The Premio Fronterizo celebrates the best of regional
and southwestern literature by honoring writers who embody the talent,
scope and energy of the Southwest and western regions of the United States.
The Premio Fronterizo celebrates a long and respected body of work by
writers who have impacted readers of all ages throughout the border states.
Past recipients have included writers Tony Hillerman, Rudolfo Anaya,
Byrd Baylor, Sabine Ulibarrí, Keith Wilson, Barbara Kingsolver,
and Leslie Marmon Silko, Gary Soto, and Luis Rodríguez.
These writers have done much to heal and transform the regional landscape.
Their work has transcended borders, real and imagined, reaching a wide
ranging audience throughout the west and the U.S. and beyond.
The Premio Fronterizo is the first award of its kind in the Southern
New Mexico / West Texas / México / Arizona corridor.
Back
to top
The first Sunshine Community Service Award was given
in 1997 to Miss Bestina Sánchez, owner of the Sunshine Grocery
Store on Mesquite Street in Las Cruces. A neighborhood grocery store,
the Sunshine is a community meeting place, supporting its neighbors with
its clothing bank, health resource center and active book lending library.
The Sunshine Community Service Award is given to local businesses, organizations,
or persons who foster and celebrate literature while at the same time
promoting community. The award honors significant contributions to the
literary arts at a grass roots level.
Past recipients have included Miss Sánchez, Pat Beckett and
COAS Bookstore, Susan J. Tweit, and Cinco Puntos Press from El Paso.
Back
to top
This award celebrates the work of local people and organizations who
work to preserve the stories and cultural integrity of their community.
The first Community Cultural Preservation award was given to Mrs. Consuelo
"Connie" Lerma, founder of Las Esperanzas, a grass-roots,
non-profit organization that facilitates the preservation, renovation,
and protection of the Mesquite Hitoric District in Las Cruces, the original
town site registered as a National and State Historic District.
Back
to top
This award is given to an outstanding Border Book Festival volunteer
whose work has furthered the cause and who has weathered and strived
in the arts trenches. Past winners include: Dave and Carolyn O'Brien,
Directors of the Trade Show and Rosemary Estrada Kirby, award-winning
Teacher of English and Director of the Knightwriters at Oñate
High School.
Back
to top
This award honors the work of regional publishers and presses who significantly
contribute to the literary arts while making a profound impact in ther
community in affecting social and cultural change and empowerment. named
for John F. Crawford, publisher of West End Press in Albuquerque, a
leader in publishing that promotes consciousness and creativity, supporting
radical literature, multicultural literature, working class studies,
feminist literature, anti-racist and anit-homophobic literature, and
anit-monopoly cultural efforts.
Back
to top
This award honors people and organizations outside the immediate area
who have impacted the local literary community by their generosity,
energy, and committment to literature and the art of story. The award
is named for John Randall, antiquarian bookseller, former owner of Salt
of the Earth Bookstore in Albuquerque. Randall donated his private collection
of over 1,600 Latino and Chicano literature to benefit the Border Book
Festival and the Tía chucha Café Cultural in the San Fernando
Valley, a literary center directed by writer Luid Rodríguez.
For more information contact:
The Border Book Festival
422 N. Alameda
Las Cruces, NM 88005
Phone: 505-524-1499
Fax: 505-524-0389
Email: bbf@zianet.com.
Back
to top
