Trinity University Press has announced a robust list of twelve books to be published under its new Tinta Books imprint, created to expand understanding and celebration of Mexican culture within the publishing industry. Publisher Tom Payton is leading the charge by acquiring original work and partnering with Mexico-based publishers, while Yvette Benavides, a Texas- based journalist, radio host, and creative writing professor, has been brought on as editor-at-large on a number of projects. Tinta plans to release five to ten books a year focusing on Mexican and Mexican American culture, history, and current affairs. Listen to an interview with Tom and Yvette on TPR’s Fronteras, check out the coverage in the SAEN, and read more about the launch in Trinity Magazine.
More than 40 million people in the United States identify as Mexican or Mexican American, and more than 40 million Americans travel to Mexico annually. Over the decades, Trinity has published a number of books with some connection to Mexico.
“No doubt, U.S publishers offer many wonderful books about Mexico, but for the most part they are one-off titles. A new imprint makes a broader and bolder statement, a commitment to an area of editorial focus,” said Tom Payton, publisher at Trinity University Press. “As a mission-driven nonprofit cultural
and educational publisher, this is critical to us, especially since we are based in Texas and committed to our deep shared roots with Mexico.”
“One of our main goals in publishing is to help readers move to a more profound understanding
and appreciation of the rest of the world,” Benavides said. “For us, the connection to Mexico is
something we already admire and value. We’re excited about strengthening that connection and
bringing works by and about Mexicans and Mexican Americans to more readers.”
The first books in the Tinta imprint are listed below:
- Witness to War: Mexico in the Photographs of Walter Elias Hadsell, a look at the early 1900s
U.S. invasion of Veracruz (Susan Toomey Frost, August 2023) - Richard Neutra: Encounters in Latin America, a look at the noted architect’s travel and study
in the Americas (Catherine Ettinger, September 2023) - Mi Cultura: The Photography of Al Rendon, a retrospective spanning more than fifty
years (distributed for The Witte Museum, September 2023) - Mexico City, a lively illustrated short history of the city (Alejandro Rosas, October 2023)
- A Conversation with Luis Barragán, a look into the mind of Pritzker Prize–winning architect
from Mexico (Alejandro Ramírez Ugarte, October 2023) - 100 Moments in the History of Mexico, a lavishly illustrated celebration of the four-thousand-
plus-year history of Mexico (Alejandro Rosas and Sandra Molina, November 2023) - Weeping Women: In Search of La Llorona, an anthology about the mythic figure (Norma Elia
Cantú and Kathleen Alcalá, editors, November 2023) - The Mexican, a graphic novel adaptation of the acclaimed short story (Jack London,
January 2024) - Soñando / Cantando: Latina Poetry across the Americas (Norma Elia Cantú and Judith
Santopietro, editors, March 2024) - Pan Dulce: A Celebration of Mexican Sweet Breads, Pastries, Cookies, Empanadas, and
More (Ellen Clark Douglas, April 2024) - A Story of Stories from a Texas Border Barrio: The Life and Writings of Ramona González, the
(re)discovered work of an important Chicana folklore writer (Cristina Devereaux Ramírez,
editor, April 2024) - Los Muertos: A Day of the Dead Fiction Anthology, a collection of short fiction exploring
themes around the annual holiday (Yvette Benavides, Adela Pineda Franco, and Jim
Mendiola, editors, October 2024)
La Finca Wins Audies Award!