Join us on Wednesday, Nov 20th, 2024, via Zoom for a conversation with Anel Flores, author of Cortinas de lluvia/Curtains of Rain. Moderated by Dr. Jackie Cuevas.

(Zoom Readings Monthly @ 7pm CST)

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Curtains of Rain/Cortinas de Lluvia, follows the story of Solitaria, who escapes her small border town, to arrive at the door of her gay tíos on a quest to queer traditions, turn trauma into triumph, and find home. Release date is May 2025 with Jaded Ibis Press.

Solitaria Gaviota-Alaniz is a girl on the margins, growing up in a border town while navigating the complexities of familial relationships, environmental racism, and a queer secret that threatens to cleave her from those she cherishes most. Eventually, towing the line becomes untenable, and after a traumatic exorcism, Sol is forced to flee from everything she has ever known.

Fifteen years later, Solitaria returns to confront the ghosts of homophobia haunting her past. Supported by a found familia of gay tios, her nonbinary best friend Toni, and a diverse community of panederas and drag queens in San Antonio, Sol embarks on a search and rescue mission for her lost self. Soaked in vibrant landscapes of identity and resilience, Curtains of Rain details one woman’s coming-of-age between cities, between cultures, and between budding loves.

Anel I. Flores is a trans-Latina/x writer, artist, and activist whose work explores LGBTQIA+ experiences, Latina/x literature, and social issues. Anel’s literary contributions have been featured in numerous publications, including Switchgrass Review and Sinister Wisdom. Their plays have been produced on stage, and their visual art has been exhibited in galleries worldwide. Anel’s upcoming novel.

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Moderator–Dr. Jackie Cuevas is the author of Post-Borderlandia: Chicana Literature and Gender Variant Critique (Rutgers University Press, 2018) and co-editor, with Sonia Saldívar-Hull and Larissa Mercado-López, of El Mundo Zurdo 4: Selected Works from the 2013 Meeting of The Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa (Aunt Lute Books, 2015). Cuevas is Interim Director of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies and has previous administrative experience as a department chair, associate chair, graduate advisor, academic program director, and research center director.