Arts Alive San Antonio

by JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

To mark the publication of its 50^th issue, VOICES DE LA LUNA, the only independent literary magazine in Bexar County and the region, is throwing a big party for literary folks to gather, celebrate and hopefully replenish the coffers of the eponymous nonprofit organization. As in previous couple of years, the event is also an opportunity to honor a person who has impacted the literary and cultural life of the city in a special way.

So, it’s not surprising that this year’s honoree is Ellen Riojas Clark, a professor emerita at UTSA who has been part of the university since it was founded in 1973, and an active member of the San Antonio cultural scene for probably as long.

How does it feel to receive this honor from VOICES? We asked Clark who is no stranger to awards and public honors.

“It’s a great honor, particularly because it is about the literary arts and from an organization I very much support. So, it’s a great honor,” she said in a recent interview.

Clark has been a regular reader of VOICES and, in fact, served as a board member of the nonprofit for a few years. During her tenure, she emphasized the importance of including and supporting diverse literary voices and perspectives that reflect the entire community.

Though she is the author and co-author of several books for the general public, her career at UTSA was focused on teaching and research in the field of bilingual education to which she has contributed many scholarly papers. Her interest in the subject was awakened during her college years at Trinity University where she pursued a degree in education. In a UTSA publication, she recounted how surprised she was when, as a student-teacher, she was placed in a kindergarten class simply because she spoke Spanish. “Having this ability did not make me a bilingual teacher,” she said.

What makes a good bilingual teacher is specific training in pedagogy in both languages, a theoretical framework for the discipline, which is a field she has contributed to throughout her teaching career.

“Bilingual, or multiple languages persons see more than monolingual people,” explained the professor. “In my research I found out that bilingual children are cognitively more flexible than their monolingual counterparts, which results in a higher IQ.” She devoted her Ph.D. dissertation to work with gifted Mexican-American children.

Clark’s non-academic books cover the range from tamales to women of the Mexican Revolution. The former was co-written with Carmen Tafolla, while the second is a product of collaboration between several writers and artists. (Full titles: Tamales, Comadres and the Meaning of Civilization; Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico)

“Collaborations make it more interesting,” she said. Since cooking has become a growing interest, her next book will deal with pan dulce, which she is writing solo. “It’s not a cookbook. I truly believe in cultural literacy,” she noted emphatically. “People should know who they are, where they come from, so it’s really a cultural studies book that will contain stories, the history of pan dulce, names of the various types of the popular bread, and some recipes.”

“I am a researcher at heart,” quipped the professor.
—————————————————————————————————————————-
The VOICES OF TEXAS celebration/gala is going to be a virtual event, taking place this Sunday, March 21, from 4 – 5:30 p.m. It will be preceded by a happy hour 3-4 p.m. The program is packed with well-known San Antonio personalities, including Naomi Shihab Nye, Carmen Tafolla, Cary Clack, Wendy Barker, Sandra Cisneros, and editors and board chair of VOICES DE LA LUNA. Interviews, music, readings, and more. $50 per person. A silent auction featuring the work of many San Antonio artists is part of the deal. (For more on the auction, see our last NEWS ROUNDUP. There’s also a Gala Package that includes orders of wine and gourmet bites for $150. Send checks to VOICES DE LA LUNA, 5150 Vroadway #149, 78209 or use PayPal at www.voicesdelaluna.org/gala.