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Posted: 5/06/98

A&M International to Organize Borderland Literature Meeting

 

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Texas A&M International University, in conjunction with several Mexican organizations promoting cultural events, will hold the first "Regional Meeting on the Literature of the Borderlands" May 8-9 in the two Laredos to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishing of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The event, which is expected to draw 25 poets, writers and critics from cities on the Texas-Tamaulipas border, will consist of a series of readings from the participating artists' works. All activities are open to the public free of charge.

The meeting will start on Friday from noon to 6 p.m. at Casa de la Cultura, located at the corner of Héroes de Nacatáz and Juárez streets in Nuevo Laredo and continue from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. A reception will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at 1912 Matamoros St.

Dr. Norma E. Cantú, professor of English at A&M International and one of the primary organizers of the event, said this year's meeting is what organizers hope will become an annual event.

"It has been a project that I wanted to realize for a long time, however, this is the first time that we have the resource to do this. We want this to evolve into a book fair eventually. This regional meeting hopes to facilitate the interchange of the various points of view along the border and the diffusion of the literature, written in both Spanish and English as it has developed during the last few years in the neighboring states of Tamaulipas and Texas," Dr. Cantú said.

Those who are interested in border literature will gain tremendous insight about writing on the border by attending the meeting, Cantú said.

"This will also be a perfect chance to meet various authors and buy some of their books," Cantú said.

The texts read at the meeting will be published during the second semester of the current year in special editions of the Tamaulipas literary journal, "A Quien Corresponda."

Other organizers of the event include the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Coordinación Nacional de Decentralización, the City of Nuevo Laredo, the Borderlands Festival 1998, Cultura Fronteriza, the Consejo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes de Tamaulipas and the literary journal "A Quien Corresponda."

For further information, please contact Dr. Cantu at 326-2529. She can also be reached by e-mail at necantu@tamiu.edu. University office hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu