La Casa Azul Bookstore Celebrates 3-Year Anniversary and More This June

Local, independent bookstore La Casa Azul Bookstore releases the program schedule for June 2015. Scroll down for details!

Highlights include:
- 3-year anniversary celebration, Saturday, June 6.
- Family programs
- Summer concert series (Mariachi, Jarocho, Boleros)

For information about La Casa Azul Bookstore, go to www.lacasaazulbookstore.com.

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La Casa Azul Bookstore is THREE!

Saturday, June 6, 2015, join the fun from 11:00am - 4:00pm

It's our chance to express our enormous appreciation for your support of East Harlem's indie bookstore!

Join us for music performances, cupcakes, art making, AND storytelling by local authors and illustrators:

Thank you for your support of La Casa Azul Bookstore these past 3 years!

Music, cupcakes, art making, AND storytelling by local authors and illustrators:

Carla Torres, author of Larry and Friends

Jake Perez, author of Sweet Coco: Chocolate Maker's Apprentice

Kathleen Benson, author of Draw What You See, The Life and Art of Benny Andrews

Raquel M. Ortiz, author of Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural

Renee Watson, author of Harlem's Little Blackbird, What Momma Left Me, This Side of Home

Sonia Manzano, author of The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano, No Dogs Allowed!, A Box Full of Kittens.

AND....visits by many local authors and artists, including Angela Dominguez, Dahlma Llanos Figueroa, Jose Angel Figueroa, Leenda Bonilla, Manuel Melendez, Maria Aponte, Raquel Penzo, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Vicky Grise y mas!

Belladona*: An evening with three Uptown poets who are truly fierce with language.

Thursday, June 4, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Join Belladonna* in celebrating the depth and range of contemporary feminist poetics with Tonya Foster, JP Howard and Christina Olivares as they share work from their recently published collections of poetry.

Belladonna* is a Brooklyn-based, registered non-profit feminist press and event series. Belladonna*, a traveling showcase, was launched in 2015 in an effort to form and strengthen our ties with communities of women throughout NYC. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Roundtable discussion on themes in Marc Bamuthi Joseph's new artwork,

Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos

Friday, June 5th, 2015, Panel, 4:00pm - 6:00pm, Location: El Museo del Barrio.

Reception immediately following, at La Casa Azul Bookstore, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

In collaboration with Creative Time and La Casa Azul Bookstore, El Museo del Barrio presents a roundtable discussion on themes in Marc Bamuthi Joseph's new artwork, Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos. The piece will unfurl under a parachute on the Great Hill of Central Park on Fridays and Saturdays from May 15 to June 20 as part of Drifting in Daylight: Art in Central Park, a free public art exhibition co-presented by Creative Time and the Central Park Conservancy.

Frida Kahlo, collage making class!

Sunday, June 7, 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Join us on our birthday weekend and create one-of-a kind collage artwork inspired by artist Frida Kahlo. Grab your friends, plan a unique date night, or fly solo and meet some creative people. It's a great way to decorate your apartment because you are sure to go home with a painting you can be proud of. No previous art making experience needed.

All materials are provided. However, you can bring materials to personalize your artwork if desired.

Class fee: $25 per person -- class is BYOB.

Performance by the New York City Mariachi Conservatory, Celebrating the 4th Mariachi Conference in NYC!

Wednesday, June 10, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, free family event!

This performance and workshop will provide professional instrumental demonstrations and performance etiquette, while enhancing repertoire that emphasizes the traditional and popular mariachi music forms, including sones, rancheras, huapangos, boleros and more with a live music performance by New York's Proclaimed and Finest Mariachi Tapatio de Alvaro Paulino! Event will include a book reading of "El Mejor Mariachi Del Mundo"

Latinas on Memoir: A Reading y Charla with Daisy Hernandez and Vanessa Martir

Friday, June 12, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, free event.

Daisy Hernández, author of "A Cup of Water Under My Bed" and co-editor of "Colonize This!" and educator and writer Vanessa Martir read and discuss the craft and ethics in writing about familia and the journey of getting personal Latina stories published.

Tales of Son Jarocho Roots - free family concert with Mexican musician and poet Zenen Zeferino!

Saturday, June 13, 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Through the children's book Zoóngoro Bailongo, comes a show that narrates, through music and games, life in a town called Ciénega Verde. These tales are accompanied by sones jarochos composed by Zeferino that will make children and adults sing and dance!

Summer concert: Radio Jarocho

Saturday, June 13, 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Radio Jarocho plays son jarocho music fashioned after the towns, musicians, and swampy countryside that created it in Veracruz, Mexico. They also write their own songs and tailor them with assorted influences, creating a contemporary repertoire that captures the spirit of the traditional style.

Tickets: $10, if pre-purchased online, $12 at the door (cash only)

Free for children under 5 years of age.

It is story time at La Casa Azul Bookstore!

Wednesday, June 17, 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Bring your toddlers and enjoy stories, songs, and fun crafts in our patio!

Free event, perfect for families with children ages 3-6.

Spirited Words: Mysticism, Magic and Music in the Works of Three Latinas

Friday, June 19, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Join local authors Annette Vendryes Leach (Fiction, Song of the Shaman), Lydia Cortes (Poetry, Whose Place), and Lyn Di lorio (Fiction, Outside the Bones) as they read and explore how Latino history, culture and language inspired their writing.

Looking for great book recommendations for your children, grandchildren or for you? See what 20+ Latin@ writers recommend as their must reads for summer, stop by on Saturday June 20th and pick up your summer reading selections!

Summer reading kick-off event - Meet George Mendoza!

Saturday, June 20, 12:00pm - 1:30pm

George was one of those kids. You know, the kind that never stays still. And then one day, the doctor said he was going blind. Did that slow George down? Not for a single second. In fact, he was so fast, he went on to break a world record for blind runners. And now he is breaking more barriers because ironically, George Mendoza, blind painter, paints what he sees. Free family event.

Film screening/panel: The Intersections of AfroLatinidad in Focus

Thursday, June 25, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, Tickets: $10

Screening of Dash Harris' NEGRO: A docu-series about Latino Identity which explores colonization and the historical and present day class and color complex among Latinos. Visiting Peruvian photographer, Milena Carranza Valcárcel will present her work on AfroPeruvian communities in Peru, followed by a panel discussion moderated by community activist and organizer and John Jay professor, Claudia de la Cruz. The event will focus on AfroLatinidad in the Americas and the intersections of race, class, color, gender and sexuality. Please consider bringing a brown doll donation for AfroLatino Travel's initiative "Brown Dolls for Brown Children," serving children in Panama, Peru and Cuba.

Reading with Mireya Navarro, author of Stepdog

Sunday, June 28, 2pm - 3:30pm

Stepdog is the hilarious and heartwarming tale of a woman who has finally met the man of her dreams-and the dog of her nightmares. Lots of dogs eat shoes, bite people, destroy furniture . . . but Eddie tried to destroy a marriage.After more than three decades of happy single womanhood, Mia Navarro wasn't really looking to change her relationship status. The idea of being a step-anything to anyone was foreign to her, something she never thought about. . . . Until she fell in love with Jim and agreed to marry him. As it turns out, the marriage is pretty wonderful, the stepkids were, well, typical pre-teens, the weather in Los Angeles perfect. But life is not spotless. The spots belong to Jim's mutt, Eddie.

Summer concert: Boleros with Cassandra Oliveras

Sunday, June 28, 4:00pm - 5:30pm

Cassandra Oliveras considers the Bolero repertoire a blazing counterpart to the American Songbook; its melodies timeless, and truths universal. She has performed as a soloist and choral singer in venues throughout NYC and in Paris.

Tickets: $10, if pre-purchased online, $12 at the door (cash only). Free for children under 5 years of age.