The Center for Mexican American Studies presents Professor Norma E. Cantú - "Fiestas en Laredo"

Blending memoir, ethnography, and folkloristic analysis, Dr. Cantú examines the vibrant traditions of Laredo through an insider’s lens, exploring Matachines dances, quinceañeras, and the unique borderlands celebration of George Washington’s birthday. Grounded in sentipensante (thinking/feeling) folkloristics and influenced by Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of nepantla, it reflects a deep integration of intellectual and emotional insight. Continuing the Society’s century-long tradition of documenting Texas-Mexico border lore, this work honors the region's rich cultural legacy.

 Award-winning poet and author Dr. Norma Elia Cantú was born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, to a Tejana mother and a Mexicano father. She began her academic career over fifty years ago as a teaching assistant at what is now Texas A&M University, Kingsville, where she earned her MA in English. She earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She taught at what is now Texas A&M International University in Laredo, at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She was at the National Endowment for the Arts in the Folk and Traditional Arts Program and a visiting Director of the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She currently serves as the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio, where she teaches courses in Latinx Studies, Folklore, and Creative Writing. Her creative writing focuses on the US-Mexico Border and includes her novels Canícula and Cabañuelas as well as a poetry collection, Meditación fronteriza. She has edited and co-edited over twelve anthologies. Her most recent publications are Fiestas in Laredo: Matachines, Quinceaneras, and George Washington's Birthday and ¡Somos Tejanas!: Chicana Identity and Culture in Texas.