Book Signing-Cha Cha Files: A Chapina Poética

Featuring Maya Chinchilla

Monday, May 11, 2015
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Haines Hall 144
CSRC Library
UCLA

The Cha Cha Files: A Chapina Poética (Kórima Press, 2014) by Maya Chinchilla is a timely debut that makes visible the Central American-Guatemalan diaspora and disentangles the myths from the mayhem of civil wars, urban wars, and the wars raging in young hearts. Part memory, part imaginary, The Cha Cha Files honors Central American feministas, Long Beach roqueras, families divided by war, lovers separated by borders, and celebrates the pleasure and heartbreak of femmes, machas, y mariconadas. These poems, stories, and snapshots traverse California coastlines and southern borderlines, cut across tense multi-culti high-school hallways, sing Solidarity Movement songs, mosh through tribal slam pits, and find home in the vibrant Bay Area where radical activists and lovers alike come of age. Chinchilla’s hopeful and uniquely Chapina voice emerges as a significant contribution to U.S. Latina/o literary works.

Maya Chinchilla is an Oakland-based Guatemalan femme writer, video artist, educator and author. Maya writes and performs poetry that explores themes of historical memory, heartbreak, tenderness, sexuality, and alternative futures. Her work—sassy, witty, performative, and self-aware—draws on a tradition of truth-telling and poking fun at the wounds we carry.

Parking Information: The closest parking lot is Structure #3. Visitors may purchase daily parking permits (Currently $12) by stopping at the Information & Parking kiosks (cash only) or by using a "Pay by Space" pay station. The closest information booth to Structure #3 is located on Hilgard and Westholme Ave. To use a Parking Pay Station: Simply drive to a self-service Pay Station location (there is one located in Structure #3). Please read the posted signs and screen prompts for Pay by Space. Pay Stations allow you to select the time you need to spend on campus and pay accordingly (all-day passes can also be purchased). UCLA maps and driving directions

Cost : Free and Open to the Public

Download file: 05-11-15-Chachafiles-ic-gri.pdf

Sponsor(s): UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies, the Latin American Institute, the Department of Gender Studies, the Office of Instructional Development, and the Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC).