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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2007
Contact:
, Austin Public Library, (512) 974-7528
Fax: (512) 974-7442
The Texas Book Festival & Rock y Roll Día
Present an Evening of Latina Artists in
"Words Come Alive Series"
 On Friday, November 2, 2007 in celebration of the much celebrated Mexican holiday, Día De los Muertos the Austin Public Library partners with the Texas Book Festival and Rock & Roll Día for an evening with latina artists for a “Words Come Alive Series.” At 7:00 p.m. on November 2, the St. John Branch, 7500 Blessing located in northeast Austin will host latina authors Christine Granados and Tammy Gomez, and 2007 Latin Grammy nominated singer Alejandra Alberti. These talented artists will come together to create an evening of words and song. “This is our educational component of Día De Los Muertos,” said David Rice, author and coordinator of the series. "As part of Rock & Roll Dia we wanted to bring these talented artists to our community.” This program is free and open to the public. For additional information on the second annual Rock & Roll Día, a benefit for Austin Public Library, and celebrating Día De los Muertos with music, art and film visit www.diasmuertos.com. For more information call (512) 974-7400.
About the Artists:
Christine Granados was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She is a stay-at-home mother of two sons and a freelance journalist. Her collection of short stories, Brides and Sinners in El Chuco, was published by University of Arizona Press in 2006. She was winner of the 2006 Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation Award, a grant given by Sandra Cisneros to further the aspirations of new writers. Her stories have been featured in Hecho en Tejas: An Anthology of Texas-Mexican Literature, NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING: And Other Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure (HarperCollins 2008), Texas Observer, El Andar Magazine, Big Tex[t] and the Newspaper Tree. She is a graduate of UT El Paso’s School of Communications and the MFA creative writing program at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
Tammy Gomez, a 2007 Texas Medal of Arts award nominee,is a spoken word artist and multimedia performer who is recognized for her cutting edge performance art work, including the award-winning “Maya Matematica” and “Malinchuca”, as well as her poetry--which has been widely anthologized. She has been artist-in-residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Urbana-Champaign, and Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito, CA), and has received grants from Humanities Texas, the Texas Writers’ League, and the City of Austin--in addition to being a Creative Capital award finalist. Tammy is profiled in “Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History” (UT Press: Austin), and is featured in “Voices from Texas”, a PBS documentary film about Tejano/a poets. In 2007, Tammy has given herself the challenge of writing 365 poems in as many days. Read these new poems, posted daily, on her blog (xxcommunicator.blogspot.com).
Alejandra Alberti is a talented twenty two year old, born in Nashville, Tennessee to a Cuban father and a Mexican mother drawing all of her experiences of growing up in the United States while keeping strong ties to her heritage. Her musical journey fusing pop, rock and R&B influenced vocals should prove to be an inspiration to what the new generation of Spanish speaking music fans have been waiting for. “When developing this project I wanted to use my musical ascendancy in a way that would not only appeal to fans in Spanish speaking countries, but to the younger generations of Latinos who have grown up in the U.S. as well”. Alejandra has distinctly a very strong commercial appeal; her fervor and drive for music should prove to be successful. Alejandra Alberti – the album – was produced by Yasmil Marrufo (Ricardo Montaner, Ricardo Arjona, Oscar D’León, Olga Tañon, Ricky Martin) and includes collaborations by famed artist Jean and composer Daisy Sanz. She was a 2007 Latin Grammy nominated singer.
About the Events
The Texas Book Festival is an annual event, November 3-4, 2007, which supports and promotes literature and reading, and benefits Texas Public libraries. This past year the Texas Book Festival has surpassed the $2.0 million mark in total grant funds awarded to Texas public libraries since its inception in 1996. For more information visit www.texasbookfestival.org.
ROCK Y ROLL DIA 2007: Celebrating Dia De los Muertos with Music, Art and Film is an annual event hosted by Direct Events and ME Television, benefiting the Austin Public Library Foundation, the Austin Latino Music Association (ALMA), the Austin Latino Theatre Association (ALTA) and the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC).
This innovative and exciting music series will involve a line-up of stellar Latin musical concerts with such acts as the B-SIDE PLAYERS; a Mexican horror film program presented by Cine Las Americas; and a music panel with some of the best in the Latin music business. This multi-media event is sure to open the minds of the community and leave a lasting impression full of music, film and art while honoring the vibrant Dia De Los Muertos holiday! The concert and film are on Friday, November 2, 2007 at La Zona Rosa. Tickets are $8.00 for the 7p.m.show and can be purchased at Resistencia Bookstore-1801-A South First St. (512) 416-8888 or at Book People-603 N. Lamar, (512) 472-5050. For the complete schedule of events visit www.diasmuertos.com.
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