FESTIBA 2011 Biographies

• GEAR UP Days at UTPA
• Border Heroes
• Target Community Literacy Program
• Reading Rock Stars

Congressional Roundtable

The Congressman serves on two House Committees: Education and the Workforce; and Financial Services. He is als... Read More!

B... Read More!

Dr. Nelsen, who became the eighth president of The University of Texas-Pan American on January 1, 2010, was raised on a small cattle ranch in Montana, just outside of Yellowstone Park, and put himself through college by working as a janitor before classes and by selling fish hooks and western clo... Read More!

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Judy B. Cheatham, the Jefferson-Pilot Professor of English at Greensboro College, has been named vice president for literary services by Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation's larges... Read More!

Rita was born in San Antonio, Texas, as were her parents. When Rita was three, the family moved to Austin, where her father worked as a printer at the Austin American-Statesman. Her mother stayed home to care for Rita and her brother and sister. Rita attended Austin public schools and graduated f... Read More!

Jennifer Peters is a Grants Administrator at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission where she manages four competitive grants programs that provide over $750,000 annually to public and academic libraries around the state. She also provides training and consulting services to libraries se... Read More!

My first language is English, but through studying and working overseas, I've learned to also speak Spanish and Japanese. To record The Jazz Fly, I even learned to speak jazz! I have a passion for encouraging young people to read--and for encouraging parents to read to their kids. Read More!

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I was born in Brownsville, TX, on a brisk February night in 1973. For the next seven years, I lived under the tutelage and care of my mother and my maternal grandparents in Matamoros, Tamps. Mexico. Mom remarried and we all moved back to Brownsville.

Fast-forward a few years. In 19... Read More!

GEAR UP Days at UTPA

Maria Reyes was born in East Los Angeles and comes from a family with a strong gang heritage-both her father and grandfather were gang members.  When she turned eleven, Maria was jumped into a gang, making her a third generation gang member. Maria was in and out of juvenile detention center... Read More!

Tony Becerra is a first generation American, born and raised in Long Beach, California.  Tony grew up in poverty with an alcoholic father and busy mother working hard to keep the family together.  He was often left to fend for himself.  Tony's parents didn't learn English until he ... Read More!

Marci McMahon, Assistant Professor of Multiethnic Literature, teaches Chicana/o and Latina/o literature, theater, and performance in the Department of English.  She holds a PhD from the University of Southern California and is the recipient of fellowships from the Irvine Fou... Read More!

John has been producing and directing award winning, notionally broadcast documentaries for the past 16 years. Last year his film THE CHICANO WAVE, a history of Mexican-American music, for the PBS/BBC series LATIN MUSIC USA received a prime-time national broadcast in both the United States and E... Read More!

Elvia Ardalani is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at UTPA. Her work has appeared in different anthologies in Mexico and Spain. She has published the following poetry books: Miércoles de Ceniza (Miguel Angel Porr&uacu... Read More!

Border Heroes

Américo Paredes: Born just five years after the Mexican Revolution in Brownsville, Texas, Américo Paredes came of age during a violent and tension-filled time along the border. Paredes' scholarship addresses these issues and how they are manifested in Mexican Americ... Read More!

Father Elizondo has been recognized as one of the leading interpreters of US Latino religious thought. In his book Galilean Journey: The Mexican-American Promise, Elizondo explores the experiences of Mexican-Americans today through the lens of the Galilee of Jesus' day,  noting the ... Read More!

Tenayuca became involved in worker's rights at a very young age. But being young did not stop her from becoming involved in the strike against Fink Cigar of San Antonio, leading to her arrest at the age of 16. Her will grew stronger with the influence of then gubernatorial candidate Ma Ferguson. ... Read More!

Born in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 1942, Gloria Anzaldúa was a writer and scholar whose work continues to inform diverse disciplines. Her work legitimizes border languages and border experiences in an effort to promote intercultural and cross-cultural understanding on the U.S.-Mexic... Read More!

Born in 1922 in Laredo, Texas, Ramiro Casso grew up in the context of severe economic hardship and political turmoil. Casso is best known for his contribution to educational reform along the Texas Mexico border. He was particularly disturbed by the persistence of racist policies that governed the... Read More!

Born on January 18, 1904, Jovita Gonzalez was a remarkable female folklorist, author, and educator whose civic activities and writings powerfully contributed to the Rio Grande Valley. As an influential member of the Texas Folklore Society in 1946, Gonzalez directed pastorelas, pageants, ... Read More!

Born in Roma, Texas in 1954, Jesus "Chuy" Guerra is one of the greatest athletes in south Texas history. A high-scoring guard for the amazing 1972 Roma Gladiators team that broke racial barriers by becoming the first Valley team to advance all the way to the state tournament, Guerra went on to be... Read More!

Born in Alice, Texas in 1912, Armando Marroquín was a passionate entrepreneur and pioneer of the Texas-Mexico music industry. As founder of Ideal Records, Marroquín was influential in recording, disseminating, and popularizing Texas Mexican conjuntos, orquestas, and vocal d... Read More!

R.C. Ortega immigrated to the Texas border during the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution. Upon seeing the unmet health needs of large numbers of Mexicans throughout the state and the dismal tuberculosis mortality rates among Mexicans, he began working as a health educator in Mexican communities al... Read More!

Community Festival

Mariachi, one of the world's most exciting folk idioms, is a vital part of Mexico's cultural identity. Nowhere is that identity better represented than in the music of MARIACHI COBRE. Mariachi Cobre's performances have a way of lifting the soul, of conveying the richness and emotional power of ma... Read More!

Target Community Literacy Program

Reefka Schneider is one of the foremost artists of "la frontera," the binational region of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Her artwork reflects the social and economic realities of the border while celebrating the local culture, people, and music. Reefka lives in McAllen, Texas with her po... Read More!

Steven P. Schneider is Professor of English at The University of Texas-Pan American, where he also serves as Director of New Programs and Special Projects for the College of Arts and Humanities.  Steven is a founding member of the South Texas Literacy Coalition in the Rio Grande Valley and i... Read More!

Reading Rock Stars

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer. I also wanted to be a professional roller skater, an astronaut and a paleontologist. Now that I'm a writer, I can wri... Read More!

René Saldaña Jr. created the popular character of Mickey Rangel, a Latino Encyclopedia Brown, who solves mysteries in The Case of the Pen Gone Missing / El caso de la pluma perdida and the latest bilingual book in the series, The Lemon Tree Caper/ La intriga del limonero: Coleccion ... Read More!

Gwendolyn Zepeda was born in Houston, Texas in 1971 and attended the University of Texas at Austin. Her first children's book, Growing Up with Tamales / Los tamales de Ana (Piñata, 2008), was designated a 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Title.  ... Read More!

James Luna is an elementary school teacher in Riverside, California. The Runaway Piggy / El cochinito fugitivo (Piñata Books, 2010) is his first published book for children.  Publishers Weekly praised Luna's work, declaring, "The story of TheRead More!

Gitty Daneshvari was born in Los Angeles to an Iranian father and an American mother.  As a child she talked incessantly, feeling the need to comment on everything around her. While at first charmed by her verbose nature, her family soon tired of the constant commenting. Thi... Read More!

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin, where my parents met during graduate school. I grew up on the East Coast, where I attended Georgetown University Law Center and practiced law in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois. In 2007, my family and I moved to the Pacific Northwest where we now live with... Read More!