Borderlands Literature and Film Circle

 
 

The Borderlands Literature and Film Circle (BLFC) is a monthly event on Zoom. Read cutting-edge authors, watch films, and participate in dynamic discussions as we expand our understanding of the Mexico-U.S. borderlands through films, books, and captivating guest speakers.

Join us on the second Wednesday of each month from 10-11:30am! Registration is free, suggested donation is $10 (click here to donate).

Please note, Arizona does not observe daylight savings time. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, MST is the same as Pacific time. From the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March, MST is the same as Mountain time.

Scroll down to register for our upcoming BLFC. You can also view our archive of recordings with dozens of authors and filmmakers.

 

coming up

 

Wednesday, October 14, 10-11:30am (MST, same as Pacific Time)

Lydia Otero, Storied Property: María Cordova's Casa

We are privileged to host historian and memoirist Lydia R. Otero for a compelling discussion on their newest work, "Storied Property: María Cordova's Casa" (2025). You may remember that we interviewed Lydia in 2023 with their book, “In the Shadow of the Freeways.”  As always, our program is completely free and open to all, but registration is required to participate.  

"Storied Property" tells the essential history of María Cordova, a woman who fought courageously to preserve her home in downtown Tucson, only to be systematically erased from its narrative after the property was seized through eminent domain and later turned into a museum.  Often described as the oldest building in the city, its story is far more complicated than timelines suggest.   It asks what it means to preserve a structure while erasing the people who gave it life and reminds us that what is remembered and what is erased is never accidental, offering a symbol of the often-repeated, complex story of “preservation” and “urban renewal.”  Otero brings meticulous archival research and deep local heart to this history, restoring dignity and visibility to a vital story of displacement and resistance in Southern Arizona.

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The book has already earned significant recognition, including the Gold Medal in West-Mountain Non-Fiction at the 2026 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), a Top Pick in History for the 2026 Southwest Books of the Year by the Pima County Public Library, and a position as a Finalist for Best History Book at the 2026 International Latino Book Awards. Critics praise Otero’s sharp ability to illuminate the intersection of place, public memory, and community belonging.

Wednesday, November 11, 10-11:30am (MST, same as Mountain Time)

Alberto Ríos, Every Sound Is Not a Wolf

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Arizona’s inaugural Poet Laureate shares a collection that finds the extraordinary in the everyday, weaving together memory and the borderlands of the Sonoran desert.

Wednesday, December 9, 10-11:30am (MST, same as Mountain Time)

Carrie Gibson, El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America

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Carrie Gibson will discuss her sweeping historical account that chronicles the Hispanic influence on the North American continent from the Spanish arrival to today.

BLFC Archive

September 9, 2026

Álvaro Enrigue, Now I Surrender

Revisit our conversation with Enrigue about his novel that reimagines the history of the Apache Wars and the surrender of Geronimo. Both historical and fictional, this work radically recasts the story of how the West was “won.”

August 12, 2026

Dr. Rodrigo Sierra Corona, Karla Paola Hernandez, Xochitl Ramon Lopez, “Restoring Borderlands Ecosystems”

Revisit our conversation with staff of the Borderlands Restoration Network, a nonprofit organization working to protect, restore, and reconnect the ecosystems of the Mexico-US borderlands.

July 8, 2026

Craig Childs, “Tracing Time: Seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau”

Revisit our conversation with Craig Childs. We discuss his book about the ancient rock art of the Southwest.

June 10, 2026

Daisy Hernández, “Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth”

Revisit our conversation with Daisy Hernández. We discuss her new book and the concept of citizenship in the U.S.

May 13, 2026

Carolyn Niethammer, “A Desert Feast: Celebrating Tucson’s Culinary Heritage”

Revisit our conversation with author Carolyn Niethammer. We discuss why Tucson became the first U.S. city to be designated a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

April 8, 2026

Luke Takata and Jack Dash, “The Atascosa Borderlands: A Living Archive of this Unique Arizona-Sonora Region”

Revisit our conversation with documentary photographer Luke Takata and naturalist Jack Dash. We discuss their long-term visual storytelling project about a unique region of the Arizona borderlands. View the project at https://www.atascosaborderlands.com/.

February 11, 2026

Jason de León, “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling”

Revisit our conversation with anthropologist and author Jason de León. We discuss his book “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling,” which tells about the lives of with the men often flattened into villains by the media: the smugglers themselves.

January 14, 2026

Seth Michelson, “Hope on the Border: Immigration, Incarceration, and the Power of Poetry”

Revisit our conversation with poet, translator and professor Seth Michelson. We discuss his books “Dreaming America” and “Hope on the Border,” which include poems written by minors incarcerated in the maximum-security detention center where Michelson led poetry workshops.

View the rest of the BLFC archive on Vimeo:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

  • Jeff Babson, Sky Island Tours (November 11, 2022)

  • Roxanne Swentzell and Patricia Perea, “The Pueblo Food Experience Cookbook: Whole Foods of our Ancestors” (October 13, 2021)

  • Gary Paul Nabhan, “Food from the Radical Center: Healing Our Land and Communities” (September 8, 2021)

  • Alberto Rios, “The Good Map of All Things” (July 14, 2021)

  • David Owens, “Where the Water Goes” and Craig Childs, “The Secret Knowledge of Water” (June 9, 2021)

  • Janya Burn, “Cloak and Jaguar: Following a Cat from Desert to Courtroom” (April 14, 2021)

  • Robert C. West, “Sonora: Its Geographical Personality,” Thomas E. Sheridan, “Where the Dove Calls,” Padre Kino documentary, “Favores Celestiales” (March 10, 2021)

  • Rita and Francisco Cantu, “The Line Becomes a River” (January 13, 2021)

2020

  • Jeffrey Schulze, “Are We Not Foreigners Here? Nationalism in the US-Mexico Borderlands” and film, “Sonora” (November 11, 2020)

  • Lawrence Taylor, “Tales from the Desert Borderland” and film, “El Mar La Mar” (October 14, 2020)

  • Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie S. Collazo, “The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border” and film, “Human Flow” (September 9, 2020)

  • César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, “Migration to Prison: America’s Obsession with Locking Up Immigrants” (August 12, 2020)

  • Film, “Sin Nombre” (July 8, 2020)