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Before Joe McKinney boarded a flight to Brighton, England for the Bram Stoker Award ceremony, he discussed with WOAI’s Berit Mason, his novel Quarantined and how he discovered he wanted to pursue writing. McKinney is also a Gemini Ink faculty member, he’s slated to teach the workshop Writing Modern Horror on Saturday, April 10. Spots are still available for his workshop, sign up today before it’s too late.
Click here to listen to the interview with WOAI’s Berit Mason and Joe McKinney: Joe McKinney interview
Gemini Ink, along with an estimated 200,000 people, were out in full force during San Antonio’s annual celebration of art and artists, Luminaria. With the help of our faithful patrons we collected a little over 3,000 donated books for our Libro Libre event. We pushed carts down S. Alamo street, throughout Hemisfair Park and also had the back bed of a red pickup truck filled to the brim with books of all genres. We were able to give away every single book that was donated.
Gemini Ink and the Macondo Foundation’s joint First Friday reading brought in quite the crowd. Macondo writer Rachel Jennings and Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral 2009 award recipient Emmy Peréz read from their respective books of poetry and stayed following the event with Macondo Foundation founder Sandra Cisneros to sign copies of their works.
Dr. Ben Olguin has written refereed articles in journals, anthologies, editorial review publications, and more, as well as the co-translated Cantos de Adolescencia/Songs of Youth by Américo Paredes and My Weapon is My Pen: raúlrsalinas’ Selected Writings from the Jail Machine (1963-1974). Dr. Olguin currently works with Writers in Communities and Wood Middle School.
Dr. Olguin’s most recent publication is La Pinta: Chicana/o Prisoner Literature, Culture, and Politics (University of Texas Press, 2010). He has several projects under review including the poetry collection Red Leather Gloves, which won First Runner Up 2007 Kent State University Wick Poetry Center Manuscript Prize; Finalist, 2007 & 2008 Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Manuscript Prize; Finalist, 2008 May Swenson Poetry Manuscript Award; Semi-Finalist, 2008 Elixir Press Poetry Awards; Semi-Finalist, 2008 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize, University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Ben Olguin received his B.A. with honors from the University of Houston, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
For more information on Dr. Olguin’s publications, visit his University of Texas at San Antonio home page.
