Writer promotes hidden books
By SARAH NESTER
News Writer
Wednesday afternoon students and faculty gathered in Stapleton Lounge for the brown bag discussion "Beyond Borders; Emerging Latino Literature," led by Richard Yanez.
Richard Yanez is the Saint Mary's English department writer in residence and he is also on staff at the Center for Women's InterCultural Learning. La Fuerza, the Hispanic student organization, asked Yanez to speak as a part of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Yanez agreed and chose the theme of Latino literature.
Yanez began by explaining that even though he is a writer he is first and foremost "someone who loves reading books."
Yanez spoke about the importance of going to bookstores, independent bookstores preferably, and looking beyond the typical displays and delving the shelves.
Yanez also spoke of what he calls `bookstore espionage', which he describes as moving books hidden in the shelves into more prominent places.
"Even though I'm a writer, I'm really a proponent for other writers," Yanez said.
Yanez spoke about how he came to be a writer, as an undergraduate student at the University of California-Berkley, when his grandmother became ill and he was able to translate his feelings into writing through short fiction stories about a boy and his relationship with his grandparents. From there Yanez realized his calling and eventually published his first collection entitled "Holy Water."
"You do not have to have a fancy book cover and be published by a big company to be a writer. Just putting things on paper makes you a writer," Yanez said.
Yanez also recommended some Latino, and emerging Latino, authors. Among his list of emerging Hispanic literatures were Denise Chavez, "Loving Pedro Infante;" Dagoberto Gilb, "Woodcuts of Women;" and Jose Skinner, "Flight and Other Stories."
"I do have the power to pick books for courses and that is a powerful thing," Yanez said.
Yanez spoke of the importance of challenging ourselves, to go beyond our realm of knowledge and experience to try what is new and unfamiliar, going beyond borders.
All News Stories for Thursday, October 11, 2001
