Texas Institute of Letters Oct/Nov/Dec 2013 Jan/Feb/Mar 2014 DOUBLE ISSUE Newsletter Annual Banquet and Reception Update We’re just days away from TIL’s annual meeting and banquet in San Marcos. Pre-meeting activities kick off at 6:30 p.m. on April 3 with “Writing Beyond Borders” at the Wittliff Collections. Four distinguished authors, including three TIL members, will discuss the past, present, and future of Latina/o literature – in a world where writers are frequently moving beyond traditional borders and boundaries. Featured will be TIL members Tino Villanueva, Sarah Cortez, and (moderator) Carmen Tafolla. Also featured will be filmmaker, playwright, and writer Severo Perez. A book signing will follow; books will be available for purchase courtesy of the University Bookstore. _____________________________________________________________________________ You can still pay your 2013-2014 dues and make reservations for the banquet, but please do have your check in the mail by Thursday, March 27. Please use the form at the end of this newsletter to make a payment. _____________________________________________________________________________ Attendees are asked to RSVP to [email protected]. More information is available here: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/exhibitions-events/events.html An early bird event at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 4, to which TIL members are invited will be a Q&A session with one of America’s most exciting authors, Sherman Alexie. He is the author of, most recently, War Dances, a collection of stories and poems from Grove Press, and Face, a book of poetry from Hanging Loose Press. He is the winner of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award, the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and a Special Citation for the 1994 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Fiction. Smoke Signals, the film he wrote and co-produced, won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. He lives with his family in Seattle. This Lindsey Literary Series event is sponsored by the Burdine Johnson Foundation and the Wittliff Collections, Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center, and Department of English. Transportation from the banquet hotel to this event will not be available. Here is a link with information concerning directions to and parking at the Wittliff Collections: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/about/visit.html Transportation will be provided to the reception from the host hotel to the Wittliff Collections and back for our reception that begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 4. Our special guest that evening will be Renato Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez and his family are now the donors sponsoring TIL’s Scholarly Book Award. I hope you will make every effort to be there. Among other things, he is a master of the lively art of la declamación, the oral poetry tradition of the border. We’re very excited to say that Mr. Ramirez has agreed to give us a short sampling of his performance art at the reception. As was the case last year, our friends at the San Marcos Convention & Visitors Bureau will provide transportation from the hotel to the Albert B. Alkek Library on the Texas State campus, which is home to the Wittliff Collections. The bus will leave from in front of the Embassy Suites between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m. It will depart from the Wittliff Collections to 2 return to the hotel at 8 p.m. Our host hotel is the Embassy Suites San Marcos, Hotel, Spa, and Conference Center, in San Marcos, the same place we met last year. All events on Saturday, April 5, occur there. It is located adjacent to the famous outlet malls south of the San Marcos business district. It is a high-rise (at least relatively speaking) on the east side of the I-35 and hard to miss. Following are the directions the hotel staff most recommends: From Austin Take I-35 South toward San Marcos. Exit at the McCarty Lane Exit (Exit 201). Take a left on McCarty Lane. From San Antonio Take I-35 North toward San Marcos. Exit at the McCarty Lane Exit (Exit 201). Take a right on McCarty Lane. From Houston Take I-10 West to U.S. 183 North to SH-80 (also known as the San Marcos Highway). Take SH-80 west to I-35 South. Take the McCarty Lane Exit off I-35. As we mentioned in the last newsletter, this year’s meeting will be dedicated to the memory of John Graves – a major literary figure, a long-time Council member, a TIL President, and a TIL Fellow. We also will take a few moments to recognize Rolando Hinojosa-Smith for receiving the National Book Critics Circle’s 2013 Ivan Landrof Lifetime Achievement Award, which he accepted in New York on March 13. Also, Jan Reid will receive TIL’s Lon Tinkle Award during the banquet program. The banquet on Saturday, April 5, will begin at 7 p.m., with a cocktail reception commencing in the hallway outside the banquet room at 6 p.m. During the afternoon of that Saturday, we will have the traditional readings by new members, beginning at 3 p.m. Also, 3 the San Antonio Book Festival will be taking place on that Saturday, and we’re hopeful members might be able to make the short drive there to take in some of the events during the day. Schedule for 2014 TIL Meeting and Banquet Thursday, April 3 7 p.m. – Panel: Writing Beyond Borders Moderated by Carmen Tafolla, Wittliff Collections Friday, April 4 3 p.m. – Q&A with Sherman Alexie, Wittliff Collections 6 p.m. – Reception Hosted by the Wittliff Collections And Texas State University Performance by Renato Ramirez Saturday, April 5 3 p.m. – New members introduction, readings 6 p.m. – Cash bar 7 p.m. – Banquet All April 5 Events at the Embassy Suites _____________________________________________________________________________ 4 Ramirez To Fund Scholarly Book Award By Andrés Tijerina TIL Vice President Mr. Renato Ramirez and his family are now the donors sponsoring TIL’s Scholarly Book Award. Renato is currently the CEO of the fastest growing bank in South Texas, IBC-Zapata, and he is well known in Texas business circles. But beyond that, he is a great civic leader, a patron of the arts and humanities, and a true son of the Texas soil. Renato earned his B.S. degree from Texas A&M University where he was a collegiate wrestling champion, and his M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He taught finance for over 15 years at the University of Tennessee, Louisiana State University, and Laredo State University. Renato Ramirez is President and CEO of IBC Bank–Zapata in South Texas and an astute businessman and a philanthropist who is passionate about helping the less fortunate with his time and financial support. He has made significant donations to schools including the Mary Help of Christian School in Laredo, the Harmony Academy of Science in Laredo, and to the Sacred Heart Orphanage in Laredo. His accolades include his being selected as “Mr. South Texas” for 2014 by the Washington Birthday Celebration Association in Laredo, President of the Republic of the Rio Grande by the Webb County Heritage Foundation, LULAC Sports Hall of Fame, the Texas Bankers Association Cornerstone Award in 2013, and Mexican American Legislative Caucus Latino Leader of the Year. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Texas Civil Rights Project in Austin, the Alamo Public Telecommunication Council in San Antonio, and the Futuro Media Group in New York. Most recently, Renato directed the private fund drive for the Tejano Monument at the state capitol in Austin. The $2 million 12-year project was his pet project, as it reflected his love of the Texas ranching tradition. Renato is horseman knowledgeable of the traditions of charreada, and regularly rides and ropes on his own expansive ranch in Zapata. Above all, Ramirez is a master of the art of la declamación, the oral poetry tradition of the border. It is performed with great expression and verve. He is scheduled to recite “A Mi 5 Nieto” by Delfín Sánchez Juárez for his performance of the art at the TIL reception on Friday, April 4. _____________________________________________________________________________ President’s Message My copy of William H. Vann’s history of TIL’s first 30 years – handsomely published by Bill and Sally Wittliff’s Encino Press in 1967 – once belonged to Bud Shrake. Bud’s son, Ben Shrake, found it while he was closing down his dad’s house after Bud’s death and thought I might want to have it. Ben thought right. It’s one of my treasures. This evening, though I had scores of other pressing matters to tend to, I took a break to reread some sections of it. Once again, I was reminded of what an interesting history TIL has – and how much we have to be proud of. For instance, in 1938, a woman, the poet Karle Wilson Baker from Nacogdoches, became TIL’s second president. Two years later, Rebecca Smith, the English professor from TCU who championed Southwestern literature and female writers, became our fourth president. In 1944, the poet Lexie Dean Robertson from Rising Star was the third woman in a six- year span to be named president. Somewhere along the line, Baker was selected a fellow of the institute, the first woman to be chosen as such. This was a remarkable accomplishment for these women in that time and place. That this occurred in our organization is something that should be a source of pride for us.