Christine Granados, author of “Brides and Sinners in El Chuco” was the featured guest of the “Voices in Monte Writers Series,” sponsored by the TAMIU Writing Center, on Thursday, March 26.According to a TAMIU press release, the “Voices in the Monte Writers Series” is “intended to provide an opportunity for students and the public to visit with local, regional and national writers who share their personal vision of writing and finding their voice.”As part of her visit to TAMIU, Granados gave a talk on craft at 10 a.m. and a reading and book signing at 7 p.m. Both events were held at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center. The talk on craft began with opening remarks from Destine Holmgreen, associate director of the Writing Center. “Born and raised in El Paso, [Granados] is the mother of two boys. She is also a Spur Award finalist for best short fiction for the story “Inner View” in 2007. She was also named one of the top ten new Latino authors to watch in 2007 by LatinoStories.com,” Holmgreen said.The morning talk on craft focused on multiple topics, from Mexican-American culture to her inspirations as a writer. “My inspiration for writing is my mother. She worked full-time. There were four of us, and she was always busy. The only time I saw her relaxed was when she was reading at night. … I wanted to someday write a book, so she could relax,” Granados said.In addition to talking about her inspirations and craft, she read two of her stories to the audience: “Inner View” and “Man of the House.”After reading “Inner View,” the topic of how to explain Hispanic culture to “outsiders” came up.”I found Granados’ struggle to explain the Hispanic culture to non-Hispanic students thought provoking. As she asked the audience to explain why Hispanic families behave [the way they do in “Inner View,”] we too struggled to explain ourselves…. Perhaps it is impossible to explain why we not only expect our families to behave this way but also to accept and love them even more for it,” said Cristina Ramirez, a TAMIU alumna and Writing Center tutor.After her readings, she opened up the floor for questions.Diana Mederos, a senior environmental science major asked Granados what her main purpose was for writing her collection of short stories.”I needed to write or else I’d have exploded. It’s therapy. I was angry since I never saw a lot of stories [about us.] It is important for us to see ourselves reflected in literature,” said Granados.Mederos commented on this after the presentation.”I felt her stories were intended for members of the Mexican-American culture to relate, reflect, and perhaps even for them to make fun of their way of life. I am not a member of this culture, so it was a learning experience-one I enjoyed,” she said.In addition to the talk on craft, Granados paid a special visit to the South Texas Writing Project.Founded by Laredo Community College in 1996, the South Texas Writing Project is an affiliate of the National Writing Project, which aims to improve English/Language Arts education at all grade levels throughout the United States.Granados met approximately 20 of the project’s teaching fellows in an intimate gathering held at the Writing Center during which she read from her collection and spoke about the project’s mission: education.”I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s kind of a lot of Mexican Americans in the country these days,” Granados said.Granados then held up a copy of Hecho en Tejas, a literature anthology devoted to Mexican-American writers from throughout the state. She emphasized to her audience that most students won’t be exposed to those authors.”I didn’t read a Mexican-American writer until I was a sophomore in college,” said Granados. “Eventually I read Dagobert Gilb, and here was someone writing about working-class people with Spanish last names who spoke my language. It changed my life.”A noted essayist, Gilb, who edited Hecho en Tejas, visited TAMIU as a “Voices in the Monte” author in spring 2007.Saying she is part of a project that hopes to get more schools to teach out of Hecho en Tejas, Granados explained her desire to see more young people exposed to these authors.”These are their stories,” Granados said, referring to children of Mexican descent, “and if they read these stories, they’ll feel validated. Maybe they’ll get more interested in reading and writing as well.”Granados and her coalition are working with educators on creating lesson plans based on the works in Hecho en Tejas.One educator in attendance, Fabian Garza, chair of the reading department at Lamar Bruni Vergara Middle School, hoped the initiative succeeds.”I like what she’s doing with the lessons. Hopefully it will inspire more of our students to aspire to write professionally,” Garza said.Granados also took the time to explain what “El Chuco” means.Chuco is short for pachuco, a term often used to refer to the young Mexican immigrants who participated in the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots of the early 1940s. According to Granados, El Paso attracted a great deal of Mexicans who then dispersed to the rest of the U.S., including California.”I like to think of El Paso as the Ellis Island of the Southwest,” she said.Because of this reputation, locals began calling El Paso “El Chuco,” and some older residents still call it that today.After reading two stories from her collection, Granados candidly discussed her experiences with the publishing industry.”The publishers wanted me to tone down the sex and violence, and to take out the cuss words,” Granados told the writing project.She blames the requests by her publisher, The University of Arizona Press, partially on the popular conception of Mexican-American writers.”They think all we write is children’s books. Many of us do, and do it very well. But that’s not what I write,” Granados said.Granados bemoaned the fact the publishing community in the United States, when dealing with Mexican American authors, tends to elevate children’s literature to the level of literary fiction, something she feels is not done maliciously, yet bears negative results on the Hispanic literati.For Granados, literary fiction is complex, layered, and mature. As an example, she offered a story from her collection, called “Comfort.””With ‘Comfort’ I wanted to address abuse but not from the victim’s perspective. I wanted to show a woman who-this sounds terrible-but who really is asking for it. There’s a man who’s really a decent guy, but she just pushes his buttons,” Granados said.She said Hecho en Tejas is replete with stories of the kind of complexity and depth she wishes the publishing world recognized more often from Mexican-American writers.Granados addressed the realities of publishing again during reading and book signing She asked if anyone in the mixed audience of students, faculty, and community visitors aspired to become a writer. When a few hands came up, she talked about one instance in which the literary market became a stumbling block.”They (the publishers) wanted to market the book to high schools. That’s why they wanted something you can read to your kids.”Granados read three stories from Brides and Sinners in El Chuco, “The Bride,” “Man of the House,” and “Inner View,” which she stated receives very different interpretations from different audiences.For example, the story deals with a young Mexican woman going to an important job interview. Her father insists he and her siblings ride along with her. Along the way they stop to pick up abuela, argue, and make her arrive late.”When I read this story in New York or Utah,” Granados stated, “they tell me how bad the family is. They think, ‘look at this selfish family trying to sabotage the girl’s job.’ That never entered my mind when I wrote it.”Granados said the different interpretations she hears from people in different parts of the county never cease to amaze her.