Panel: Latinx Mystery Writers

We continue our celebration of Mystery and Crime writers. Micheal Nava curates a panel of Latinx authors discussing their books, writing and their inspirations. Featuring Alex Segura, Raquel V. Reyes, Richie Narvaez and Lucha Corpi. 

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Michael Nava is the author of an acclaimed series of eight novels featuring gay, Latino criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios who The New Yorker, called “a detective unlike any previous protagonist in American noir.” He is the recipient of seven Lambda Literary Awards in the gay mystery category and the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement in LGBT Literature. His most recent Rios novel, Lies With Man, was published in April by Amble Press, an LGBTQ press of which he is also managing editor. The Washington Post review of the novel called Nava “a master of the genre.”

Raquel V. Reyes writes stories with Latina characters. Her Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and the Caribbean feature prominently in her work. Raquel is a co-chair for SleuthFest. Her short stories appear in various anthologies including Mystery Most Theatrical and Midnight Hour. Mango, Mambo, and Murder is the first in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series.

Richie Narvaez writes frequently about Latinidad, Puerto Rico, urban culture, and social issues. He is the author of the gentrification thriller Hipster Death Rattle. His most recent novel is the historical YA mystery Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco. His latest work is the anthology Noiryorican. Narvaez teaches writing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

Alex Segura is an acclaimed, award-winning writer of novels, comic books, short stories and podcasts. He is the author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, the Pete Fernandez Mystery series (including the Anthony Award-nominated crime novels Dangerous Ends, Blackout, Miami Midnight and the upcoming Secret Identity (Flatiron Books). His short story Red Zone won the 2020 Anthony Award for Best Short Story, and his border noir short story, 90 Miles will be included in THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE STORIES of 2020. His comic books include the superhero noir The Black Ghost, the YA music series The Archies and the Archie Meets collection. He is also the co-creator/co-writer of the Lethal Lit crime/YA podcast,  which was named one of the best podcasts of 2018 by The New York Times. 

Lucha Corpi was born in México, and came to Berkeley as a student wife in 1964. She is the author of two collections of poetry: Palabras de mediodía/Noon Words and Variaciones sobre una tempestad/Variations on a Storm, two bilingual children’s books: Where Fireflies Dance/Ahí, donde bailan las luciérnagas and The Triple Banana Split Boy/El niño goloso and six novels, Crimson Moon, Eulogy for a Brown Angel, Cactus Blood and more. Corpi’s numerous honors and awards include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and an Oakland Cultural Arts fiction fellowship. She is a recipient of a PEN-Oakland Josephine Miles Award and an International Latino Book Award. For many years, Corpi taught in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers before retiring to devote herself full-time to writing.

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