Jaime Cortez discusses his first collection of short stories, Gordo, set in a migrant workers camp near Watsonville, California in the 1970s. Publisher's weekly writes, "Cortez celebrates Chicano life in this exuberant collection."
A young, probably gay, boy named Gordo puts on a wrestler’s mask and throws fists with a boy in the neighborhood, fighting his own tears as he tries to grow into the idea of manhood so imposed on him by his father. As he comes of age, Gordo learns about sex, watches his father’s drunken fights and discovers even his own documented Mexican-American parents are wary of illegal migrants. These scenes from Steinbeck Country seen so intimately from within are full of humor, family drama and a sweet frankness about serious matters—who belongs to America and how are they treated?
Gordo, by Jaime Cortez, can be purchased from our event partner, The Booksmith.
Bios
Jaime Cortez is a writer and visual artist based in Northern California. His fiction, essays and drawings have appeared in diverse publications that include Kindergarde: Experimental Writing For Children (edited 2013 by Dana Teen Lomax for Black Radish Press), No Straight Lines, a 40-year compendium of LGBT comics (edited 2012 by Justin Hall for Fantagraphics Press), Street Art San Francisco (edited 2009 by Annice Jacoby for Abrams Press) and Infinite City, an experimental atlas of San Francisco (edited 2010 by Rebecca Solnit for UC Berkeley Press). He wrote and illustrated the graphic novel Sexile for AIDS Project Los Angeles in 2003. Cortez often combines humor and tragedy to tell stories of resilient survivors on the margins of the economy, the law and social acceptability. Gordo is Cortez's debut collection of short stories, and is slated for publication in August of 2021 by Black Cat, an imprint of Grove Atlantic Press.
Yosimar Reyes is a nationally-acclaimed Poet and Public Speaker. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, and raised in Eastside San Jose, Reyes explores the themes of migration and sexuality in his work. The Advocate named Reyes one of "13 LGBT Latinos Changing the World" and Remezcla included Reyes on their list of "10 Up And Coming Latinx Poets You Need To Know." His first collection of poetry, For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly… was self-published after a collaboration with the legendary Carlos Santana. His work has also been published in various online journals and books including Mariposas: An Anthology of Queer Modern Latino Poetry (Floricanto Press), Queer in Aztlán: Chicano Male Recollections of Consciousness and Coming Out (Cognella Press) and the forthcoming Joto: An Anthology of Queer Xicano & Chicano Poetry (Kórima Press). Reyes was featured in the documentary, 2nd Verse: The Rebirth of Poetry.
Connect
LOCATION:Virtual Library CLASS:PUBLIC TRANSP:TRANSPARENT END:VEVENT BEGIN:VALARM TRIGGER:-PT1440M ACTION:DISPLAY DESCRIPTION:Event Reminder - Author: Jaime Cortez in conversation with Yosimar Reyes END:VALARM END:VCALENDAR