Mentorship program winners

The cha cha chicas are proud to announce the artists in its 2009 mentorship program! We thank all you wonderful writers and artists out there who responded to our open call for submissions. The pieces were inspiring and the decision was close but one had to be made. The artists joining the cha cha roster through the mentorship program are:

Teresa Cheng

Teresa is a queer Chinese/Taiwanese daughter, sister and friend. She has spent half of her life in Taiwan and the other half in Canada. She is the creator of zines Dykes & Their Hair and Upskirt: Dirty (Un)feminist Secrets. She has been published in the Asian Arts Freedom School Anthology. She also blogs for Shameless Magazine and 8asians.com.

Gabriela Etcheverry

Gabriela Etcheverry is a Chilean-Canadian writer and literary critic. She has a PhD from Laval University and two Master’s degrees from Carleton University, where she taught for many years. In 2007 she published the novel Latitudes, in which she blends her personal experiences with those of others, weaving through poetry, short fiction, and other modes the threads of time that tie the child to the adult, the province to the city and, finally, the South and the North. One of the twelve children of a dedicated treasure hunter, Gabriela draws on the tales and legends of the city of her childhood, Coquimbo (Chile), for her novel Guayacán: tesoro y lujuria (forthcoming in 2009). Currently, she is working on a new novel, Where Are You? set in Gravenhurst, her husband’s hometown in Canada.

Teresa and Gabriela will be working with the wonderful Dianah Smith and Yaya Yao who will be their mentors throughout this summer. Please come out on September 19th to see them perform their workshopped pieces.