The Best Place to Start!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Administrative Services Center, 9050 Viscount Blvd.
6:30—6:50
Visual and Performing Arts presentation
7:00—7:10
Welcome
7:10—7:35
Introductions: Minerva Laveaga

Daniel Chacon,

Tim Z. Hernandez,

Yasmin Ramirez,

Roberto A. Santos,

Sergio Troncoso,
7:35—8:15
Discussion on Culture and Literature
8:15—8:30
Questions and Answers
8:30—9:00
Reception
The Visual and Performing Arts Exhibit highlights the history of the Americas
starting from Pre-Columbian times to the Present. The display features
collaborative student work from the Arts, Mass Communication, and Theatre
disciplines. The exhibit will encompass different historical periods utilizing a
combination of visual art, video, and staged readings by actors in full costume
Performers: Destiny Gar cia, Ricar do J imenez, Hannah McFar ling, Ean
Nava, and Monica Torres.
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Daniel Chacón is author of Hotel Juárez: Stories,
Rooms, and Loops (2013). His collection of short stories,
Unending Rooms, won the 2008 Hudson Prize. He also
has a novel, A nd the shadows took him, and another
collection of stories called Chicano Chicanery. His fiction
has appeared in the anthologies Latino Boom; Latino
Sudden Fiction; Lengua Fresca: Latinos Writing on the
Edge; Caliente: The Best Erotic Writing in Latin American Fiction; and
Best of the West 2009: New Stories from the West Side of the Missouri. He
co-edited The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes: The Selected W ork of José
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Anontio Burciaga. He is also editor of Colón-ization: The Posthmous
Poems of Andrés Montoya, forthcoming in 2014 from Bilingual Press and
The Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame. Chacón is recipient of The
Hudson Prize, a Chris Isherwood Foundation Grant, The American Book
Award, and the Peter and Jean de Main Emerging Writers Award, among
others. He teaches courses in Borges, Kafka, Physics as Metaphor, and
Fiction Writing workshops. He has a literary radio show called Words on a
Wire (KTEP.org) which he co-hosts with Benjamin Alire Sáenz. He is also
a photographer/blogger, and his work can be seen at
www.soychacon.blogspot.com.
Tim Z. Hernandez is an awar d winning author and
performance artist. His debut collection of poetry, Skin Tax
(Heyday Books, 2004) received the 2006 American Book
Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, the James
Duval Phelan Award from the San Francisco Foundation, and
the Zora Neal Hurston Award for writers of color dedicated to
their communities. His debut novel, Breathing, In Dust
(Texas Tech University Press 2010) was featured on NPR’s All Things
Considered, and went on to receive the 2010 Premio Aztlan Prize in Fiction
from the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and
was a finalist for the 2010 California Book Award. Most recently, in 2011 the
Poetry Society of America named him one of sixteen New American Poets,
and he was one of four finalists for the inaugural Freedom Plow Award from
the Split This Rock Foundation for his work on locating the victims of the
plane wreck at Los Gatos
As a performer he has collaborated with Grammy Award winning classical
composer Eugene Freisen, and in 2001 was commissioned by the United Way
of Greater Los Angeles to write and perform an original play on homelessness.
Since 2007 he has worked with Poets & Writers Inc. and the California Center
for the Book at UCLA teaching poetry, fiction, and non-fiction workshops
across the west coast. He is also the state-wide coordinator for Writers-in-theSchools (Colorado) with focus on rural, under-served communities. He is a
frequent guest artist at universities, cultural institutions, and literary centers
across the United States. His second collection of poetry, Natural Takeover of
Small Things was released early in 2013, and his novel of historical fiction,
Mañana Means Heaven, which is based on the life of Bea Franco was released
in September of 2013, both books with University of Arizona Press.
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Hernandez holds a B.A. in Writing & Literature from Naropa University and
an M.F.A. from Bennington College in Vermont. In the past he has taught as
an adjunct in fiction at Naropa University, and is currently a Mentor for
Prescott College’s Graduate Program. To read more about Hernandez go to
http://timzhernandez.com
Yasmin Ramirez is a native El Pasoan. She stays active in
the literary community and writes And Then, a weekly blog.
Her work is forthcoming in HUIZACHE and Hinchas de
Poesia. Other publications include: The North Texas Review,
Hispanic Culture Review, rawboned, Rio Grande Review, and
Cream City Review among others. She received her MFA in
Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and
teaches English at El Paso Community College. She is completing her first
book a memoir tentatively titled, Por Un A mor. To read more of her work visit
her website at http://www.yasminramirez.com/
Roberto A. Santos has been published in pr int and online
in publications such as Multicultural Education Magazine,
Breakwater Review, The Rio Grande Review, Newspapertree,
EP Culture Beat, and Mezcla 2. Roberto teaches English
Composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at El Paso
Community College. He conducts frequent writing workshops
in El Paso, and is co-founder of the BorderSenses Barbed Wire
Open Mic Series, a free monthly community performance event.
Sergio Troncoso was bor n in El Paso, Texas and now lives
in New York City. After graduating from Harvard College, he
was a Fulbright Scholar to Mexico and studied international
relations and philosophy at Yale University. Troncoso was
inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s Alumni Hall of
Fame and the Texas Institute of Letters. He is a resident faculty
member of the Yale Writers’ Conference in New Haven, Connecticut, and an
instructor at the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
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Troncoso is the author of five books. He co-edited Our Lost Border: Essays on
Life amid the Narco-Violence (2013), which won the Southwest Book Award and
the International Latino Book Award.
From This Wicked Patch of Dust (2011) is a novel about the Martinez family,
who begins life in a shantytown on the U.S.-Mexico border, and struggles to stay
together despite cultural clashes, different religions, and contemporary politics
after September 11, 2001. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews said the novel
was “an engaging literary achievement,” and chose it as one of the Best Books of
2012.
Crossing Borders: Personal Essays (2011) is a collection of essays about how
Troncoso made the leap from growing up poor along the border to the Ivy
League, his wife's battle against breast cancer, his struggles as a writer in New
York and Texas, fatherhood, and interfaith marriage. The El Paso Times said,
“These very personal essays cross several borders: cultural, historical, and selfimposed....We owe it to ourselves to read, savor and read them again.” The book
won the Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews.
Troncoso’s book of short stories The Last Tortilla and Other Stories (1999) won
the Premio Aztlan Literary Prize for the best book by a new Chicano writer, and
the Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association. His
novel, The Nature of Truth (2003, 2014) is a story about a Yale research student,
Helmut Sanchez, who discovers that his boss, a renowned professor, hides a
Nazi past. The Chicago Tribune called it an “impressively lucid first thriller.”
Arte Público Press published an updated and revised edition of the novel in
2014.
Read more of Troncoso’s work at www.SergioTroncoso.com
Moderator; Minerva Laveaga Luna. After ear ning a
Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from UTEP, Laveaga
Luna spent eight years conducting writing workshops for
victims of domestic violence and migrant farm workers. She
served as project director for the book series “Memorias del
Silencio: Footprints of the Borderland” and as Executive
Director for BorderSenses. Her short stories have been
published in journals in the U.S. and México and her work is anthologized in
“Cuando narradoras latinoamericanas narran en Estados Unidos” by Editorial
Fundación Ross in Argentina. She is currently an Assistant English professor at
El Paso Community College.
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Hispanic Heritage Committee
Olga Chavez, District Director
Pat
Jaime
Giselle
Alvaro
Rebekah A.
Aida
Kathleen A.
Elvira
Lorena
Liz
Rene
Mayela
Doroteo
Gabriel S.
Jorge A.
Maria
James K.
Alex
Rudy
Lillie T.
Alejandra
Luz M.
Michael J.
Arturo
Acosta
Aragon
Aragon
Arvizo
Bell
Black
Bombach
Carrizal–Dukes
Castaneda
Chavez
Chavez
Farah
Franco
Gaytan
Gomez
Gutierrez
Heiney
Hernandez
Hernandez
Johnson
Nava
Roberts
Thornton
Valdespino
Student Ar t & Local Ar tist Display
Administrative Services Center Foyer from September 15 to October 15.
Featuring work by El Paso artists Gabriel S. Gaytán and Frank Rosales and
student work from the class of EPCC art instructor Michael J. Thornton.
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Upcoming Programs
; Sept. 22, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Veronica Escobar, El Paso County Judge
Benjamine Huffman, Chief Border Patrol Agent
Carlos Spector, Attorney at Law
: Angela Kocherga, Border Bureau Chief
; Sept. 29, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Mr. Juan Cabrera, Superintendent, El Paso ISD
Dr. Xavier De La Torre, Superintendent, Ysleta ISD
Dr. José Espinoza, Superintendent, Socorro ISD
Dr. Pedro Galaviz, Superintendent, Canutillo ISD
Dr. William Serrata, President, El Paso Community College
: Carina Ramirez, Ph.D., ESL Dept., EPCC
; Oct. 1, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Richard E. Dayoub, CEO, EP Chamber of Commerce
Matthew McElroy, City Development Director
Thomas E. Munsey, Colonel, Ft. Bliss Gar r ison Commander
Rolando Pablos, CEO, Borderplex Alliance
: Roberto Tinajero, UTEP, Institute for Policy and
Economic Development
;
Ken Miyagishima, Mayor , Las Cr uces, New Mexico
Courtney Niland, Mayor Pr o Tem, City Rep., Distr ict 8
Enrique Serrano, Mayor , J uar ez, Chihuahua, Mexico (Invited)
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Special Thanks
William Serrata, Ph.D.
EPCC President
Ernst E. Roberts II, Ph.D.
EPCC Vice President of Administration & Financial Operations
Olga Chavez, M.A., LPC
Diversity Programs District Director
Doroteo Franco,
Diversity Program, Assistant Director
Aida Black
Administrative Associate
Phone: 915-831-3324
Fax: 915-831-3326
www.epcc.edu/diversityprograms
www.epcc.edu/hispanicheritage
Sponsors
The El Paso County Community College District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
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