-2010). His 11 books of poetry, collection of short stories, and numerous plays and performances blazed new trails in Puerto Rican / American literature in their blending of so-called “high” and “low” cultures, their frank reflections on homosexuality, ethnicity, and social class, and their experimentation and self-reflexivity. Rane won numerous accolades during his lifetime and was respected and loved by many, particularly those students and authors whom he influenced and inspired.

Rane was unafraid to push and blur boundaries, and this collection seeks to honor him and his courage by doing the same. To that end, I welcome any sort of contribution in any genre and from any perspective that you feel appropriate to the occasion and to the memory of Rane Arroyo. This may include, but is certainly not limited to, “traditional” (or not-so-traditional) literary criticism, poems or other creative works, personal essays, reflections on teaching Rane’s work, and more.

Essays of literary criticism should be approximately 6,000-8,000 words in length, including end notes and a list of works cited that follows the norms of the Modern Language Association. Other submissions may be in any format. Please feel free to include images, especially if you own them and can grant copyright permission. Images of Rane are certainly welcomed, as are any other images that might be pertinent to your submission.

Interest in submitting should be expressed via email to Betsy A. Sandlin , Ph.D. Associate Professor, Sewanee: The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383, no later than March 31, 2011. Please indicate what you plan to submit and, if appropriate, a title and brief abstract. Final submissions will be due no later than May 31, 2011. Contact Betsy A. Sandlin at bsandlin@sewanee.edu with questions.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Cooking with Drag Queens: How to Make Tostones!



The long awaited Feast of Fun tostones video is finally here! Hope you have fun! ¡Ojalá que lo disfruten!

If you just can't get enough, here is my "Behind the Scenes" video:



And how to forget our zany "How to Make Tostones" preview video!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

La Literatura Latina III (Santa Cruz, California)



¡Saludos desde California! I am thoroughly enjoying my visit to Santa Cruz, where I am participating in the Latino Literature/La literatura latina III Bilingual Conference at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Yesterday I read on a panel with Helena María Viramontes and Manuel Muñoz. ¡Muchísimas gracias a Kirsten Silva Gruesz y a tod@s l@s organizadores de este magnífico evento!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Puerto Rican Literature of Migration



Puerto Rican Literature of Migration
Panelists: Yolanda Martinez San Miguel, Laura Lomas, Vanessa Pérez Rosario
Moderator: Arnaldo Cruz Malavé
Tues., Oct. 26, 2010 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Centro Conference Room East Bldg. 1442
Hunter College (corner 68th & Lexington Avenue)
New York City, NY
Directions: 6 Train to 68th Street
R.S.V.P.: Rosalie Roman or call 212.772.5714

Thursday, September 30, 2010

In Solidarity with MSA President Chris Armstrong



I oppose the harassment that Chris Armstrong, the elected student leader of the University of Michigan Student Assembly, is being subjected to by a state official.

I fully subscribe to the University of Michigan statement of support on his behalf.

I applaud Anderson Cooper's reporting on this topic and his open confrontation of Chris Armstrong's harasser.



Support Chris Armstrong by signing an online petition here. Let Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox know that Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell's behavior is unacceptable.

Also, please consider donating to the Spectrum Center, the University of Michigan's LGBT Student Center on campus. You can give by accessing an electronic donation link on the Spectrum Center home page. No amount is too small.

You can also give to the Spectrum Center's DOUBLE THE IMPACT Campaign at:
http://www.crowdrise.com/spectrumcenter

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Lola Does Saugatuck, Michigan, with the Feast of Fun!



Lola von Miramar had the most wonderful time with her friends Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion of the Feast of Fun last weekend in Saugatuck, Michigan! Listen to this podcast in which we talk about our exploits, particularly our experience attending a cabaret show by the extraordinary Miss Coco Peru! (See my review here.)

Here's a photo of me with the lovely Miss Coco!



For more photos go here!

We also recorded some videos:


Greetings from Saugatuck


Monarch Butterfly Feeding from a Flower


Larry Is Mad at Himself

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Panel in Los Angeles on August 6!



(Click on image to see larger view.)

Please join us at this panel at the annual conference of the Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE) on Friday, August 6, at 9:45 am! The 2010 conference will be held at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Eating Patacones in Ecuador!



Lola von Miramar has the most delightful friends!!!! Maxi and Beto indulge in delicious patacones inspired by Lola's video "Behind the Scenes on 'How to Make Tostones,'" which Lola filmed with her fabulous friends Saltina (Fausto Fernós) and Daphne Dumont (Marc Felion) of the Feast of Fun podcast!



("How to Make Tostones" is still in postproduction but promises to be on YouTube by the end of the summer!)

Maxi and Beto are engaged and just announced their plans to marry in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where gay marriage is now legal. ¡Qué vivan Max y Beto! ¡Qué viva la Argentina! ¡Y qué vivan los tostones!

Love,

Your always adoring Lola von Miramar
Mistress of the Tostones Universe

Thursday, July 15, 2010

How To Do Drag!



Lola von Miramar's dear friends Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion of the Feast of Fun podcast introduced Lola to the oh so fabulous Blanche Babcock, a real mistress of the art of drag! Blanche has wonderful videos on YouTube as well as a lovely blog. The video above offers an introduction explaining some of the basic products you will need. Make sure to see other videos by Blanche such as one on how to apply foundation and contour (the first of a three-part series) and one titled "How to Do Drag Makeup on the Cheap."

While searching on the web for advice, Lola von Miramar came upon the fantastic videos of Janet from Janet's Closet! Janet's cross-dressing emporium is located in Wyandotte, Michigan, in the Detroit metro area, and shares the building with a car engine shop! Hear Janet explain her philosophy about female transformation and give basic tips for makeup! This is the first of a nine-part series (although parts three and four seem to be missing). She carries out a transformation of the Puerto Rican model Jasmine!



Lola has learned so much with Blanche and Janet! There are also many other wonderful YouTube tutorials such as the one by the very lovely British girl Nic (pixiwoo on YouTube) of FashionFace.tv:



Lola says: Go have fun with drag!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Claridad Queer o LGBT (En Rojo)



Como muchos sabrán, el suplemento En Rojo del semanario puertorriqueño Claridad del 24 al 30 de junio de 2010 estuvo dedicado al tema de lo LGBT o queer en Puerto Rico.

Ya quitaron los artículos, aquí están los enlaces. Les recomiendo que descarguen los artículos, cuentos y poemas como PDF ya que Claridad no mantiene estos enlaces de manera permanente.

* Alida Millán Ferrer, "Convivir" (mensaje de la editora de En Rojo)

* Jorge Irizarry, "Somos parte del escenario" (mensaje del editor de este En Rojo)



* Lilliana Ramos Collado, "¿Arte queer? Ahora lo ves… ¡y ahora también lo ves!"



* Rubén Ríos Avila, "La lucha LHBTT: de las identidades a las ciudadanías"



* Salvador Vidal Ortiz, "Sebastián y su corporealidad" (entrevista con Sebastián Colón)



* Mickey Negrón, "Testimonio: El año que viene vuelvo a marchar y me llevo un casco"



* Rafah Acevedo, "NO tolero a los gays"



* Jorge Irizarry, "Durmiendo con el enemigo"



* Ángel Antonio Ruiz, "Transqüiar: el vacío de la identidad absoluta y la reafirmación de la existencia"

* Mercedes Garriga, "Nietzche y la deconstrucción de la moralidad"



* Luis Negrón, "Mucho más de lo que se piensa: Nuevo cine queer puertorriqueño"



* Luis Negrón, "Por Guayama" (cuento)



* Aixa Ardín, "Me gusta cuando el pan"

* Rubén Rolando Solla, "Puro teatro"

* Rubén Rolando Solla, "Calambre"

Como sabrán, el número también produjo debates feroces. Aquí un ejemplo:

* Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, "El EnRojo Queer, y las dificultades del apalabramiento"

* Lilliana Ramos Collado, "EnRojo Queer: Las inclusiones y las exclusiones siempre son políticas"

* Juan Carlos Quintero-Herencia, "Volver sobre lo negativo"

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

¡Qué Viva África! (con Shakira y Freshlyground)



Lola took a little moment today to watch Shakira and Freshlyground performing "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)," the official song of the 2010 World Cup, which is being held in South Africa. It is a very moving song and they perform it very well, although it is a little disappointing to realize that the song opens with a military metaphor (which they soon forget). Please also enjoy the live recording at the FIFA Celebration Concert!

¡Hoy Lola se conmovió mucho al oír "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)", la canción de la Copa Mundial 2010 interpretada por Shakira y Freshlyground! (Eso antes de que se diera cuenta de que es una metáfora militar que se invoca al principio, aunque por suerte se abandona pronto.) La copa se celebra en Sur África este año por primera vez. ¡Disfruten de la versión en vivo también!

These are the lyrics:

You're a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up
And dust yourself off
And back in the saddle

You're on the frontline
Everyone's watching
You know it's serious
We're getting closer
This isn't over

The pressure is on
You feel it
But you've got it all
Believe it

When you fall get up
Oh oh...
And if you fall get up
Oh oh...

Tsamina mina
Zangalewa
Cuz this is Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Listen to your god
This is our motto
Your time to shine
Dont wait in line
Y vamos por Todo

People are raising
Their Expectations
Go on and feed them
This is your moment
No hesitations

Today's your day
I feel it
You paved the way
Believe it

If you get down
Get up Oh oh...
When you get down
Get up eh eh...

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa

Shakira Waka Waka lyrics found on http://www.directlyrics.com.com/shakira-waka-waka-lyrics.html

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets! (featuring Sarah Vaughan)



You're absolutely right that Lola's gonna get whatever she wants!

Lola's divine friend Katie sent her this fabulous rendition by Gypsy Somerset (Jenna McDaniel) of the classic "Whatever Lola Wants" as sung by the oh so fabulous diva Sarah Vaughan. (Jenna is lip syncing Vaughan.) The song is from the 1955 musical play Damn Yankees and also appeared in the film made from the play. It is based on the infamous and delightful Lola Montez.

Gypsy Somerset's black and white version (with a bleached out performer) is a little unusual (almost ghostly!) and made Lola want to see more of the real Sarah Vaughan. In this clip, "Sassy" (Vaughan) sings "Perdido" (a fascinatingly bizarre Mexican-themed song that sounds a lot like Carmen Miranda's "Paducah" from Busby Berkeley's The Gang's All Here), engaging in her own little bit of tropicalization:



Next is a very nice video with clips of Vaughan singing "Sometimes I'm Happy," "They All Laughed," and a most wonderful rendition of "Maria" from West Side Story (Lola just loves how Sarah glistens from perspiration while singing "Maria" and also manages to look absolutely regal!):



Finally, here's an interesting tango trance remix by Gotan Project & Sarah Vaughan:



Enjoy!

Eternally yours,

The Divine Lola von Miramar

Friday, June 25, 2010

Literatura LGBT puertorriqueña (Los Otros Cuerpos)



Queridas amigas:

Las invito a que disfruten de este video blog en el que Lola von Miramar habla sobre la pionera antología puertorriqueña LGBT Los Otros Cuerpos (2007) y lee pasajes de los importantísimos escritores Manuel Ramos Otero (1948-1990) y Rane Arroyo (1954-2010).



Please join Lola von Miramar as she talks about the pioneering Puerto Rican LGBT anthology Los Otros Cuerpos (2007) and reads passages by the very important writers Manuel Ramos Otero (1948-1990) and Rane Arroyo (1954-2010). VIDEO IN SPANISH.

¡Ojalá que les guste! Hope you enjoy it!

La antología se consigue en la Librería Isla de Río Piedras y aquí.

Con el cariño de siempre y deseándoles muy feliz Gay Pride en Nueva York y Chicago,

Su servidora Lola von Miramar

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

VIDEO: Chuchi the Clown Es Cosa Mala!


Chuchi the Clown is the extraordinary creation of the very talented and multifaceted Charlie Vázquez, who is the author of the recently published novel Contraband and who also maintains a very informative blog. Charlie also hosts the PANIC sex-radical literary reading series every month at Nowhere, one of New York City’s funkiest gay bars! Check Chuchi out!

In Creo que "ese" es bien...tu sabe..., Charlie channels his paranoid exiled Cuban grandfather, who is convinced that everyone is a communist and working for the FBI. He screams at his friend Beba, who seems to be hard of hearing, and talks about how the local French in the neighborhood and the Guardian Angels are all communists. He then curses having picked up the phone. Or something like that!

In a previous video (El Dali Lama) Chuchi rambles on about the Dalai Lama and Jesus, claiming that the latter really looks very Spanish and thus must be Latino!



Bravo for Charlie Vázquez!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

VIDEO: Yay for Ricky Martin! Lola loves him!



People en Español dedicated its July 2010 cover to Ricky Martin and his beautiful boys Valentino and Matteo. (Full article here.)

La revista People en Español le dedicó su portada de julio de 2010 a Ricky Martin y a sus bellos hijos Valentino y Matteo. (Ver artículo aquí.)

¡Lola está fascinada con Ricky Martin! Pero eso no es una sorpresa...

Hope you enjoy mi video blog!!!!

Los adora,

Lola von Miramar de Martin

Behind the Scenes with Lola!



Filmmaking is fun! And exhausting! But Lola loves it!

El domingo participé en el rodaje de un video en Chicago, con mis amigas Saltina (Fausto Fernós) y Daphne Dumont (Marc Felion) del Feast of Fun. ¡Hicimos tostones (que en Colombia se llaman patacones)! Aquí comparto algunas de mis experiencias. ¡Estén atentas al lanzamiento de nuestro video "How to Make Tostones (Fried Green Plantains)" esta semana!

Las adora,

Lola von Miramar

Lola, L-O-L-A Lola, Lo Lo Lo Lo Lola! (The Kinks)



My fabulous friend La Sandrella just send me this wonderful song which captures my spirit in oh so many ways. Hope you enjoy it!

Yours always,

La Lola von Miramar!

Lola-The Kinks-Original Lyrics:

I met her in a club down in old Soho
Where you drink champagne and it tastes like cherry cola c.o.l.a. cola

She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice
she said Lola L.o.l.a. Lola
La La La La Lola

Verse 2:

Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy,
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
oh my Lola, la-la la-la Lola
Well, I'm not dumb, but I can't understand
Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man
oh my Lola, la-la la-la Lola
La-la la-la Lola

Well we drank champagne and danced all night
under electric candlelight
She picked me up and sat me on her knees
said little boy, won't you come home with me ?

Verse 3:

Well, I'm not the world's most passionate guy,
But when I looked in her eyes, well, I almost fell for my Lola
la-la la-la Lola,
La-la la-la Lola
Lola, la-la la-la Lola
la-la la-la Lola

I pushed her away
I walked to the door
I felt to the floor,
I got down on my knees
well I looked at her and she at me.

Verse 4:

That's the way, that I want it to stay
And I always wanted it to be that way for my Lola
la-la la-la Lola,
Girls will be boys and boys will be girls,
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world except for Lola
la-la la-la Lola

Well, I left home just a week before
and I'd never ever kissed a woman before
But Lola smiled and took me by the hand
Said good boy gonna make you a man !"

Verse 5:

Well, I'm not the world's most muscular man,
But I know what I am I'm glad I'm a man and so is Lola
la-la la-la Lola,

Lola, la-la la-la Lo-la, la-la la-la Lo-la, Lola, la-la la-la Lo-la, (repeat and fade )

Monday, June 21, 2010

A Tostones Teaser with Lola


Lola von Miramar and her dear friends Saltina (Fausto Fernós) and Daphne Dumont (Marc Felion) of the Feast of Fun podcast teach you how to make tostones! (Short video teaser, also includes coverage of the Chicago Puerto Rican Day Parade!)

Speaking of parades, here are some images of Lola's friend Larry in Chicago!


(With Fausto and Marc)


(With Ramón Rivera-Servera)

Lola von Miramar vs. Saltina: Who's the Best Lady Vera Parker?


The hilarious Fausto Fernós of the Feast of Fun podcast challenges Lola von Miramar to an impersonation challenge: who can do a better version of the incarcerated Chicago drag queen Lady Vera Parker???? May the best queen win!!!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Lola Teaches You How to Say "Hello!" in Spanish!


¡Vivo y en directo desde Chicago, Illinois! Una pequeña clase de español para nuestras buenas amigas. ¡Muchas gracias a Fausto Fernós del Feast of Fun!!!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

¡Lola, Rubia de América!



A sign of things to come!

Video by Christian Hale, hair by Charo of 32nd St (NYC).

Your eternally devoted,

Lola von Miramar!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Para todos todo! Huelga + Paro!


Para todos todo! Huelga + Paro! from Carlos Marcial on Vimeo.

Tremendo video por Carlos Marcial Torres, que escribe lo siguiente:

El 18 de mayo de 2010 se convocó a un paro general en apoyo a los reclamos de los estudiantes en huelga de la UPR. Luego de varias manifestaciones en distintos centro gubernamentales de trabajo muchas personas se movilizaron al frente de los portones de la UPR en Rio Piedras para demostrar el apoyo masivo que tienen los estudiantes.

¡El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido!
!Vivan Los Estudiantes!
¡Viva la Universidad Pública!
!Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Rane Arroyo, In Memoriam (1954-2010)



The great Puerto Rican poet Rane Arroyo died on Friday morning (3:40 am) in Toledo, Ohio. His long-term partner Glenn Sheldon was at his side. I wrote the following about Rane for the Heath Anthology and have updated it:

Rane Arroyo b. 1954 - d. 2010

Born in Chicago to Puerto Rican migrant parents, Rane Ramón Arroyo was a prize-winning poet and playwright that also lived in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he received a Ph.D. in American Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. A self-professed gay writer, he was also a literary critic and performance artist, and directed the University of Toledo’s Creative Writing program. Arroyo’s work is marked by his references to Caribbean and Latino life in the Midwest (particularly in Chicago), by his consistent engagement with canonical literary figures of American and English modernism as well as with Latin American and Spanish poets, and by his exploration of his own personal experiences, including his longstanding relationship with the poet Glenn Sheldon, his affection for his cat Diva, and his awareness of his own process of aging.

Arroyo’s self-reflexive poetry often focused on the inner conscience of a poetic persona, a gay Puerto Rican bard who feels out of place in the world and who is constantly struggling to grapple with what it means to be a poet marked by racial, sexual, and linguistic difference. In this universe, poetry is construed as the space where memory comes together, the space for the appreciation of that which surrounds the individual, a way to come to terms with the world and to reflect about politics, news, racial relations, immigrant experience, and quite markedly, with what it means to be an American.

At the core of Arroyo’s universe is his family and the Puerto Rican traditions (dance, music, food, the Spanish language) and social experiences (factory work, poverty, migration) that characterize them. There is a recurrent set of characters that reappear throughout Arroyo’s four books; these include Mami, Papi, Aunt Sylvia, Uncle “Rachel” (the transvestite uncle), as well as his many cousins. The poems often express intimate (and evolving) relationships with these individuals, highlighting issues of masculinity and gender in relation to the father and uncle, of tradition and assimilation in relation to his mother, and of youth and coming of age with the cousins.

One of the most striking features of Arroyo’s poetry is his play with traditional forms (what appear to be rigid stanza sequences, often couplets and tercets, and set-length verses) employed to give shape to strongly prosaic content; the verses constantly make use of enjambment. Arroyo’s poetry is marked by the variety of topics it covers in a most colloquial way, wandering from considerations of Latino popular and mass culture (Andy García, Antonio Banderas, Ricky Ricardo, Rita Moreno and West Side Story, Speedy González, Taco Bell), to revisionist historic dialogues with Christopher Columbus and conquistadors such as Juan Ponce de León, to profound analysis about the specific environs of a particular neighborhood or serious critiques of racism or of the effects of drug trafficking and drug addiction. It is a poetry that tries to reconcile geographic specificity (his own love of Chicago, his parents’ Puerto Rico) with cosmopolitanism (a learned engagement with the Western tradition and extensive travels throughout the world). There is a clear attempt to address dominant conceptions of Latinos in the United States, engaging with damaging stereotypes as well as with issues specific to Mexican-Americans/Chicanos, Cuban-Americans, and Puerto Ricans.

The strong literary bend of his work is established by constant mentions of and dialogues with poets such as William Carlos Williams (whose mother was Puerto Rican), Wallace Stevens, Hart Crane, Diane Williams, and Seamus Heaney, as well as Latin American or Hispanic greats such as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Federico García Lorca, Octavio Paz, and Pablo Neruda. In fact, the poet’s careful attention to form and literary language as writerly phenomena bring him closer to Víctor Hernández Cruz than to other US Puerto Rican poets.

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

PRIMARY WORKS
Columbus’s Orphan, 1993; The Singing Shark, 1996; Pale Ramón, 1998; Home Movies of Narcissus, 2002; The Portable Famine, 2005; How To Name A Hurricane, 2005; The Roswell Poems, 2008; Same-Sex Séances, 2008; The Buried Sea: New & Selected Poems, 2008; The Sky's Weight, 2009.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Ooooooooooh Yes!!! SuperTrannyHeaven!



Lola von Miramar está encantandísima con este video de su hermana Heaven (con Markaholic)! No dejen de suscribirse al canal SuperTrannyHeaven de YouTube!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Género y Sexualidad en Latinoamérica y el Caribe (sobre Julia de Burgos)



¡Me encanta este video de mi clase de español (invierno 2008) en que discutimos a la poeta puertorriqueña Julia de Burgos!

I love this video of my Winter 2008 Gender and Sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean Spanish class in which we discuss the work of the feminist Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos! Thanks to my wonderful students and to Vivianne Schnitzer of the Univ. of Michigan Communications Office for videotaping the class.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Professor Profile: Larry LaFountain-Stokes



April 20, 2010 - 12:25am
By: Darryn Fitzgerald
The Michigan Daily. Direct link to article here.

For Associate Prof. Lawrence LaFountain-Stokes, using both English and Spanish in his classes is not just part of his job — it’s part of who he is.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, LaFountain-Stokes grew up with an English-speaking father and a mother who spoke both English and Spanish. LaFountain-Stokes was raised using both languages and he attended bilingual schools for twelve years.

LaFountain-Stokes has taught at the University since 2003. He holds a joint appointment in the Latino Studies, American Culture, and Spanish departments and he said his work in these departments allows him to incorporate both English and Spanish into his teaching.

“Teaching in Spanish is a very integral part of what I do,” LaFountain-Stokes said. “If I don’t teach in Spanish I get depressed because I really enjoy the language.”

The courses he has taught at the University cover a variety of topics including LGBT studies, queer Hispanic culture and Latino and Caribbean literature, theater, performance and film.

The controversial nature of some of LaFountain-Stokes’ courses, like those on LGBT issues and feminism, can make teaching more challenging, but he said it also makes his job more interesting.

“It makes it more satisfying for me to be able to talk about socially complex issues in the classroom,” he said.

Before coming to the University, LaFountain-Stokes attended Harvard University. During his time there he studied abroad at the University of São Paulo in Brazil where he lived for a year and half. He said his time away from Harvard “put things into perspective.”

“Living abroad was much more challenging.” LaFountain-Stokes said. “Going to a private school in the U.S. where the library had books and there weren’t strikes, and where you could walk to class and there was no hyper-inflation, it made it very easy.”

Following his studies in Cambridge and São Paulo, LaFountain-Stokes went on to earn Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Spanish from Columbia University in New York.

After his time at Columbia, LaFountain-Stokes began teaching at Ohio State University where he worked as an assistant professor from 1998 to 1999. He then went on to teach at Rutgers from 1999 to 2003.

In addition to his work in the classroom, LaFountain-Stokes is also the author of Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora, as well as a recipient of numerous awards and scholastic fellowships including the Woodrow Wilson Award.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails at McNally Jackson Bookstore in NYC (July 2009)



Video by Yumma Arroyo, music by Draco. Thanks to Javier Molea, curator of the Spanish-language readings at McNally Jackson!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Entrevista/Interview: Larry La Fountain (iTunes U) (video)



Los invito a que vean esta entrevista en español en la que hablo sobre mi trabajo, Queer Ricans, y la homosexualidad en Puerto Rico. Hago una breve mención de Ricky Martin. ¡Entrevista grabada en enero! (Enlace lleva al iTunes U de la Universidad de Michigan para descargar el video, que es de 29:56 minutos.)

I invite you to see this interview in English in which I talk about my work, Queer Ricans, and homosexuality in Puerto Rico! Very à propos of Ricky Martin! (Free downloadable video on University of Michigan iTunes U, 22:19 minutes).

--
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes
Associate Professor of Latino/Latina Studies, American Culture, and Spanish
Program in American Culture, Latina/o Studies Program, and Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
University of Michigan
3700 Haven Hall (American Culture)
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (Minnesota, 2009)
http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/L/la%20fountain-stokes_queer.html

Uñas pintadas de azul/Blue Fingernails (Bilingual Press, 2009)
http://www.asu.edu/brp/newandforthcoming/Bluefingernails.html

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Out at CHM – Queer Latinos: Art and Change


http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=40715


Listen to a fascinating exploration of Chicago’s long standing and diverse queer Latino community. Scholars Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes and Lourdes Torres share their insights on the intersection of art and political change over the last twenty-five years.

Recorded Thursday, March 04, 2010 at Chicago History Museum.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

'Out at CHM' Looks at Queer Latinos


Article published in Windy City Times
by Yasmin Nair
2010-03-10
Photos by Tracy Baim

The Chicago History Museum's Out at CHM series hosted its first Latina/o event March 4. Titled "Queer Latinos: Art and Change," the program showcased the work of two researchers, Lourdes Torres and Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes who presented on their Chicago-based work in the Latino/a community. They were introduced by Ramon Rivera-Servera, an assistant professor in the department of performance studies at Northwestern University.


Torres is a professor of Latin American and Latino Studies and the director of the Center for Latino Research at DePaul University, and a board member of Amigas Latinas, a local organization for Latina lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning women. Torres' presentation was on Amigas and on its predecessor group, LLENA. She said that the impetus behind her work was to "document the efforts of Latina lesbians to define their identity in public spaces" as they worked to "negotiate national and ethnic identities and the diverse political histories" of members.

LLENA began in 1988 and lasted till 1992. Chicago, in 1980, was not a friendly space for Latina lesbians, who saw a lack of public spaces. In November 1988, more than 30 such lesbians gathered for a meeting to discuss ways to remedy the situation, and this gave birth to Llena. The name was an acronym for "Latina lesbians en nuestro ambiente" or "Latina lesbians in our space." "Llena" in Spanish also means "full." According to one member, LLENA was to convey the sense that the women felt "perfect in our own space [ with ] a sense of completeness." The group met every other Friday at Horizons, now Howard Brown Health Center.

Llena consisted of a mixture of all social classes, including professors and undocumented women, and the ages ranged from their 20s to their 60s. The bilingual meetings were described as chaotic and intense, and lasted as long as four hours. According to members, they always felt unwelcome at Horizons, where the staff were mostly white gay men who made them feel out of place. They were not allowed in if they came early and had to stand waiting outside in the cold. Eventually, José López, executive director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, offered them that space and Llena moved its meetings there.

The group began putting out a bilingual newsletter, Lesbiana, in 1990. Torres said that its politics fit with the general trend towards a Third World feminist movement. According to Torres, LLENA's politics were coalitional and intersectional; one of its main co-sponsored events was the immensely popular International Women's Day Dance. The group eventually disbanded in 1992, but by then it had made its mark in establishing the need and the hunger for a public space for Latina lesbians, paving the way for Amigas.

By the 1990s, Chicago was a more welcoming place for Latinas and there was a proliferation of organizations and events for women of color. These included Affinity ( for African-American lesbians ) and the WACT ( Women of All Colors Together ) potlucks. Evette Cardona was among the co-founders of the latter, and she would become one of the co-founders of Amigas Latinas in 1995.

Torres pointed out that Amigas, which continues to this day, is unique for being one of the few that has sustained itself for more than a decade where most do not survive beyond two years. The group is currently a non-profit with over 300 members. Among the reasons for its success is that Amigas has become a leading educator and advocate for Latina lesbian issues and is explicit about the fact that Latinas are not a monolithic group; it addresses the needs of youth, older women and families. In that it echoes the words of a LLENA newsletter: "We must work towards an inclusive community as well as a pluralistic feminism."

La Fountain-Stokes, an associate professor of Latina/o studies, American Culture and Spanish at the University of Michigan, spoke about five queer Latina/o artists and writers based in Chicago: writer Achy Obejas, poet Rane Arroyo, director Rose Troche, Teatro Luna co-founder Coya Paz and performance artist Fausto Fernós, of Feast of Fun. La Fountain-Stokes presented biographical sketches all five, showing how each recorded and negotiated complex issues of self and cultural identification as Latina/o in a city that is multiethnic and often strewn with tensions around race and ethnicity. Troche is most famous for her 1994 breakout hit film Go Fish, about a multiethnic group of lesbians living in the then-not-yet-completely gentrified Wicker Park. According to La Fountain-Stokes, Troche made a film that cannot be easily read as Latina unless viewers notice subtle references to her Puerto Rican heritage. He pointed out that most biographies and media pieces on the filmmaker downplay her ethnic identity. Quoting the scholar Lisa Henderson, he said that the film instead portrays a "modest lesbian utopia."

The question-and-answer session evoked praise and additional bits of ongoing Chicago Latina/o history. Cardona added that ALMA (the Association of Latino Men for Action) had been instrumental in helping to form Amigas. She also pointed to the existence of contemporary Latina/o groups like Dulce Palabras, a queer spoken-word ensemble.

La nación en vaivén - libro nuevo de Jorge Duany



(Presionar sobre imagen para ver versión más grande.)

¡Lola von Miramar se complace en anunciar la publicación del libro más reciente de su amigo Jorge Duany! ¡Felicidades, Jorge! La nación en vaivén: identidad, migración y cultura popular en Puerto Rico (San Juan: Ediciones Callejón, 2010) recopila columnas que este antropólogo y profesor de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, recinto de Río Piedras, ha publicado en la prensa puertorriqueña, especialmente en El Nuevo Día.

Yo lo voy a leer.
Yo lo voy a usar.
Yo se lo recomiendo.

Lola von Miramar

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

You Belong With Me - Same-sex crush version



¡Lola está contenta con este video! Versión gay de la canción de Taylor Swift "You Belong With Me".

Video original:



¿Qué falta en la versión gay de la Universidad de Rochester? ¡El beso!

Chicago History Museum features Latino Arts & Activism


Article in Gay Chicago Magazine.
Written by Amy Wooten
March 11-17, 2010 issue, Chicago News.
Also available here.

CHICAGO – Those working to highlight the contributions Latinos have made to Chicago’s GLBT community say there is a long way to go before this segment of the community is fully accepted and recognized.

Chicago History Museum’s March 4 OUT at CHM presentation, “Queer Latinos: Art and Change,” explored the contributions made by local Latino activists and artists, from the organizing done by Amigas Latinas to the work created by local authors and podcasters.

Several participants in the evening’s program highlighted the need for the OUT at CHM event. After all, the contributions of queer Latinos are often overlooked. Moderator and Northwestern professor Ramon Rivera-Servera said that the accounts of GLBT history “hardly ever” recognize Latino activism, especially work done in the Midwest.

Presenters Lourdes Torres and Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes are at the forefront of documenting Latino GLBT activists and artists.

Torres, a DePaul professor and author, presented her research of two Chicago Latina lesbian organizations, Llena and Amigas Latinas. Torres said her work with Amigas Latinas over the past 10 years inspired her to document that history, especially because many accounts of Chicago’s GLBT history – even recent ones – overlook the work done by Latina lesbians.

Torres explored the history of the now defunct Llena, as well as Amigas Latinas, to discover their work and identify these organizations as an important part of queer history.

During her presentation, Torres explained the organization’s successes and the barriers they faced. For example, Llena, which started in 1988 and disbanded in 1992, started in the ‘80s, when there were no welcoming spaces for Latina lesbians. The group first met at Horizons, now known as Center on Halsted. After some time, the group found a space in their own neighborhood, because “members started to feel uncomfortable at Horizons,” Torres explained. If members showed up early, white, male Horizon employees would force them to wait outside in the cold and were rude to them, she added. Later, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center welcomed Llena. This was an early push for a lesbian presence in a largely heterosexual space. Later efforts included the creation of an annual, inclusive women’s dance.

While Llena eventually disbanded, Amigas Latinas, which began in 1995, built upon Llena’s expansive vision. “It clearly made its mark and paved the way for Amigas Latinas in the mid-‘90s,” Torres said.

With the ’90s came a more welcoming climate. The ’90s saw the birth of several organizations for women of color, such as Affinity and Women of All Colors/Cultures Together (WACT). But while many groups began during this time period, Amigas Latinas is one of the few Latina organizations in the U.S. to sustain itself over a decade. This success, Torres explained, in part because the organization is willing to meet the changing needs of the community it serves. For example, despite some opposition, Amigas Latinas created transgender programming and events.

They developed into a non-profit by “responding to a changing reality and needs of the community,” Torres added.

Like Torres, Fountain-Stokes’ work revolves around the important contributions made by queer Latinos. His research focuses on the roles played by GLBT Latino artists, such as author Achy Obejas, film director Rose Troche and Feast of Fun podcaster Fausto Fernos.

While there are many individuals who have made artistic contributions to the GLBT community, not all of their efforts are recognized, Fountain-Stokes explained. For example, Troche directed the 1994 independent lesbian film “Go Fish.” The movie was a wild success, but the recognition Troche received by the mainstream gay community came at a price. Fountain-Stokes explained that in discussions of the film and interviews with Troche, her Puerto Rican heritage was often overlooked.

“Rose Troche’s Puerto Rican-ness is often not acknowledged,” Fountain-Stokes said. Some of this is partially because people are unaware that one of the film’s main characters is Puerto Rican or that the Chicago neighborhood the film is set in—Wicker Park—was home to a multicultural lesbian community in the mid-‘90s. However, while the film isn’t easily seen as Latina, it is still important to document, he said.

During a Q&A segment, one participant asked if visibility is still a large barrier for Latino organizations. According to both Torres and Fountain-Stokes, unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to do in this area.

“We still have to make more of a presence and insist on our acceptance in the community,” Torres said.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Out at Chicago History Museum: Thursday March 4

Chicago History Museum: Out at CHM 2010

Queer Latinos: Art and Change
Thursday, March 4
Cocktails at 5:30 p.m.; program at 6:30 p.m.

Join us for a fascinating exploration of Chicago’s long standing and diverse queer Latino community. Scholars Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes and Lourdes Torres share their insights on the intersection of art and political change over the last twenty-five years.

Cost:
$12; $10 members and students.

To purchase tickets click here.

Pancho Casas - Romance del arcano sin nombre



La señorita Lola von Miramar se complace en compartir este bello y desconcertante video, premonición de bruja de su amiga Francisco Casas (Yegua del Apocalipsis), presentación de su libro Romance del arcano sin nombre en Santiago de Chile en febrero de 2010, antes del horripilante terremoto. Acompañemos, pues, a la Pancha en su desplazamiento verbal y físico por la geografía de Santiago.

"¿Cuántos pájaros murieron durante la avalancha?"

"Cayó la roca."

"Muerte que nos transforma."

"Si se calla el cantor, muere la rosa."

Los adora,

Lola von Miramar

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Review of Queer Ricans in E-misférica 6.2

Larry La Fountain-Stokes’ Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora
Isel Rodríguez | Arizona State University

Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora. By Larry La Fountain-Stokes. Minneapolis. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2009; 242 pp.; $22.50 paper.

As the travel of Puerto Ricans and other immigrants around the globe becomes more fluid, the bonds and borders of place and culture also widen. Changing geographies, life experiences, socio-economic and generational factors, among other things, take part in the more or less visible performance of migrating cultural identities. According to Larry La Fountain-Stokes, queer migration has usually been viewed as a minor, if not marginal issue in the general scope of migratory flows. In Queer Ricans La Fountain-Stokes takes up queerness as one of the principal instigators of Puerto Rican migration, intricately analyzing how this cultural marker is (de)articulated by LGBT writers and artists of different diasporic generations and locations within the U.S.

Culturally engrained issues of homophobia must be unpacked not only in Puerto Rican and other Latin American cultures presumed to be exceptionally homophobic, but also anywhere LGBT individuals’ sexualities are viewed as “incorrect.” However, as demonstrated by a very recent hate crime committed in Puerto Rico, the classic discourse of machismo characterizing many pan-American cultures fuels generalized exclusions of homosexuality as a “Latin” thing. This is evidenced in the ways Puerto Rican identity has been constructed within a hetero-normative discourse. As La Fountain-Stokes argues, “Openly gay, militant homosexuals and other LGBT individuals are seen as emulating foreign attitudes, posing a menace from the outside, and not necessarily behaving as Puerto Ricans are expected to” (xviii). These views extend to academia within the U.S. where queer studies strives to become a more visible field, and studies on Latino culture seem to divide at times at the point of taboo sexualities. La Fountain-Stokes makes his bold, authoritative voice heard on the topic of queer studies as he converses with and adds to the large discourse on Puerto Rican migration and identity.

In the first three chapters, La Fountain-Stokes chooses to focus on three gay writers of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s: Luis Rafael Sanchez, Manuel Ramos Otero, and Luz María Umpierre. Throughout his analysis, La Fountain-Stokes uses “outness” not only in its most conventional form to describe openly gay sexualities, but also in terms of homosexual individuals’ separation from society. In his analysis of Sanchez’s story “¡Jum!” La Fountain-Stokes delves into the complexities of language that queers, racializes, and pushes the main character’s body “out” of society.

When looking at the writings of Manuel Ramos Otero, La Fountain-Stokes points to “autobiographical fiction” as a literary convention that illuminates the author’s personal experience. The analysis creatively engages with Ramós Otero’s geographic usage and cultural metaphors of islandness as a state of solitude. Most notable in the analysis is the framing of queer Puerto Rican migration as “exile” or “sexile” rather than migration. La Fountain-Stokes examines different “stages” (in the spatial and developmental senses) of the author’s work. Each “stage” shows Ramos Otero’s transitions as a queer Puerto Rican migrant in New York—his relationships in/with the city and the relationships between the queer Diaspora, the island, and other ethnic groups as they are narrated in Ramos Otero’s writings.

In La Fountain-Stokes’ treatment of lesbian subjectivities, Luz María Umpierre is featured as a poignant protagonist in the Latina lesbian movement through her explicit representations of the Latina lesbian body in literature and the assertion of Lesbian literature as part of the larger Latina body-of-literature. In La Fountain-Stokes’ own words, Umpierre’s use of poetry “painfully” and productively “threads [diasporic women’s fragmented bodies] as individuals and as a social group” (90).

In chapter four the author more broadly compares Frances Negrón-Muntaner’s film Brincando el Charco; Rose Troche’s film Go Fish; and performance artist, novelist, and cartoonist Erica López’s Lap Dancing for Mommy and Flaming Iguanas. In this chapter La Fountain-Stokes shows the constant flux of Puerto Rican identity, especially as it constitutes a more or less important marker of a person’s being and relation with sexuality.

The end of the book proposes a new, hyphenated way to perform Ricanness as suggested by dance artist Arthur Avilés—that is, a more distanced form of acknowledgment of such a strongly national imagining. Through his analysis of Avilés and Elizabeth Marrero’s rendition of a queered-Ricanized Wizard of Oz, La Fountain-Stokes offers a “utopic” ending to the staging of queer Puerto Rican migration by considering its many variances.

La Fountain-Stokes’ attention to detail when analyzing the works, particularly the literary ones, is remarkable. The chronological progression of the pieces he looks at, as well as the framing he provides for them, gives the impression of a more graspable Puerto Rican identity in the 60’s and 70’s that begins to dilute thereafter. Queer Ricans adds a much-needed perspective on the performance of Puerto Rican (and Latino) identities in and outside of the U.S. and exposes the cracks of inclusion and exclusion implicit in the construction of these identities.



Isel Rodríguez es académica y artista de teatro y performance. Bajo la tutela de la Dra. Tamara Underiner, del programa de doctorado en Teatro y Performance de las Américas de Arizona State University, actualmente está escribiendo una tesis doctoral sobre el cuerpo como nación a través de performance individual en el contexto de Puerto Rico. Isel tiene una Maestría en Teatro y Educación de New York University y un B.A. de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.