A Very good book is on its way…

Our newest book is almost here: A Very Smart Cat/Una gata muy inteligente. The very smart cat in this book has been very busy. In just a couple of weeks, Catskill, NY (right near where the very smart cat lives) will be hosting the second Cat-n-Around Catskill 2008 “A Summer Long Celebration”. Here is just a taste of what readers can expect:

“Meet the smartest cat in the world. She can draw, knows how to
 make phone calls, can take pictures, and plays musical instruments. Do you want her? She is yours. Free! 

Read the funny and surprising adventures of this extraordinary pussycat and you will understand why sometimes there is such a thing as too  smart. A very, very funny book about a very, very clever cat.”

 

This is the farm where the cat lives. It is a real farm, located in Athens, NY- near Catskill, NY! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will be Editorial Campana’s 3rd children’s book.

We are very excited about this book, and we have heard that there are many out there as well who have long waited for this book to come out. As soon as we can get final input from the very smart cat, we will have this book out. In the mean time, if you are in the Catskill area this summer, check out the wonderful cat exhibit going on!

Even behind bars, there are stories.

 

Margarita Drago’s book, Memory Tracks: Fragments from Prison (1975-1980), which is available in English and Spanish is an inspirational book. Why? despite being held behind bars, imprisoned, and having to deal with many horrible events, the book is as alive as the author. The horrific and dramatic events that Margarita witnessed and encountered did not deter Margarita from bringing her to the public and especially from being held captive behind bars. . The only unfortunate thing is that Margarita had to secretly hide her stories and her writing in order to make sure that her story became available to anybody who would want to read them. Unlike Margarita, many prisoners today have the ability to write while they are locked away, without having to write in secret. The PEN Prison Writing program is one that 

“believes in the restorative and rehabilitative power of writing, by providing hundreds of inmates across the country with skilled writing teachers and audiences for their work.”

Since this and similar programs have been developed and put into practice, many individuals have had the opportunity to write. Writing and the ability to do so should be available to anybody who shows interest in doing so.

Although there were many contributing factors as to why Margarita had to hide her writing (being a political female prisoner being a major one), there is no reason anybody should be deprived the ability to write. We owe much thanks to the publication of Memory Tracks: Fragments from Prison (1975-1980). This book is one of the many examples of what Editorial Campana is all about.

Read an EXCERPT OF MEMORY TRACKS: FRAGMENTS FROM PRISON (1975-1980) and an interview.

 

La Casa Azul Bookstore Website Launch Event

Thursday April 24th, La Casa Azul Bookstore will be celebrating the launch of their online bookstore. 

“Inspired by Frida Kahlo’s house, La Casa Azul Bookstore is a place of knowledge, art, creativity and culture. Our mission is to provide the community with contemporary bilingual literature, featuring works by Latino authors.”

This looks a great place for writers/publishers of bilingual books. Check out their myspace page. While your at myspace also check out their latino section as well as Editorial Campana.

 

The (new) Language of Libraries?

What is the most popular language in public libraries currently? The answer may surprise you. According to a recent article (posted by School Library Journal, Críticas, on April 4th, 2008), “About 21 million people in the United States speak limited or no English.” This number is up 50% more than it was a decade ago, according to Críticas.

What is the reason for this, and if this is the case, why aren’t there more #1 bestsellers in Spanish? At the least, we should be seeing higher rankings. It would make sense that with this new trend, Editorial Campana and similar organizations should start seeing their books in more and more libraries. This does not seem to be the case for sales though. When you go to stores such as Amazon and Barnes&Nobles, the ratings of Spanish books have not pushed them to top spots in “general book” selling statistics. Maybe this just means that more people want to read books in Spanish, but don’t want to buy them. As well, Spanish language books may be starting to overflow from library shelves due to the following findings from the same article:

“Libraries reported that the most successful programs and services for non-English speakers were English as a Second Language (ESL), language-specific materials and collections, computer use and computer classes, story time, and special programs.”

This new trend may help libraries better serve the people they hope to help. By realizing that more non-English related literature is needed, librarians will start to emphasize the need for literature that the public wants.  This idea was emphasized by that of the A.L.A. ( The American Library Association)-

“These study findings can provide a venue for developing better and more precise materials, services and programs for those linguistically isolated. Librarians can better predict what specific language materials and services may be required to optimally serve non-English speaking group” (Click here to read the full article)

If this new trend holds true, the next step would be finding out how to get individuals to by books in Spanish as well, thus increasing their overall popularity.

Paquita Suarez Coalla Reading Tonight in NY

So I Won’t Forget

By Paquita Suárez Coalla

Interpreted by Inma Heredia

When:
Monday March 24th at 7PM

Where:
Teatro IATI Studios
59-61 east 4th St, #4E
New York, NY 10003
T. 212-505-6757

About the book:
So I Won’t Forget is a collection of eighteen stories interspersed with a series of vignettes that portray a whole century of Spanish history as it is redefined through the emotional prism of three generations of women: those born in the early 20th Century who had to confront the reality of war, hunger and material misery; those who had to adapt to Franco’s dictatorship at the cost of seeing their emotional space affected; and those born in the last years of Franco, or in the dawn of democracy, who took the lead their mothers and grandmothers offered them, and dared to question, for the first time, part of the values they had handed down to them.

The narratives are arranged according to the rhythm of memory, and without paying too much attention to the historical moment in which each of them takes place, except for anecdotes inserted among the stories—where the same voice of a woman born in the early 20th Century serenely narrates what her life was like having been marked by hunger and want. Although you can read each story independently, as a whole they end up creating a chorale narrative, giving shape to the collective memory of a century.

About the Writer:
PAQUITA SUÁREZ COALLA is a Spanish writer and professor at BMCC (City University of New York). She is also co-founder of Latino Artists Round Table, a cultural group that organizes readings and conferences of Hispanic writers from all the different regions of Latin America, the United States, and Spain.

5 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Editorial Campana

Welcome to Editorial Campana‘s blog!

If you’re reading this, chances are you already know who we are. But in case you don’t, here it is. We are a publishing company based in New York, publishing literature in English and Spanish by Latinas and Latinos who dare to challenge the literary canon, conventional social thinking, and who believe in culture as patrimony for everyone. The majority of our books are published in simultaneous English and Spanish versions or bilingual editions. We also have a children’s division, Campanita books. But we’re not just books. Last year we also released a 2008 wall calendar featuring the work of Colombia’s most famous photographer, Nereo Lopez Meza.

Our goal is to keep you posted on all the latest news–upcoming releases, events like readings and book fairs, reviews, tips and advice, interviews, and more. We welcome all comments, suggestions, questions–tell us what you like to read about, what you’re interested in, or whatever else you feel like telling us.

So what else can you expect to find here in the future? Watch for an upcoming series of entries where you can read the “story behind the story” of each book. You’ll gain special insight into each, like the real people who characters are based on in Sonia Rivera Valdes’ Stories of Little Women and Grown-Up Girls.

Also, keep checking back for interviews with the authors, “special guest” bloggers, product and website reviews, links to videos of the authors on YouTube and more.

5 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Editorial Campana

1. Time Flies – Editorial Campana published it’s first two books in the fall of 2003. After a not-so-brief hiatus, we took 2007 by storm with seven new books and a calendar!

2. The Three Kings Have Read This Book, Have You? – Earlier this month, the children’s book My Brain Won’t Float Away/Mi cerebro no va a salir flotando (Campanita Books, 2007), by Annette Perez, was chosen by the first lady of Puerto Rico, Luisa Gandara, to give away as a gift for the Fiesta de Reyes, a traditional Three Kings Day celebration in San Juan.

3. Our Books Are Bilingual, Our Website is Too – You can read any page of our website, www.editorialcampana.com, in English and Spanish. Choose your language preference when you arrive. At anytime, you can opt to switch by clicking “English” or “Español” on the navigation bar.

4. We’ve Gone Global (Sort of) – Although Editorial Campana is based in New York, we work with people (proofreaders, illustrators, translators, etc.) from all over the U.S. and abroad (not to mention our authors are from all over the world). Thank you, glorious internet.

5. Everyone Has a Story to Tell– We’ve all heard that phrase before. Where do you get your inspiration from? Our authors have written about themselves, their friends and family members, those that they grew up with, and the pets that steal their food off the kitchen table.

(P.S. A little bonus fact for you English-only speakers: “campana” means “bell” in Spanish, and “campanita” means “little bell.”)

Want to learn a lot more right now? Visit our website at www.editorialcampana.com.

Alicia