Latino Book Review Presents

Meg Medina is a multifaceted author. She writes picture books, middle-grade stories and young adult fiction. In 2019, she won the prestigious John Newbery Medal, and she has won a long list of other awards. She is a New York Times Best Selling Author. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Meg shares about her family and background, her literary journey, the themes in her books and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Angela Cervantes is one of the most prolific children's authors of our time. She writes books for middle school children, and she started writing her stories at the age of nine. Her stories focus on Latina main characters, and they have been praised everywhere. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Angela speaks about the origin of her love for reading and writing, cultural visibility in literature, diversity, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Sandra Cisneros is one of the most influential Latinx authors of all time. She is regarded by many as the main reference in Latinx and Chicano literature. She has sold millions of books, and her work has been translated all over the world. Her book, The House of Mango Street, is a popular reading in schools and universities across the United States. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Sandra Cisneros talks about her new book titled Martita, I Remember You, her life's physical and spiritual journey, her literary perspectives, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Tony Diaz is a writer, activist and professor. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. He is also a political analyst with his own radio show, and his work has been published by multiple national media outlets. He is the founder of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, which encourages cultural change within Latinx communities. In this interview, Tony talks about the Librotraficante "Book Trafficking" movement, the activism he is part of, his literary work and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Christopher Carmona is the interim director of Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and an author of poetry and fiction. He is the author of the saga El Rinche: The Ghost Ranger of the Rio Grande, an acclaimed story that reimagines the Lone Ranger as a Chicano Superhero. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Christopher Carmona talks about his work, superheroes, the bloody history of the Texas Rangers, and more.​ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Kianny Antigua is a bilingual author specialized in children's literature. She was born in the Dominican Republic, migrated to the U.S. when she was a teenager, and today she is a writer and a senior lecturer at Dartmouth College. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Kianny Antigua talks about her children's books, language, culture, and self-love. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Felicia Rose Chavez is an educator and nonfiction writer who has revolutionized classrooms across the United States. Her work and her teaching techniques have been recognized with multiple awards. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Felicia Rose Chavez talks about her book titled The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop, classroom oppression faced by students of color across the country, a plan of action for educators, students, and writers, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

At a time when the U.S. society is reckoning with systemic racism, Natalia Molina from USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences sheds light on how the concept of race is made in America. Dr. Molina is one of the top scholars working on race, history and Latinx studies. She is also an award-winning author who was recently named a MacArthur Fellow. Her book titled How Race Is Made in America has become an essential source to understand this topic. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Dr. Molina discusses the role of storytelling and the policies that create ideas of race, racial scripts, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Alberto Ledesma can be considered one of the early Dreamers in the United States. He currently works as Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UC Berkeley. He is also a writer and cartoonist and has published an illustrated book titled Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer. In this interview with Héctor Rendón, Alberto Ledesma talks about his undocumented origins, his journey through the American education system, his work as a writer and illustrator, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Julia Alvarez is one of the most recognizable faces in Latinx literature. She has won the Hispanic Heritage Award, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award, and in 2013 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts from the President of the United States. In this interview with Héctor "Vale" Rendón, Julia Alvarez talks about her identity and the role it has in her writing, her time in the Dominican Republic, the impact of her family's stories, her writing process, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Maria Hinojosa has been a journalist for nearly 30 years. She has won multiple awards, including four Emmy Awards and two Kennedy Awards for excellence in journalism. She is the host of the radio show Latino USA distributed by NPR, and she is the founder of Futura Media. In this interview with Vale Rendón, Maria Hinojosa talks about her book Once I Was You, the separation of children from their parents in the U.S., Latino and Latina representation, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Oswaldo Estrada is a writer and a full professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has won multiple awards and, most recently, edited a short story book titled Incurables. In this conversation with Vale, he talks about his work as an academic, his experience as a Peruvian immigrant and how it contributes to his creative writing, the current state of Latinx and Latin American literature, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Carlos Aguasaco is a poet, a storyteller and an associate professor of Latin American Cultural Studies at The City University of New York. In this interview with Vale Rendón, he speaks about his origins in Colombia, his trajectory as a poet, El Chapulín Colorado, his poetry book The New York City Subway Poems/ Poemas del metro de Nueva York, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

MacArthur Fellow, Kelly Lytle Hernández, is one of the leading experts on race, immigration, and mass incarceration in the United States. In this interview with Vale Rendón, she speaks about her book City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771–1965, state violence against ethnic minorities, colonialism, mass incarceration, white supremacy, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Isabel Allende is an international, award-winning, and best-selling author. She is the author of 23 books that have been translated into 42 languages and have sold over 74 million copies worldwide. She is the recipient of numerous recognitions including 15 international honorary doctorates and more than 60 awards in over 15 countries. In 2019, Isabel Allende spoke with Rossy Lima about her literary legacy and inspiration. In this interview, they talk about politics in the U.S. and abroad, her books, her non-profit organization, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Amyra Leon is an author, musician, playwright, and activist. Her work transcends genre and medium and focuses on black liberation, politics, and communal healing. In this interview with Vale Rendón, Amyra shares about her book, Concrete Kids, her encounter with language, memories, communal healing, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Kali Fajardo-Anstine is the author of Sabrina & Corina, a collection of eleven short stories that reflect the realities of women from different backgrounds. In this interview with Vale Rendón, Kali Fajardo-Anstine speaks about the women and Native Americans in her stories, her cultural background, her novel Sabrina & Corina, the experiences that inspired her to become a writer, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Cristina Rivera Garza is a renowned writer and professor in the Latinx scene. In this interview with Vale Rendón, Cristina Rivera speaks about her creative and academic work, the multidisciplinary elements that make up her writing, her role as a professor and director of the Ph.D. Creative Writing Program in Spanish at the University of Houston, her upcoming books, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Chanel Cleeton is a Cuban American, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. In this interview with Toloo Riazi, Chanel Cleeton talks about her book The Last Train to Key West, her family's stories about Cuba, the roles of women and history in her novels, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

Mayra Santos-Febres is a renowned and beloved Puerto Rican author scholar. In this interview with Vale Rendón, Mayra Santos-Febres talks about the origins of her writing career, her creative process, what it means to be artist and public figure, her life as a writer, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support