Literally Literary

For this episode, we interview the author of Brother Sleep, Aldo Amparán. On Spotify, you can enjoy this episode in video form!

For part 2 of our talk on Brother Sleep by Aldo Amparán, we cover the second half of the debut poetry collection.

This episode, we begin our discussion on the poetry collection Brother Sleep by Aldo Amparán, covering the first half of the winner of the 2020 Alice James award.

Yasmin Ramírez joins us in the studio to talk about her first book, ¡Ándale, Prieta!: a Love Letter to My Family. 

For part 2 of ¡Ándale, Prieta! by Yasmin Ramírez, we cover Part 2 of her memoir: Finding Yasmin. Stay tuned for part 3, our interview with Yasmin!

Stay tuned for Part 2, and let us know if you've read her book below!

This episode, we wrap up our discussion on Carlos Fidel Espinoza's How to Lie to a Customs Agent, focusing on the second half of the poetry collection. 

It has been a minute! We are back with our first look at the 2021 winner of the Southwest Book Award, How to Lie to a Customs Agent, the poetry collection by Carlos Fidel Espinoza. 

We are honored to interview Maurice C. Ruffin, the author of The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You, in this episode.* 

*We apologize for the delay in releasing this interview, but hope you all enjoy and stay tuned for upcoming recordings on our next books!

This episode, we conclude our talk on The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, focusing on the second half of the short story collection. 

This episode, Alessandra Narváez Varela joins us in the studio to talk about her debut novel, Thirty Talks Weird Love. Stay tuned for exclusive video of this special occasion! 

In our second look at Alessandra Narváez Varela's Thirty Talks Weird Love, we highlight our favorite pieces from the verse novel, and discuss ways of teaching it in the classroom. 

We close out the year talking shop with the second half of Piñata Theory, Alan Chazaro's 2020 poetry collection out of Black Lawrence Press. We will return next year, and want to wish everyone a safe and happy 2022 filled with lots of books! 

For our first look at Piñata Theory, the poetry collection by Alan Chazaro, we begin with our usual overview, but then dive into the first half of Chazaro's second poetry collection (from Black Lawrence Press). 

For our second look at Funeral for Flaca by Emily Prado, we talk about the first half of its collection of essays. If you have not had a chance to answer our music poll in part 1 on Spotify, please do so! 

On our two-year anniversary, we present this bonus episode featuring El Paso Community College student perspectives on Citizen Illegal, the poetry collection by José Olivarez. 

Stay tuned for our new season of books this fall of 2021!

We are fortunate to be joined by Kristen Millares Young, whose debut novel, Subduction, we just closed the book on. Among other things, we discuss the research she conducted for her book, some of the book's themes, Claudia's problematic anthropology, and how some of the Makah have received her work. 

Please check out Kristen's website for links to her essays, and a list of her virtual events, here: https://kristenmyoung.com/ 

For our third episode on Subduction by Kristen Millares Young, we cover passages in the second half of the novel, not to mention how the novel ends for our main characters. 

Here, we discuss passages from the first half of Subduction, by Kristen Millares Young, tying in some of the themes of perception v. reality, and objectivity v. subjectivity. 

We return to the novel with Subduction, the 2020 debut from Kristen Millares Young, a story about an anthropologist (Claudia) who moves from Seattle to Neah Bay, Washington to interview Maggie, a member of the Makah in the Pacific Northwest, and Maggie's son (Peter) who returns home to his mother now suffering from dementia to learn more about what happened to the murder of his father. We go over these main characters, as well as some of the themes, and literary connections we made. 

For our second look at Guillotine by Eduardo C. Corral, we discuss what is about the first half of the collection, in particular the ekphrastic poem that is "Testaments Scratched into a Water Station Barrel." 

For National Poetry Month this April, we begin Guillotine, the poetry collection by Eduardo C. Corral, Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry, going over our first impressions, themes, structure, and connections we made to other works. 

Here we finish Thrown in the Throat, discussing our strong lines from the second half of Benjamin Garcia's award-winning collection of poems.

As we first dig into Concrete Rose, the prequel to The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, we talk about the novel's premise, style, theme, connections to other works, & teachable approaches. 

For our last episode on Some Are Always Hungry, we share on thoughts on the second half of Jihyun Yun's award-winning poetry collection, and connect these latter poems to the first half, as well as other works of which we were reminded. 

For this episode, we focus on the first half of the debut poetry collection Some Are Always Hungry by Jihyun Yun. Stay tuned to our social media for our collaborative Spotify playlist inspired by this award-winning work! 

We open the new year with the debut poetry collection by Jihyun Yun, Some Are Always Hungry, discussing its themes, style, and textual connections we found in the 2019 winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry. 

This bonus episode presents El Paso Community College student perspectives on Coatlicue Girl, the debut collection of poetry and short stories by Gris Muñoz (with art by Los Dos). Limited signed copes might be available at two El Paso local bookstores, Literarity Book Shop and Brave Books. 

In our last episode on Real Life, the debut novel by Brandon Taylor shortlisted for the Booker Prize, we go over the passages from the second half of the novel which impacted us the most. 

In our first deep dive on Real Life by Brandon Taylor, we talk about which passages we found most intriguing from the first half of the novel. 

In our first episode on Real Life by Brandon Taylor, we provide an overview of the characters, themes, style, and connections we made to our previously discussed works. 

Our last episode on Running by Natalia Sylvester centers on the second half of this important political, coming-of-age novel. 

Gris Muñoz joins us this recording to talk about the origins of her collection, Coatlicue Girl, her journey as a poet, her mentors, and her philosophy on writing and art.