Pilar Hogan Closkey and John Hogan have brought together the annual Archbishop Oscar Romero Lectures (2001-2007) to consider the life and death of Archbishop Romero and the daily struggles of the poor in our world, especially in the city of Camden, New Jersey-one of America's poorest cities. Romero's 'dangerous memory' provides the background, while urban poverty and the option for the poor are the foreground. Romero's commitment to the poor compels us to look at ourselves, and the authors of each chapter remind us of Romero's dangerous memory and his undying hope in the promised future. Taken as a whole, the book reminds us of the tough questions behind the real meaning of the 'option for the poor.' Can we as a faith community and institution move beyond high-sounding slogans and really opt for the poor? What are the costs? What are the risks? Especially in these difficult times of war, terrorism, and scandal, can we in the Church rebuild trust and be a sign of a future of justice and peace announced by Jesus?

This volume brings together the annual Romero Lectures presented in Camden, New Jersey, one of America's poorest cities. The book not only remembers Romero but evokes his model of ministry and leadership to give direction to some of the thorny social justice issues confronting American Catholics.The essays are by Robert McDermott, John Hogan, Thomas Gumbleton, Gustavo Gutierrez, Helen Prejean, Diana Hayes and Daniel Groody. They address urban problems, liturgy and justice, poverty and war, the preferential option, capital punishment, race and economics, and immigration.

A key way to view Latina plays today is through the foundational frame of playwright and teacher Maria Irene Fornes, who has trained a generation of theatre artists and transformed the field of American theatre. Fornes, author of Fefu and Her Friends and Sarita and a nine-time Obie Award winner, is known for her plays that traverse cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic borders. In The Fornes Frame: Contemporary Latina Playwrights and the Legacy of Maria Irene Fornes, Anne García-Romero considers the work of five award-winning Latina playwrights in the early twenty-first century, offering her unique perspective as a theatre studies scholar who is also a professional playwright. The playwrights in this book include Pulitzer Prize–winner Quiara Alegría Hudes; Obie Award–winner Caridad Svich; Karen Zacarías, resident playwright at Arena Stage in Washington, DC; Elaine Romero, member of the Goodman Theatre Playwrights Unit in Chicago, Illinois; and Cusi Cram, company member of the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York City. Using four key concepts—cultural multiplicity, supernatural intervention, Latina identity, and theatrical experimentation—García-Romero shows how these playwrights expand past a consideration of a single culture toward broader, simultaneous connections to diverse cultures. The playwrights also experiment with the theatrical form as they redefine what a Latina play can be. Following Fornes’s legacy, these playwrights continue to contest and complicate Latina theatre.

Originally published on the twentieth anniversary of his death, this volume celebrates the life, spirit and legacy of Oscar Romero, the martyred archbishop of San Salvador.

Spanish émigré guitarist Celedonio Romero gave his American debut performance on a June evening in 1958. In the sixty years since, the Romero Family—Celedonio, his wife Angelita, sons Celín, Pepe, and Angel, as well as grandsons Celino and Lito—have become preeminent in the world of Spanish flamenco and classical guitar in the United States. Walter Aaron Clark's in-depth research and unprecedented access to his subjects have produced the consummate biography of the Romero family. Clark examines the full story of their genius for making music, from their outsider's struggle to gain respect for the Spanish guitar to the ins and outs of making a living as musicians. As he shows, their concerts and recordings, behind-the-scenes musical careers, and teaching have reshaped their instrument's very history. At the same time, the Romeros have organized festivals and encouraged leading composers to write works for guitar as part of a tireless, lifelong effort to promote the guitar and expand its repertoire. Entertaining and intimate, Los Romeros opens up the personal world and unfettered artistry of one family and its tremendous influence on American musical culture.