Celebrate the launch of Old California Strikes Back, the debut novel by Scott Russell Duncan, described as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets "Yo Soy Joaquín". This magical memoir and meta-novel reclaims the history of Californios and the Chicano experience, blending myth with personal discovery. Join SRD and the talking head of Joaquin Murrieta as they race to uncover the last relic of Old California in a story that challenges colonial narratives and honors Chicano and Indigenous heritage. The event will feature a reading followed by an interview with Blanca Torres-Aldana, KQED Producer and Reporter.

Scott Russell Duncan, a Xicano writer, was editor on the first Chicano sci-fi anthology, El Porvenir, ¡Ya!, which was a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.  He is director of Palabras del Pueblo, a writing workshop for la raza. His nonfiction piece “Mexican American Psycho is in Your Dreams” won first place in the 2019 Solstice Literary Magazine Annual Literary Contest.  He is at work on a collection of short stories called Plurality. His novel, Old California Strikes Back, a magic memoir and meta-novel tour of California with the head of Joaquin Murrieta is published through FlowerSong Press. www.scottrussellduncan.com.

Blanca Torres-Aldana grew up on the dry, eastern side of Washington state. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and earned a Masters of Fine Arts in fiction from Mills College She has worked as a reporter for several major newspapers and now works as a producer and reporter for KQED, a public radio station in San Francisco. She is a founding member of Sunday Stories, a Bay Area writing group for writers of color. Blanca lives in the East Bay with her husband and two amazing daughters. She writes short stories, personal essays, and is working on a memoir about her mother’s childhood in Mexico.