Join us on August 6th to celebrate our Latina writing community! Our three roundtable discussions will be happening simultaneously, so choose your interest. You'll want to stay after the discussions for a special performance by Maria de la Ghetto and the Chulita Vinyl Club will be spinning tunes to dance! We'll also have plenty of vendors, so bring your cash! And Latino Arts Network with the Latina Writers Conference committee will be presenting the 2023 Maestra Award to the one and only author, community educator, bookstore owner, curator, and performance ethnographer Sarah Rafael García!
3:00 PM Registration
4:00 PM PR and Business for Latina Writers: How to Get Your Work Noticed with Li Yun Alvarado & Ena Coleman
This engaging and informative 75-minute roundtable discussion aims to equip writers with practical insights and strategies to effectively navigate the realms of promotion, branding, and entrepreneurship in the literary world.
Author, educator, and advocate Li Yun Alvarado, Ph.D., will delve into various aspects of PR and business tailored specifically to the needs and experiences of Latina writers. Participants will gain valuable knowledge on crafting an author brand, creating and maintaining a writer's CV and your first author website, setting intentions for a successful writing practice, leveraging social media platforms, securing speaking engagements, and fostering relationships with agents, editors, and/or publishers. Additionally, the roundtable will explore effective marketing strategies, self-promotion techniques, and the importance of community-building for long-term success.
4:00 PM Empowering Journeys: Writing as a Catalyst for Healing, Inspiration, and Personal Growth with Marisa Urrutia Gedney & Linda González
In this transformative 75-minute roundtable discussion, writers will explore the power of writing to heal, inspire, and empower, aiming to provide a nurturing space for Latina writers to explore their unique journeys while acknowledging the systemic challenges they may face.
For this interactive session, life coach, writer, speaker Linda González MSW, MFA, and writer, cultivator, DEI consultant, sahumadora, Marisa Urrutia Gedney, will guide participants through a journey of self-discovery, providing practical strategies to tap into their creative potential and overcome obstacles. Through engaging discussions and writing exercises, attendees will explore the role of writing in fostering healing, personal growth, and resilience. Linda and Marisa will help writers explore ways to harness their own experiences, voice, and imagination to tell stories that matter and inspire positive change.
4:00 PM Navigating the Publishing Journey: From Submission to Success
with Cybele Garcia Kohel, Neelanjana Banerjee, & Ramona Pilar
In this enriching 75-minute roundtable discussion, writers will discuss the intricacies of publishing their work: from understanding the importance of submitting their work to organizing their writing for submission and crafting compelling proposals, attendees will gain practical insights on how to present their work effectively to publications.
During this interactive session, writers and Women Who Submit coordinator Cybele Garcia Kohel, MLIS; writer and managing editor at Kaya Press, Neelanjana Banerjee; and story-diviner, singer, and creative nonfiction editor at Exposition Review, Ramona Pilar, will share their expertise and guide participants through the entire publishing process. The discussion will cover a wide range of topics, including researching literary markets, identifying the right publications for your writing, polishing your submissions, and navigating the editorial process. You’ll leave this discussion empowered with the knowledge and strategies to navigate the publishing world with confidence.
5:00 PM presenting the Chulita Vinyl Club
Chulita Vinyl Club is made up of women, gender-non-conforming, non-binary, people of color, who utilize music and vinyl as a form of resistance against the erasure of culture. Each DJ has their own personality and specialty, however you can expect a dance floor driven focus on Latin, Cumbia, Reggaeton, 90’s and 2000’s R&B, Funk, New Wave, Soul, Post-Punk, and House.
6:00 PM Maestra Award Presentation to Sarah Rafael Garcia
Sarah Rafael García is an award-winning author and literary arts advocate raised in Santa Ana, California. As a child of immigrants and a first-generation university graduate, she knows first-hand what it means to fail and triumph in life. Her first book Las Niñas (2008) speaks to her loss and upbringing, and her second book, SanTana’s Fairy Tales (2017), is part of an oral history multimedia exhibition awarded by the Andy Warhol Foundation, and most recently a required Ethnic Studies text in the Santa Ana Unified School District. She has co-edited various anthologies, including pariahs: writing from outside the margins (2016) and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers (2021), among other publications. García is the founder of Barrio Writers (2009), LibroMobile (2016) and Crear Studio (2017). In 2023, she was honored as a Woman of Distinction by State Senator Tom J. Umberg and a Kickass Woman by Orange Coast Magazine.
As a Chicana multimedia artist, García addresses what it means to be a child Spanish speaker, a teen trauma survivor, a nontraditional M.F.A graduate in the American School System — and now an arts leader who aspires to build equity and visibility for her BIPOC community in Orange County via the LibroMobile Arts Cooperative. Currently, she splits her time establishing collaborative arts programming through the digital humanities, which includes community-based partnerships, with UCI Libraries & Special Collections and the Digital Ethnic Futures Consortium at CSUF. Most recently, Sarah Rafael García was announced as the CSUF Chicana/o Studies Department & Latinx Lab Visiting Professor of Creative Writing for the 2023-2024 academic year.
6:30 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Special Guest Performances: Maria De La Ghetto
Native Angeleno, Half Filipina and half Mexican, Maria uses comedy as a way to narrate her unique cultural identity as well as navigate through social norms she’s never quite fit into. She shares her experiences about being ethnically ambiguous and plus sized in a world where everyone wants to put you in a box that’s “one size fits all". She's performed all over Southern California including Mad House Comedy Club, Mic Drop Comedy Club, and The Comedy Store in San Diego. Flapper’s Comedy Club, Haha Comedy Club, and Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. She's also featured for headlining comedian Rex Navarrete at Brea Improv and Queen Bee’s San Diego
7:20 PM Dance Party!
8:00 PM Goodnight
