A Celebration of Southwest Storytellers- PART 2
CHAVEZ, McGARRITY & ORTIZ
AVAILABLE NOW TO PUBLIC RADIO

HOSTED BY JUDY GOLDBERG

PRODUCED BY PAUL INGLES WITH SUPPORT FROM THE NEW MEXICO ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES AND KUNM RADIO

"I believe in the mercy of books, the kindness and gentleness of books, the 'A-HA!' of books..." - Denise Chavez

"Another element to all of my books is the connection to family. What I write has something to do with family, each and every time." - Michael McGarrity

"That's really what community is. Not really all people being the same or agreeing with each other, but actually complimenting each other." - Simon Ortiz

August 5th, 2002, another special event in the history of Southwestern letters took place in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, as writers, Denise Chavez, Michael McGarrity, and Simon Ortiz took part in a panel discussion before an audience of several hundred at Jemez Valley High School Auditorium. Earlier that same year Rudolfo Anaya, Tony Hillerman and N. Scott Momaday shared the panel seats. Their discussion became the NFCB Award-winning program A Celebration of Southwest Storytellers, Part 1. Both panels were sponsored by the Friends of The Jemez Valley Library.

As in the first panel, this joint appearance by Chávez, McGarrity and Ortiz, gathered three writers representing the major literary traditions of New Mexico—the Chicano, the Native American, and Anglo. In their writings, Chávez, McGarrity and Ortiz, are literary realists who depict the many cultures of the Southwest autobiographically, authentically, and in detail. Through their many novels, stories, plays, and poems they celebrate the local landscape and customs of the people and they emphasize the importance of family and unspoiled nature, as stays against confusion. For this event, Jemez Springs resident and Pulitzer prize winner N. Scott Momaday served as moderator.

Hear each author talk about the major themes in their work and respond to audience questions in this engaging 59-minte program. Both Ortiz and Chavez read samples of their work while the producers read from McGarrity.

Bios:

Denise Chavez: Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1948, playwright and novelist Denise Chávez studied acting and playwriting at New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico. She is best known for her often-anthologized and semi-autobiographical short story cycle The Last of the Menu Girls, which received the Puerto del Sol Fiction Award in 1966, and for her novel Face of an Angel, which received an American Book Award in 1994.

Michael McGarrity: The author of eight police procedural novels in the "Kevin Kerney" series, including the Anthony Award-nominated Tularosa and the recent Everyone Dies. A trained psychotherapist, he was recognized as New Mexico Social Worker of the Year in 1980. An honor graduate of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and a former deputy sheriff, he was honored as Santa Fe's Officer of the Year in 1987.

Simon Ortiz: Born in 1941 and raised at the Pueblo of Acoma west of Albuquerque, Simon Ortiz completed an MFA at the University of Iowa in 1969. He received the 1981 Pushcart Prize for poetry for his collection From Sand Creek. In his didactic, intensely political poetry, he often laments the development and industrialization of Indian lands. Ortiz received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas in 1993.

N. Scott Momaday(moderator): A Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, poet, artist and literary critic. His work includes House Made of Dawn, In the Bear's House and The Ancient Child.

Producer Paul Ingles: a 28 year broadcast veteran and has won numerous awards for his work from the NFCB, OEBIE, and Associated Press. His productions include Peace Talks: Making Peace with Ourselves Since 9-11, The Human Experience, Peace on Earth: A Holiday Folk Tour with Judy Collins, George Harrison: An Appreciation, and In Search of James Brown.

Host Judy Goldberg is a radio and film producer, whose latest work includes the Backroads Radio series.

59 minutes, no breaks, no newscast. Click here to hear a 15 minute sampler of the program.

Click here to hear the entire program in RealAudio.

Click here to view the transcript.

Full program available now via download for members of the Public Radio Exchange (www.prx.org).

CDs available for broadcast at $20 each. For information or to order CDs, 505-771-8295 or email paul@paulingles.com.

A Celebration of Southwest Storytellers- PART 1
ANAYA, HILLERMAN & MOMADAY
WINS NFCB 2003 SILVER REEL AWARD

Cedar Creek Studios' A Celebration of Southwest Storytellers: Anaya, Hillerman, Momaday has been awarded the 2003 Silver Reel Award for a Special National Entertainment Program by the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. The program was produced by Paul Ingles and Nola Daves Moses and broadcast on many public radio stations in the Fall of 2002. It is still available for broadcast. A second installment of the series featuring authors Denise Chavez, Simon Ortiz and Michael McGarrity is in production and is expected to be available to stations in Fall 2003.

STORYTELLERS 1, PROGRAM SUMMARY: February 2, 2002, a remarkable and even unique event in the history of Southwestern letters took place in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, as novelists, Rudolfo Anaya, Tony Hillerman, and N. Scott Momaday took part in a panel discussion before an audience of several hundred at Jemez Valley High School Auditorium. Most obviously, these writers represent the “three cultures” or intermingling literary traditions of New Mexico - the Hispano, the Anglo and the Native American. While Anaya, Hillerman, and Momaday have cultivated their own distinctive voices or styles, they also share a common interest in the magic and mythology of the American Southwest. Their novels, stories, and plays are grounded in the particulars of place, steeped in the landscape and in the ancient cultures of the region.

This 59-minute program is free to all public radio stations. It includes highlights from the panel discussion as well as selected readings from each author's work. You must notify the producer of plans to broadcast (email paul at paulingles.com). CD copies are available.

Click here to hear Part 1 of the program. Click here to hear Part 2 of the program. Click here to hear Part 3 of the program

Click here to view the transcript.

More on A Celebration of Southwest Storytellers: Anaya, Hillerman & Momaday.

The panel featuring the three authors was a good-humored freewheeling discussion of topics including:

• How each author views his particular ethnicity contributing to his work.
• How they feel they became such gifted storytellers.
• How they write.
• What projects do they have in the works?
• How the September 11th terrorist attacks have impacted their thinking and work.

Excerpts:

Rudolfo Anaya: "I get asked about my inspiration and I tell them that writing is just painful to me…painful! And nobody wants to hear that. They don't want to hear about the pain. They just want to hear the trade secrets. I say I don't have any trade secrets. I tell them to go out and feel some pain and maybe they'll get something done."

Tony Hillerman jokes about how the New Mexico landscape seeps into his work. "One critic wrote about my work, 'Hillerman's novels are pretty good in ways but every time you think something's about to happen, he stops and describes a cloud.'"

Scott Momaday on September 11th: "The one positive thing about 9/11 it seems to me is that we have been MADE to think about human life and the salvation of the planet and our souls in a new light."

Bios:

Rudolfo Anaya is a novelist, short-story writer, playwright and professor and is considered "the father of Chicano literature." His books include Bless Me Ultima, Alburquerque and Rio Grande Fall.

Tony Hillerman is an award-winning mystery writer and chronicler of Navajo culture. His books include Hunting Badger, Listening Woman and Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir.

N. Scott Momaday is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, poet, artist and literary critic. His work includes House Made of Dawn, In the Bear's House and The Ancient Child.

Producer Paul Ingles is a 27 year broadcast veteran and has won numerous awards for his work from the NFCB, OEBIE, and Associated Press. His productions include Peace Talks: Making Peace with Ourselves Since 9-11, The Human Experience, Peace on Earth: A Holiday Folk Tour with Judy Collins, George Harrison: An Appreciation, and In Search of James Brown.

Host Judy Goldberg is a radio and film producer, whose latest work includes the Backroads Radio series.