Local DIY zine outlet releases 3rd volume this Friday at La Botanica.
Local magazine, Chifladazine, is celebrating the release of its latest volume this Friday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. at La Botanica off of St. Mary’s St.
Four poets will read at the event and there will be a performance by a Kumbia DJ group, which will include visuals from a projector ranging from images of Gloria Anzaldúa to Kumbia dancers, a singer and lastly, a reading by author Rios de la Luz, who is in the midst of a tour for her book Itzá.
The cover for the event is $3, which all goes towards Chifladazine, so it can continue printing magazines.
Chifladazine was conceived in the spring of 2014 when creators Claudia Delfina Cardona and Laura Valdez found LatinX were underrepresented in many online publications they liked.
Cardona is currently a student at Texas State and is enrolled in the MFA program for Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry.
That comes as no surprise, considering her father is a poet as well. Be on the lookout for this aspiring writer’s work.
Valdez currently does fashion and photography.
The two find there is an acute need to preserve LatinX culture, as well as its identity, before it is wiped out by ethnocide; which is why the two feel it is more important now than ever to publish this magazine.
Valdez came up with the idea to call the magazine Chifladazine, from the Spanish word “Chiflada” which translated to English is “bratty,” which is often what the creators were told to feel when voicing the need for more minority voices in media, art and literature.
This “bratty” desire led the two into creating their own magazine, which is specifically dedicated to publishing the artistic works of LatinX artists ranging from poetry, prose, essays, interviews, photography, visual art, film and music.
Initially, Chifladazine was strictly an online publication; however in 2016, they decided to begin publishing a yearly volume issue.
This has since changed, due to the growth of the magazine, which now hopes to publish a fall and spring issue every year.
The first two volumes published were done in black and white and are still available for purchase at $5 each.
What marks volume three apart from the first two volumes is that, for the first time, the magazine will be printed in color-marking groundbreaking territory for the magazine.
With many submissions coming from all over the country for the magazine, Cardona has big plans for Chifladazine and wants to expand the magazine to become a countrywide publication, as well as one day transforming it into a press house.
Despite Cardona’s big vision for the magazine, she is very adamant about keeping the roots of the magazine here in San Antonio.
Be sure to stop by La Botanica on Friday night to see what art the LatinX generation is producing around the country.
