The Brown Book Club Podcast

Join us for a lively conversation with Margarita Longoria and poet Daniel García Ordaz as we discuss Living Beyond Borders, a powerful anthology highlighting Brown voices and experiences. We talk storytelling, identity, community, and the importance of amplifying diverse perspectives, all while sharing plenty of laughs along the way.

In this episode of The Brown Book Club Podcast, we sit down with Marcela Fuentes for a lively and thoughtful conversation about her work. We dive into her book, unpacking the depth of her characters, especially the strength and complexity of the women she writes. We talk about embracing imperfect characters and what they reveal about real life. And in true Brown Book Club fashion, we even branch o...

We sat down with Charley Trujillo and Richard Garcia for a powerful conversation on the Chicano experience during the Vietnam War. Drawing from their books and lived experiences, they reflect on identity, service, trauma, and the often-overlooked stories of Mexican American soldiers. This episode honors resilience, brotherhood, and the lasting impact of war on both the battlefield and back home.

On this episode of The Brown Book Club Podcast, we had the honor of speaking with acclaimed author Reyna Grande about her powerful historical novel A Ballad of Love and Glory. The novel takes readers into the turbulent years of the Mexican–American War and tells the story of love, loyalty, and resistance during one of the most defining conflicts in North American history. At the center of the nove...

We had the absolute honor of sitting down with Erika L. Sánchez, award-winning author, poet, and cultural force. Best known for her groundbreaking novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Sánchez has become one of the most important contemporary voices writing about identity, grief, mental health, family pressure, and what it means to grow up caught between cultures. Her work refuses stereoty...

We had the absolute honor of welcoming Luis Alberto Urrea to The Brown Book Club Podcast and let me tell you, he is exactly who you hope he’ll be. Urrea is the Pulitzer Prize finalist behind unforgettable books like The Devil’s Highway, a haunting account of migration and survival in the Arizona desert, and The House of Broken Angels, a tender, hilarious, and deeply human story about family, borde...

We had a powerful conversation with Leopoldo Gout, filmmaker, artist, and author of the haunting novel Piñata. Blending horror, history, and Mexican folklore, Piñata explores generational trauma, identity, and the spiritual echoes that follow us across borders and time. In this episode, we dive into Gout’s creative journey, the deeper cultural layers behind the story, and how horror can become a s...

Jesús Treviño is a Latino filmmaker, writer, and educator whose work centers Chicano and Mexican American history, culture, and political struggle. He is best known for his documentary storytelling, using film as a tool to challenge erasure, reclaim community narratives, and examine power, identity, and resistance. Through both his films and his writing, Treviño has played an important role in pre...

In this episode of The Brown Book Club Podcast, we sit down with award-winning author, playwright, and cultural icon Denise Chávez, whose work captures the heart, humor, and struggle of life in the Southwest borderlands. We talk about her celebrated novel Loving Pedro Infante—a story that blends passion, nostalgia, and Chicana identity through the eyes of Teresina Ávila, a woman caught between the...

Yasmín Ramírez is the author of ¡Ándale, Prieta!, a powerful memoir that explores family, identity, love, and resilience in the borderlands of El Paso, Texas. A writer, educator, and storyteller, Ramírez brings to life the deep bond she shared with her grandmother—while also reflecting on what it means to navigate Chicana identity, womanhood, and belonging. Her work has been praised for its honest...

Today we’re honored to share a conversation with Luis J. Rodriguez, one of the most influential Chicano writers of our time. He is best known for his groundbreaking memoir Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., which has become a classic in Chicano and American literature for its raw honesty and unflinching portrayal of gang life, resilience, and redemption. Rodriguez is not only a celeb...

Kali Fajardo-Anstine is a Denver-born Chicana author whose work uplifts the voices and landscapes of the American West. Her debut short story collection, Sabrina & Corina, was a National Book Award finalist and winner of the American Book Award, praised for its powerful portraits of Chicana/o and Indigenous women in Colorado. In 2021, she met with The Brown Book Club for a raw and intimate convers...