THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: CHRISTOPHER CARMONA ON NO OTHER WORD, RICARDO ROMO ON THE TRADITIONAL ART OF VICENTE TELLES, ROSE PORTILLO AS “PERFECTA,” AND JOSEFINA LOPEZ ON REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES.
This week South Texas poet Christopher Carmona returns with a quirky look at foreign origin words for which there is no English equivalent. Culling from words he has found throughout the globe, he recites some of these words for which there is no other word. Also this week, Ricardo Romo’s Tejano Report returns. This week he looks at the santero art of New Mexican artist Vicente Telles. While respecting the centuries long tradition of santeros and retablas, Telles manages to infuse the tradition with some modern imagery and content, keeping a tradition alive into the present.
This week we repost a Latinopia interview with acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Josefina Lopez. Latinopia asked her what led her to write the play Real Women Have Curves which became a major motion picture and which, we understand, is currently being prepped for a stage production. Also check out actress Rose Portillo, who recently had a birthday, as she portrays “Perfecta” in a one-woman, one-act play written by acclaimed playwright, actress and stage director, the late Diane Rodriguez. The play centers on Perfecta, a mother of five who has born children with five different men none of whom she has married. This iconoclastic and irreverent woman has a unique approach to life–she protects and nurtures her children but wants something more for herself as we see in this play excerpt.The play was produced in partnership by The Roots and Wings Project and the California Arts Council.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia