Pima County Public Library will begin its 5th annual Nuestras Raíces Literary Arts Festival with the annual Mercado held at the Jácome Plaza at 101 N. Stone, on Friday, Feb. 29. The festival is a cooperative effort between Pima County Public Library, the Friends of the Pima County Public Library and REFORMATucson. All events are free and open to the public.
The Festival this year has grown to include activities throughout the month of March, with several presentations at 10 locations both downtown and at various branch library locations. The festival also will include a fashion show connected with a speaking presentation by young adult author Malín Alegria Ramirez on Saturday, March 8 at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. The presentation, based on Ramirez’ book, “Estrella’s Quinceañera”, begins at 2 p.m. with the fashion show featuring quinceañera dresses immediately following.
The Mercado includes live music and dance performances by Batucaxé and Lady Mascara and nonprofit information tables, as well as food, crafts, and books for sale.
Later on Friday, there also will be a Nuestras Raíces Film Festival beginning at 7 p.m. at the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress. Short films by several local Latino filmmakers will be shown, followed by an awards ceremony for first, second and third place winners.
Please note that a complete listing of events, dates and times will be available at Pima County Public Library branches on Wednesday, Feb. 27, and also will be available at the Mercado on Feb. 29.
Throughout the month of March there are a variety of workshops, performances, author and artist presentations taking place at various locations. Featured in this year’s Festival are:
- Malín Alegria Ramirez, author of short stories.
- Silviana Wood, a Tucson playwright, actress and director.
- Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford, a local children’s author.
- Monica Brown, a children’s book author.
- Lalo Alcaraz, creator of the nationally syndicated and politically charged comic strip, “La Cucaracha”.
- Stella Pope Duarte, author of “Fragile Night”, a collection of short stories and “Let Their Spirits Dance”.
- Norma Medina, a local actress and singer.
- Tony and Lynn Urias, seventh and eighth generation Tucsonans, who will give information on researching Latino family genealogy and history in Tucson.
For a full schedule and maps to the locations, please visit the Pima County Public Library website.
Posted on February 26th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: NuestrasRaíces | No Comments »
