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For more information please contact: Gloria Espitia | (512) 974-7498
March 8, 2010
Quinceañeras: A Celebration of Community, Family, Faith and Symbolism
The Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, presents Quinceañeras: A Celebration of Community, Family, Faith and Symbolism on Saturday, April 17 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River St. Local journalist and author Belinda G. Acosta, will read from her recent book, Damas, Dramas and Ana Ruiz. Dr. Norma E. Cantu, professor at UT San Antonio and award winning author and scholar, will present La Quinceañera: A Chicana/Latina Coming of Age Ritual. A panel discussion will focus on the differences and similarities of quinceañeras in the various Latino cultures. The Austin History Center will conduct oral history interviews with multigenerational families who have celebrated quinceañeras. There will also be a quinceañera fashion show. The event is free and open to the public. For more information please call 512-974-7498 or visit www.cityofaustin.org/library.
 About Belinda Acosta
Belinda Acosta works as a journalist in Austin, Texas, writing reviews and features on books, film, and the arts, in addition to a weekly column on television (TV Eye) for the Austin Chronicle. Her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Latino USA, Latino Magazine, AlterNet and other publications. She was a Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin where she received her MFA in Writing in 1997. Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz (Grand Central Publishing, August 2009) is her first novel.
About Norma E. Cantú
Norma E. Cantú was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. She grew up in Laredo, Texas and currently serves as Professor of English and U.S. Latina/o Literatures at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska--Lincoln. She is the editor of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo book series at Texas A&M University Press. Author of the award-winning Canícula Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera, and co-editor of Chicana Traditions: Continuity and Change,Telling to Live:Latina Feminist Testimonios (2002)and Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos (2009) she has just finished a novel, Cabañuelas and is currently working on another novel tentatively titled: Champú, or Hair Matters, and an ethnography of the Matachines de la Santa Cruz, a religious dance drama from Laredo, Texas. She is known internationally as a poet, fiction writer, folklorist and scholar of Chicana cultural production. She has received many awards including the Américo Paredes Prize from the American Folklore Society, the Modern Languages Association Division of Chicana/o Literature Scholar of the Year, and the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies Scholar of the Year Award.
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Please direct press inquiries to:
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Public Information Specialist
Austin Public Library
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