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Salamander virtual event next week (Spotlight: Danny Lang-Perez)

José Angel Araguz 2 Comments

Hello!

I am happy to share that the next Salamander virtual event happens next Sunday, April 13th @3pm EST via Zoom (see below for more info; register here). In the days leading up to the virtual reading, I am going to do some quick spotlights on our readers. Danny Lang-Perez is first up in the series:

Spotlight: Danny Lang-Perez

We’re thrilled to feature Danny Lang-Perez at our upcoming virtual event. He is a writer whose fiction buzzes with velocity, heart, and hard-earned humor. Their short story “Professionals” (which placed second in our 2024 Fiction Contest) is a love letter to the art of skateboarding, skate rat culture, the gravity of friendship, and the unlikely sanctity of a crumbling skatepark called The Gristle. Here’s a short excerpt:

They call it The Gristle. A fraying, warped-up, wood-ramp-on-asphalt cheapo with shitty drainage because the Homeowner’s Association lobbied against costly concrete and what HOA says goes. The Gristle joneses for kid flesh. The Gristle impales its patrons. The Gristle is big cannibal brother to skate rats of all ages, is pugilistic as fuck, is the only game in town as HOA does not tolerate said rats in the wild.

And next Saturday, The Gristle dies by municipal edict.

Come hear Danny Lang-Perez read at our event—you won’t want to miss the ride!

Join Salamander for a special virtual reading celebrating our latest issue! This event features readings from three exceptional contributors: Marcy Rae Henry, Danny Lang-Perez, & Gabrielle Grace Hogan. Each writer will share selections from their work, offering a glimpse into the powerful poetry and prose featured in our new issue. ASL interpretation will be provided to ensure accessibility for all attendees. We’d love for you to join us in celebrating these incredible voices! This virtual event is free and open to the public.

WHAT: Salamander issue #59 Virtual Reading
WHEN: Sunday, April 13th: 3-4PM EST
WHO: Marcy Rae Henry, Danny Lang-Perez, & Gabrielle Grace Hogan
WHERE: Via Zoom! Register for this event here.
[Note: ASL interpretation will be provided at this event.]

Thank you for reading!

= José =

Ruin & Want cover reveal!

José Angel Araguz 1 Comment

Happy to share the cover for my lyric memoir, Ruin & Want, forthcoming in November from Sundress Publications!

Book cover for Ruin & Want.

Super-excited to share this cover! Thank you to everyone at Sundress Publications for their work on this! Special thanks to Ani Araguz, my partner and artist behind the artwork on this cover. Here’s the original:

Art piece entitled “we go to sleep early so we can dream whats never in it for us.”

This piece is entitled “we go to sleep early so we can dream what’s never in it for us.” I love the sense of at once feeling mired and also breaking apart. This ties into the way ruining and becoming ruins because of want are used as a metaphor in the book.

Also, happy to share that the project has a description as well. Check it out:

Is selfhood constructed? And if so, by whom? Exploring queerness, race, body image, and family, Ruin & Want is a masterful meditation on otherness and identity. In a series of gripping, episodic prose pieces centered on an illicit relationship between a student and his high school English teacher, Araguz peels back the layers of his marginalized identity. By reflecting on his childhood into adulthood, Araguz grapples with finding a sense of self when early, predatory experiences have deeply affected his coming-of-age. In quixotic, deeply eviscerating lyric prose, Araguz delivers a troubling but bold memoir that handles this topic with courage while grieving what it costs survivors to reckon with harm’s aftermath. Yet in the midst of this struggle, we find many bittersweet and lingering gifts such as, “For the first time I saw myself as someone worth seeing,” that make this work necessary and unforgettable.

I’ve been working on R&W since 2016. The work has had me learning and growing over the years. The book is a testament to my survival. The final year of work had me realizing that I have been late in embracing my queer identity, something that has been difficult to do until the completion of this book. Still learning as I go.

Thank you to all who’ve read my work and supported! It means so much to be able to do this work and share with y’all. More soon!

Abrazos,

José