La Casa Azul Bookstore, New York City, NY
Special monologue performance of Count on Me: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
6:00 – 8:00pm
La Casa Azul Bookstore
143 E. 103rd Street, New York, NY 10029
(between Lexington & Park Ave, steps away from the 6 train – 103rd street stop)
(212) 426-2626
Nora de Hoyos Comstock will perform brief scenarios from the Comadres anthology. These scenarios highlight or foreshadow the essence of the comadre experience portrayed in the essays from the book. Nora de Hoyos Comstock is the National and International Founder, President, and CEO of Las Comadres para las Americas, an international organization that has been bringing together thousands of Latina women for more than a decade to support and advise one another.
Aurora Anaya-Cerda, founder and owner of La Casa Azul Bookstore, moved to New York in the summer of 2005. Aurora didn’t know anyone in the city, and a friend who lived in Washington, D.C. referred her to Las Comadres. Her very first comadrazo was the on her second day in the city (July 28, 2005!).
Aurora Anaya-Cerda
“I remember introducing myself in that first meeting and saying ‘My name is Aurora, I am from East Los Angeles, and I have been in New York for 24 hours. I have been a comadre ever since,” said Aurora.
The partnership between Las Comadres and La Casa Azul Bookstore began years before the bookstore had a physical space, when Aurora traveled across New York City featuring authors at local cafes and museums. In the height of the economic meltdown of 2008, Aurora founded La Casa Azul Bookstore, an online resource promoting children’s literature, educational programing and literature by Latino writers. As an independent bookseller, she has hosted more than sixty literary events in East Harlem and throughout New York City with renowned authors such as Esmeralda Santiago and Junot Díaz. She is the founder of the East Harlem Children’s Book Festival.
Promotion of events via the Las Comadres network helped the bookstore gain a wider audience, and a great partnership was established in 2010 when Las Comadres and La Casa Azul Bookstore had a booth at the Brooklyn Book Festival.
Count On Me Book Launch, Sep. 2012
“One of the most memorable moments was in the Fall of 2012 – when La Casa Azul Bookstore hosted the launch party for Count on Me with Nora and five local authors who are part of the anthology. I felt that I was finally able to thank Nora for all of her support and encouragement throughout the years,” said Aurora.
La Casa Azul Bookstore has been featured in the the New York Daily News, New York Times, NBC, The Huffington Post, El Diario la Prensa, Pie Derecho, American Latino TV, Fox News Latino, New York 1, Publishers Weekly, Cosmo for Latinas, Colorlines Magazine, CUNY TV and Univision.
“Las Comadres encouraged me, cheered me on and has been there every step of the way,” said Aurora. “That is at the heart of what Las Comadres is about – supporting Latinas and Latina writers with their dream, no matter how big that dream is.”