Bobby Byrd and Lee Merrill Byrd each awarded 2005 Cultural Freedom Fellowship
Lee Merrill Byrd and Bobby Byrd are the founders of Cinco Puntos Press, a publisher of non-fiction, fiction, poetry and children’s literature that brings the multicultural literatures of the American Southwest, the U.S./Mexico border region, and Mexico to a national audience. The Byrds started the press in 1985, naming it after their neighborhood in El Paso, Texas. Cinco Puntos, or “Five Points” in Spanish, received the American Book Award for excellence in publishing and was inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
They have received five publishing grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and three similar grants from the Texas Commission for the Arts. The Border Regional Library Association, in addition to awarding Southwest Book Awards for three of their books over the last decade, presented Cinco Puntos with a special Southwest Book Award in 1993 for outstanding achievement in bringing national recognition to their regional literature.
They have also received two grants from the Fideicomiso para la Cultura de México y Estados Unidos (funded jointly by the Belles Artes and the Rockefeller Foundation). In addition to their work in publishing, the Byrds are authors. Lee Merrill Byrd has written short stories and children’s books, and Bobby Byrd is a poet and essayist.
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Rose Mary Crawford has written, directed, and produced numerous plays for children including “The Wicked Witch and the Tickle Monster,” “Never Say Never,” “The Mad King of Chalupa,” and “You Gotta Have a Dream.” She has also worked as an actor, journalist and poetry workshop instructor.
Ms. Crawford is…
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