At a time when Arizona's new immigration law has created an intensified national controversy over the value and worth of the people of our border regions, Steven and Reefka Schneider's new collection of poetry and art Borderlines: Drawing Border Lives (Wings Press, $19.95) has the power to make us pause to reflect on the stories and conditions of their lives.  Steven and Reefka will sign and present drawings and poetry from the book, a series of 25 moving vignettes of border people and their lives expressed as a page of poetry in English and Spanish opposite its related portrait.

Steven P. Schneider is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Texas-Pan American, and is a founding member of the South Texas Literacy Coalition in the Rio Grande Valley.  he is the recipient of two Big Read grants from the NEA, and has used Borderlines: Drawing Border Lives traveling exhibit to promote the teaching of culturally relevant literature and creativity.  His poems and essays have been published in journals including Tikkun, Prairie Schooner, and Critical Quarterly, and his books include A.R. Ammons and the Poetics of Widening Scope and poetry collections Prairie Air Show and Unexpected Guests.

Reefka Schneider is one of the foremost artists of "la frontera," the binational region of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.  Her artwork reflects the social and economic realities of the border while celebrating the local culture, people, and music.  She has won numerous awards and had recent exhibitions at galleries including a show at the University of Texas-Pan American that caught the eye of Sandra Cisneros:

"These border portraits... draw me in even now.  Ordinary folks rendered with love, compassion, and intimacy at a time in history when love, compassion, and intimacy are in short supply on borders, especially when it comes to the Tex/Mex border.  Hurray for Steve and Reefka and the magical work they are doing crossing fronteras.  Hurray for Wings Press for publishing this celebratory book when we need it the most.  Que vivan!"
--Sandra Cisneros, author of Caramelo and The House on Mango Street