By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Literature has taken Del Rio author Marcela Fuentes across these United States.
Now, she’s coming back home and bringing the joy of her first book with her.
Fuentes, who was born and raised in Del Rio and graduated from Del Rio High School in 1994, will take part in a book chat to promote her book, “Malas,” which landed with a splash earlier this summer. The chat, and subsequent Q&A session with the audience and book signings, will take place Friday, July 26 beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the San Felipe Del Rio CISD Student Performance Center, 315 Griner St. Copies of the book will be available for purchase for about a half hour prior to the start of the event.
Fuentes is currently an assistant professor of English – creative writing (prose) at TCU in Fort Worth. Her appearance in Del Rio is part of her ongoing book tour that began June 5 at Interabang Books in Dallas. She currently has only two dates in July but will be in Coral Gables, Fla., the week following her Del Rio appearance.
“Malas: was featured on Good Morning America as its book club’s pick for the month of June. It also made Amazon’s Best Books of June 2024 list, was named as one of The Washington Post’s “10 Noteworthy Books for June and made PEOPLE’s “Best Books of June 2024.”
“Malas” was also featured on National Public Radio (NPR) as well as Apple.
According to The New York Times’ Caribbean Fragoza, the tale of “Malas” is described thusly – “Set in La Cienega, Texas, a fictional town on the U.S.-Mexico border, “Malas” follows the intertwined lives of 14-year-old Lulu, who has a passion for punk despite her Selena fandom, and Pilar Aguirre, an elegant and mysterious recluse. Their stories begin decades apart — Pilar’s in 1951 and Lulu’s in 1994 — but meet in an unlikely friendship after Lulu’s grandmother’s funeral, where Pilar’s unwelcome appearance stirs Lulu’s curiosity.”
While “Malas” isn’t directly set in Del Rio, many who have read the book said it is easy to see parallels between the Queen City and the fictional La Cienega as well as several of the characters featured in the story who are said to resemble Fuentes’ friends and family.
Aside from “Malas,” Fuentes has had her work featured in a variety of publications including the Kenyon Review, Ploughshares (for which she earned the Pushcart Prize), The Rumpus, The Stoneslide Collective and Texas Highways Magazine. She and her German Sheppard Ben were also featured in an issue of the defunct Grande Magazine published by the Del Rio News-Herald.
Joining Fuentes for the evening will be family friend, and former Texas legislator, Susan Gurley McBee. McBee served in the Texas Legislature from 1975 to 1983 and, as of 2020, was one half of the only mother-daughter duo to serve in the legislature, following in the footsteps of her mother Dorothy Gillis Gurley. She is retired from the San Felipe Del Rio CISD and currently serves as the secretary for the Del Rio Area Retired School Personnel Association.
The event will be MC’d by The 830 Times’ Brian Argabright, second cousin to Fuentes and a fellow 1994 Del Rio High graduate.
After the event, attendees are urged to join Fuentes and her group to Noches Musicales at Brown Plaza to celebrate the evening.
To learn more about Marcela and “Malas,” visit her official website at www.marcelafuentes.com.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
