Interview with a Mexican Vampire

Registration is required Ito Romo reads from his most recent book, Filth Eaters, then sits down for a conversation with two truly accomplished high school friends, Maria Josefina Saldaña, Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU and a Professor in the Department of Social & Cultural Analysis, and Victor Landa, 20-year Spanish language media videographer, reporter, editor, anchor and news director for both Univision and Telemundo. Question and answer session, followed by book sales & signing.

“Filth Eaters is a highwire act, a magic trick, a novella so rich with detail and lore that you’ll want a five-book series in the same world even as you leave completely satisfied with what it offers. It’s an indie horror triumph, and if you love vampire fiction, it belongs on your shelf.” —Bloody Disgusting

“A medieval Spanish vampire migrates to Mexico in search of a better life and falls in love with an Aztec vampire in this work of literary horror about colonialism and desire.” —Publishers Weekly

“Impressive world-building in a compact space . . . Filth Eaters offers a brutal vision of the future and ponders how much one person can take if all they consume is endless generations of human malice. The filth that’s being eaten here is us.” —Grimdark Magazine

Audience: Adults

Additional Info: Ito Romo was born and raised on the border in Laredo, Texas. His work, dubbed “Chicano Gothic” and “Chicano Noir,” shows the dark and gritty life along Interstate 35 through South Texas, where his family has lived for 11 generations. A former Professor of English Language and Literature, Romo was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2019. His books include The Border is Burning and El Puente / The Bridge, both published by University of New Mexico Press. He lives in San Antonio.

Dr. María Josefina Saldaña-Portillo is the Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU and a Professor in the Department of Social & Cultural Analysis. Her book Indian Given: Racial Geographies across Mexico and the United States (Duke UP 2016) received the 2019 Casa de Las Americans Literary Prize in Latino Studies; the 2017 ASA John Hope Franklin Book Prize; and the 2017 NACCS Book Award.

Victor Landa is a bilingual communications and government professional with more than 40 years of experience both in English and Spanish media as well as government service. His strength is in helping people and organizations find and tell their stories. He worked for 20 years in Spanish language media as a videographer, reporter, editor, anchor and news director for both Univision and Telemundo; he wrote more than 1,500 opinion columns for the San Antonio Express-News.