NEW YORK, NY – In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latinx in Publishing (LxP) group is pleased to announce the launch of their official website on Thursday, October 13, 2016; 6pm to 9pm at Solas, 232 E 9th Street, New York, NY 10003.
“We are living in an exciting era during which grassroots online movements like #OwnVoices and #WeNeedDiverseBooks are reshaping how we approach diversity and multiculturalism in the books we edit, acquire and publish,” says, steering committee member and Senior Marketing Manager at Scholastic, Antonio Gonzalez. “Latinx in Publishing has been consistently meeting and growing over the last year and we are thrilled to finally launch our official website and invite the larger community to get involved,” says Pablo de la Vega, Agent at Indent Literary Agency and steering committee member of LxP.
The launch will include mingling among industry professionals as well as readings from bestselling and award-winning authors, Zoraida Córdova (Labyrinth Lost), Nancy Mercado (Please Postpone My Death), Lori Carlson Hijuelos for Oscar Hijuelos (Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise), David Unger (The Mastermind), and Theresa Valera (Covering the Sun with My Hand). Gonzalez goes on to say, “Right now more than ever the book industry urgently needs groups like Latinx in Publishing—not only to advocate for Latino voices within the pages we read and bring to the market…[but also] to strengthen the industry’s understanding of what it means to be Latinx, or Hispanic, or Chicano, or Puerto Rican, and so on in today’s America—beyond that we exist to fortify ourselves as working professionals in this business. This group is a steady reminder that we are not alone on this journey.”
About Latinx in Publishing:
A network of book professionals committed to supporting and increasing the number of Latinx in the publishing industry, as well as promoting literature by, for, and about Latinx people. Members include professionals from all facets of publishing at various career stages. Members benefit from this community through shared resources, support, and mentorship. In addition to networking, Latinx in Publishing also hosts professional development events in NYC and online. We are committed to doing outreach and participating in school career fairs as well as building partnerships with organizations and publishers that seek to promote diversity. For more information please visit www.latinosinpublishing.tumblr.com.
About the Authors:
Zoraida Córdova was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, NY. She is the author of YA fantasy novels, The Vicious Deep trilogy, the On the Verge series, and Labyrinth Lost. Córdova also writes adult romance, loves black coffee, snark, and still believes in magic. She is currently working on her next novel. Please visit her online at http://www.zoraidacordova.com.
Lori Carlson Hijuelos teaches in the English Dept. at Duke University. She has edited many award-winning, young-adult anthologies, among them Cool Salsa, and has published three novels, the most recent of which is A Stitch in Air. Her late husband, the novelist Oscar Hijuelos was the son of Cuban immigrants; he was the first Hispanic American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. Among his works are The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Mr. Ives' Christmas and Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise. Visit Lori Carlson Hijuelos online at www.LoriMariaCarlson.com.
Nancy Mercado is the author of It Concerns the Madness, and the forthcoming Please Postpone my Death. She is the editor of the children’s anthology, if the world were mine and the Nuyorican Women Writers Anthology, published in Voices e/Magazine, a guest curator for the Museum of American Poetics and has written seven plays and poetry collections. Visit her online at www.Nancy-Mercado.com.
David Unger is a Guatemalan novelist who was awarded the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Prize in Literature in 2014, despite writing exclusively in English. Unger is the author of The Price of Escape and Life in the Damn Tropics. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. The Mastermind is his latest novel.
Dr. Theresa Varela is an award-winning Puerto Rican author, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Her books Covering the Sun with My Hand (2015) and Nights of Indigo Blue: A Daisy Muñiz Mystery (2016) are both International Latino Book Awards winners. Dr. Varela holds a PhD in Nursing Research and Theory Development, is a member of Las Comadres para las Americas, and is on the Advisory Board of the Latina 50 Plus program. She is a Co-Founder of La Pluma y La Tinta—a Writer’s Workshop. She currently works with the mentally ill homeless population in NYC. Visit her online at www.theresavarela.com.
