Professor’s online press offers a home for unpublished literary works
MERCED, CA— The University of California,
Merced, has expanded its offerings of online publications with the
recent debut of AlternaCtive PublicaCtions. Dedicated to providing
an online home for previously unpublished creative works written
primarily by Latino and Latina authors, AlternaCtive PublicaCtions
is the brainchild of UC Merced’s
Manuel M.
Martín-Rodríguez. A professor in the School of Social
Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, Martín-Rodríguez
specializes in Hispanic culture and literature.
“My goal as publisher is to provide an outlet for innovative
literature that may not be considered marketable by established
presses,” Martín-Rodríguez said.
Martín-Rodríguez’s other goal is to encourage public
participation, by allowing and archiving reader responses for
possible use by researchers.
AlternaCtive PublicaCtions will feature an author and his or her
works for about three months, giving ample opportunity for readers
to digest what is published and publicly offer feedback on it.
Currently featured is Rubén Medina, a poet, fiction writer
and essayist who has served on the faculty of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison since 1991. Medina has published two poetry
collections — “Báilame este viento, Mariana,” (1980)
which earned the first prize in the 1980 Chicano literary contest
at UC Irvine, and “Amor de Lejos … Fools’ Love” (Arte Publico
Press, 1986), a finalist in the 1984 Casa de las Américas
Literary Prize held in Cuba — and has been included in a
variety of anthologies and literary critiques.
Medina’s bilingual “Nomadic Nation” is the site’s first
exhibited work and will remain online until February.
AlternaCtive PublicaCtions will not assume copyright over
published works. The press also hopes to become a venue for
facilitating future book deals, and Martín-Rodríguez is
confident that some of the works featured will be of interest to
regular publishers elsewhere.
“AlternaCtive PublicaCtions is to literature as galleries are to
art,” he said. “It’s a public space for the temporary display of
creative works to facilitate interaction with all who view them.”
