I just returned from Manizales, where Juana, Rodrigo, Luisa and I had a marathon week-long writing session in which we COMPLETED AN ALMOST WHOLE DRAFT OF OUR WRITING FOR PEACE BOOK WHICH IS UNDER CONTRACT WITH TEACHERS COLLEGE PRESS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY—and during which intense week, Luisa also defended her master’s thesis! Thank you to Luisa and Johanny for hosting me and for the conversations about art and voice and peace, and Majo for letting me sleep in her room. It is a magical thing to work with people whom you admire and love so much. We wrote right up until I left for the airport.
The hotdog in front of the empty chair is mine. It was delicious.
Transnational, multilingual, and transcultural work itself is magical. And it also takes time and resources. I was able to be there because the Spencer Foundation values this kind of work and awarded us a small grant, and because the Susan J. Cellmer distinguished chair in literacy allows me to use funds for work that I believe matters. I am so grateful.
Co-authors forever!
I am also so thrilled that Teachers College Press Columbia University took a chance on a bilingual book. We are working hard to make the two versions match eachother and each have their own voice (more thoughts on this soon!)—and are hoping to make the book maximally accessible. We want it to reach educators and scholars and writers in Latin America and in the US and also anyone living anywhere who reads, writes, speaks in one or both or more or a mix of languages and sees the value in telling stories across and among them.
At work!