Latina/o Literature's Futurity: A Dominican American Sci-Fi Writer?

Junot Díaz, THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO



We're reading Díaz's first novel in my Caribbean Encounters class; rarely do I find a work that's as fun to teach as it is satisfying. My cup is full. Read it? What do you think? So, Mr. Díaz, want to come to my class and talk about it?

Latina/o Literature and the "Canon Wars"

Incertus has a post on yesterday's Sunday Times Book Review essay on the "Canon Wars."

[...]"Latino/a Lit isn't doing its job if it isn't mentioning that "Latino/a people" is a set and a subset that overlaps with hundreds of other sets and subsets." [...]

The Short Life of José Antonio Gutiérrez

The Short Life of José Antonio Gutiérrez, a film by Swiss director Heidi Specogna,
premiered in Montreal this past Thursday. I saw it while at LASA.

Update: a colleague from Swarthmore told me recently that it was a terrible film. I think it's a cultural intervention, pointing the way to better popular renditions and imaginings of Latinidad. I think it's a start.