LibroMobile Virtually Presents How to Date a Flying Mexican: New and Collected Stories (University of Nevada Press) by Daniel A. Olivas. The presentation will include a discussion with the author of his new short-story collection and audience participation with Q&A. His new book is a collection of stories derived from Chicano and Mexican culture but ranging through fascinating literary worlds of magical realism, fairy tales, fables, and dystopian futures. The characters confront—both directly and obliquely—questions of morality, justice, and self-determination.
Note that April 30 is also Independent Bookstore Day, so what better way to celebrate than to attend an event sponsored by an independent bookstore like LibroMobile?
This is a FREE event but remember to register to save your spot! Visit this link for details.
PRAISE FOR HOW TO DATE A FLYING MEXICAN
Featured in Poets & Writers' Page One roundup of New and Newsworthy Books.
"His new collection
of short fiction ... is at turns comic and tragic, and perhaps most
poignant when it is both. Employing a range of genres and modes including
dystopian science fiction, magical realism, and parable, Olivas uses a
whimsical hand to tug at deeper truths about identity and society." —David Nilsen, On
the Seawall
"How to Date a Flying Mexican is a beautifully realized work that comes out of the depths of the Mexican and Mexican American cultural experience." —Michael Nava, Los Angeles Review of Books
"Throughout all of
his stories, there are strong Chicano characters, who embody tales that range
from the laugh-out-loud funny to the heartbreaking. A timely retrospective from
an important voice in Latinx literature." —Wendy J. Fox, BuzzFeed
"Prompted by tragedy—the death of his father and the pandemic—Olivas revisits decades of writing to produce this collection of new and previously published stories. Olivas’s work is surreal, dystopian, critical, and introspective, ultimately moving into contemporary political rhetoric." —Alta Journal
ABOUT LIBROMOBILE
LibroMobile Arts Cooperative
(LMAC) is a small sized,
hybrid nonprofit organization established in 2016 by local author Sarah Rafael García in
Santa Ana, California. It was initiated through support from its fiscal
agent Red
Salmon Arts, a partner hybrid nonprofit organization based in
Austin, Texas, and a five thousand dollar Investing in the Arts Grant by the
City of Santa Ana. Although started with a minimal amount of funding, the
hybrid nonprofit organization serves as the only literary arts cultural center
for approximately 300K+ residents in the City of Santa Ana of which 80% are
Latina/o/x as part of Orange County that is 60% people of color.
Over the first two years, LMAC tended the community as a curbside vendor
selling books and hosting free literary readings and workshops via partnerships
with established art spaces, local businesses, national literary grants to pay
writers, and special public events. Since 2017, it has been housed at two
different brick-and-mortar venues: the first being a public stairway that
served as a temporary space for 11 months funded by a patron and the second a
190sqft warehouse in downtown Santa Ana that has consisted of annual lease
renewals since January 2018 paid by profits. LMAC continues to be mobile while
sustaining general operating costs at the 190 sq. ft. warehouse space. One
organizational goal is to reinvest profits into the local artists of color and
business economy. Over the years LMAC has fulfilled García’s mission of
“cultivating diversity through literature and the arts” to the residents of
Santa Ana and Orange County. Today (2021), LMAC is focusing more than ever on
audience engagement and book sales to increase assets, while seeking to expand
its reach beyond the city as an established BIPOC-led cultural center in Orange
County and institute a new mission statement.
