Librotraficante (almost) makes it to town

by David Safier

I went to the John Valenzuela Youth Center this afternoon to attend the Librotraficante Caravan press conference. It turns out they were delayed — something about problems with Border Control as they crossed from New Mexico into Arizona. . . . OK, I made the Border Control part up, but the caravan still had a long way to go before it made it to Tucson. Probable time of arrival: 5:30pm.

I called the bus and talked to Lianna Lopez (don't know if I spelled that right). She told me about great crowds they've had for their evening readings. In El Paso, 350 people bought dinners at an event and another hundred attended as well. In Albuquerque last night, the 400 seat auditorium was packed and caravan members had to stand in the back.

The numbers are no surprise if you see the names of some of the authors who are reading and speaking at the events: Sandra Cisneros (House on Mango Street), Luis Alberto Urrea (The Devil's Highway) and others. You can see the list below the fold.

The readings will be at 7pm, UA Social Sciences, Room 100, 1145 E South Campus.