(via UCR Today: Latino Science Fiction Explored)
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies Program at University of California, Riverside will host “A Day of Latino Science Fiction” on Wednesday, April 30. The event, which be held in the Interdisciplinary Symposium Room (INTS 1113), is free and open to the public.
The daylong event begins at 10 a.m. Parking permits may be purchased at the kiosk at the University Avenue entrance to the campus.
Science fiction is a more diverse literature than is generally acknowledged and includes a vibrant tradition of Latino science fiction writers, said Sherryl Vint, professor of English and a science fiction studies scholar.
“Latino science fiction conveys a distinctive vision of the influence of science and technology on daily life, and connects with a strong tradition of speculative writing from Latin America,” she explained. “Our event will foster discussion of the specific ways Latino writers negotiate science fiction’s relationship to the colonialist imagination, and its possibilities for imagining more ethnically inclusive futures.”
“A Day of Latino Science Fiction” will kick off with a morning author panel featuring Mario Acevedo, Rudy Ch. García, Ernest Hogan, Beatrice Pita, and Rosaura Sánchez.
Mario Acevedo is the author of the bestselling Felix Gomez detective-vampire series from HarperCollins. His debut novel, “The Nymphos of Rocky Flats,” was chosen by Barnes & Noble as one of the best Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Decade. He is also the co-author of the financial thriller, “Good Money Gone.” He was a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards and the International Latino Book Awards. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, “You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens” and “Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery” from Arte Publico Press.
Garcia, co-founder of and contributor to La Bloga, is perhaps best known for his alternate reality/fantasy novel “The Closet of Discarded Dreams,” which took honorable mention in the International Latino Book Awards’ Fantasy/Sci-Fi category in 2013.
Author of “Cortez on Jupiter,” “High Aztech,” and the cyberpunk novel “Smoking Mirror Blues,” Hogan has also worked as a consultant, illustrator, and cartoonist.
Co-authors of “Lunar Braceros 2125-2148,” Sánchez is a professor and Pita is a lecturer in the Department of Literature at University of California, San Diego.
Following lunch and informal discussion, a short film screening and panel titled “Latinos in Hollywood and Beyond” will take place, featuring Jesús Treviño, writer and director of “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “SeaQuest DSV,” and “Babylon 5”; Michael Sedano, La Bloga Latino literature blogger; and UCR Ph.D. candidates Danny Valencia, Rubén Mendoza and Paris Brown, who will address the topics of Latino science fiction, SF as pedagogy in Latino communities, and Mexican dystopias and religion, respectively.
The event will culminate in the donation of Treviño’s papers to UCR Libraries’ Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy, the world’s largest publicly accessible collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and utopian literature, which is housed in Special Collections & University Archives in the Tomás Rivera Library. The donation ceremony will followed be immediately by an interview with the writer and director.
The UCR Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies Program is indebted to the Department of English; Tomás Rivera Chair in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS); Eaton Collection, UCR Libraries; Department of Comparative Literature; Department of Media and Cultural Studies; and Mellon Science Fiction Group, Center for Ideas and Society for their generous sponsorship of what promises to be a highly engaging and productive day of artistic and cultural exchange, Vint said.