Rudolfo Anaya's novel Bless Me, Ultima has recently been adapted into a film. The Plaza Theater will host the movie's worldwide premiere on September 17, and it will then be released in area theaters on September 21. In anticipation of the movie, the El Paso Public Library has partnered with CommUNITY en ACCION to create a community-wide reading event to promote literacy and celebrate this classic novel.
Read the Book
Extra copies of the novel have been purchased for the library system and Sun Metro. A limited number will be available on various bus routes (read the press release here). Bless Me, Ultima will be available in English and Spanish at all library locations, but if they are all checked out, you can request a copy here.
Attend a Program
The Dorris Van Doren Library will have a special presentation entitled The Medicinal Herbs of Bless Me, Ultima this Saturday, September 15 at 2 pm. Jose O. Rivera, Pharm.D. and Armando Enrique Gonzalez-Stuart, Ph.D (Alt. Med.) will discuss the healing properties of local plants and herbs.
eReader Raffle!
Win a free eReader by entering our essay raffle each week! We have already had 3 winners, but there are still 3 more chances to win. Just read the book, answer a short essay question, and you'll be entered into the raffle. Enter online by clicking the links below or pick up and submit your entry at any library location. Entries are due on Saturdays and winners are drawn on Wednesdays.
Question 4 deadline is September 15, 2012:
English
Espanol
Question 5 deadline is September 22, 2012:
English
Espanol
Question 6 deadline is September 29, 2012:
English
Espanol
Read Essays by Local Authors
The El Paso Times is also participating by running guest essays in the Sunday issue:
- Ultima the Healer by Denise Chavez (8/19)
- Like Characters in Bless Me, Ultima, El Paso isn't Easily Defined by Cecilia Weddell (8/26)
- Bless Me, Ultima Also Helped Guide Us to This Place by Bobby Byrd (9/2)
- Bless Me, Ultima is Story of Faith vs. Evil, Never of Satanism by Felipe de Ortego y Gasca (9/9)
- How 'Ultima' Changed Course of This Writer's Life by Daniel Chacon (9/16)
