I love the energy Denise Chavez exudes. Her eyes look like they know I am writing about how great she is, don't they?
I knew today’s Literary Granny, Denise Chavez, would be a
kindred writer in the earliest stages of my research. I read an interview of
her and she talks about dancing at a festival with Alice Walker and even
through her words I can feel the excitement just like I would feel if I was
dancing with Alice Walker at a festival.
I would be that excited even if I danced in the same room with Alice Walker.
I would be that excited if I was in the same building as Alice Walker.
She was interviewed about her annual Border Book Festival in Mesilla, New Mexico and said this, “I have to say, it’s probably one of the most gratifying things of my life because I’ve met so many artists. I’ve worked on healing myself. I’ve danced. I’ve laughed. I’ve sung. I remember dancing with Alice Walker at the Rio Grande theater, this theater we have downtown. Singing with Lalo Guerrero, the great father of Chicano music. To be in the presence of a great human being – an artist, a writer, a filmmaker of this magnitude – it changes your life.”
I was attempting to capture the soul energy in these edits. Not sure if it works, but I love the color and feeling of each aspect of this photo. She is so wonderfully normal!
This is how we passionate writers roll: our rock stars are
other writers we respect, those writers whose work has somehow gotten into our
blood cells and has been pumping through our circulatory system so much we are
more intimate with their words than we are with some of our closest friends.
Denise Chavez was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico in August, 1948. She is one of our younger Literary Grannies and I don’t even know if she has actual children or grandchildren. No matter what age, each woman writer featured has a significant contribution to the writers and readers to come.
Chavez is an award winning Performance Writer who has written novels, short story collections, plays and poetry usually about women and their growth and discoveries within the backdrop of the Chicano culture of New Mexico.
She was raised among lively storytellers which, when coupled with an introduction to theater in high school, fueled her writing of plays and lively, colorful stories. Her novels include: The Face of An Angel, The Last of the Menu Girls, and Loving Pedro Infante. In 2012 she was working on a novel (insert name here.)
Her plays include Novitiates, Language of Vision, Women in the State of Grace and The Adobe Rabbit.
In addition to writing she now spearheads the internationally known Border Book Festival, which is where she has the pleasure of meeting (and dancing and socializing with) writers, filmmakers, historians and all around interesting people and change-makers.
What an incredible woman and passionate example for us today. I only wish I had known about the festival earlier. It is only a few weeks away. I’ll aim to attend in 2014. Anyone want to go with me?
This year’s Border Book Festival takes place April 19 – 21 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I’ve linked to it here. Check it out!
The photo at the top of the essay was taken by Vera Marie Badertscher whose blog A Travelers Library is filled with inspiration for writers.
This post is a part of my series Our Literary Grannies from A t0 Z which was inspired by the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Find out more about the Challenge by either clicking here or on the icon.
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