By Fabio Chee Madrigal and Thania Muñoz Davaslioglu
In our first editorial, we “envision[ed] Latin@ Literatures as something more than a bookshelf, we intend[ed] for it to become more like the home or the park, a space for cultural gathering, interaction, and exchange; a space wherein our experiences [could] continue to tell the stories about who we are, where we come from, and where we are going.” The first two issues were published with great enthusiasm and everything was as expected and coming along within plans. We had set up for the third issue when some planned, and other unforeseen circumstances presented themselves–Thania became a mother (twice), and Fabio had to recover from two heart attacks. Neither of us were able to attend to the pending matters of the journal. We decided to give it a moment of pause as we both sought a regeneration of sorts. Shortly after that, the COVID-19 pandemic began to shut the world down. Everything became a whirlwind and a metaphorical tornado was threatening our envisioned parquecito.
Nevertheless, neither of us lost sight of our original goal and when the moment came that the nubes retracted, echamos manos a la obra and began a series of conversations that eventually led to the formation of Issue #3. So, here we are, full circle, renovated and recharged, con nueva familia y experiencias de la vida.
With this new issue we are beginning a new tradition at Latin@ Literatures. The third installment of Latin@ Literatures will be a Special Issue with an invited editorial committee which will be responsible for the theme and selection process. We invited Luis Felipe Lomelí as our Special Issue Guest Editor, Ignacio Carvajal-Regidor and Florentino Solano as members of the Special Issue Advisory Board. We welcome them to the Latin@ Literatures familia, our familia. Their expertise and interests are the guiding forces behind this regreso. The Special Issue is dedicated to exploring the artistic production of the U.S.-Mexico border that is written or expressed in the Indigenous and non-hegemonic languages of the area. For more information regarding submissions, please check out our Call for Submissions.
We hope that you will enjoy this exciting propuesta and that you get to know us better when we throw our next fiesta in the park.
Dr. Fabio Chee Madrigal is a Poet and Chicanx Scholar, and the Design Editor & Founder of Latin@ Literatures.
Dr. Thania Muñoz Davaslioglu is an Assistant Professor of Spanish, Latin American and Latina/o studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and Managing Editor & Founder of Latin@ Literatures.