Border Art

By Michael Eilers
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 16, 1997

Tucson has always been a town concerned with border issues. Less than 40 minutes from another country, our city is deeply affected by Mexican culture and Mexican peoples, from Spanish billboards and radio channels to infusions of Mestizo culture deep into the city's veins. Superficially, border issues are dealt with politically, on the speaker's podium and the editorial page.

The local journal Border Beat has another take on border issues. As an eclectic collection of essays, poems, artwork, fiction and photographs, the small but potent journal explores the emotional and creative side of border culture-not just the surface issues, but the deep emotions and cultural issues that inform life on both sides of the border.

Currently on its third issue, Border Beat is published six times a year by Dog Eat Dog Publishing, a local company headed by Jim Carvalho and Becky Reed Carvalho, who also edit and design the journal. Featuring a mixture of solicited work, submissions, and historical illustrations, each issue is a rich mixture of Southwestern writers and their culture.

The January issue is subtitled "Valentines and Violence," a theme that runs through most of the content. Ranging from romantic to disturbingly dark, the poems and stories within are by both published and new authors, an intentional mix according to Becky Reed Carvalho. Many fiction fans will recognize the name of Jim Harrison (author of "Legends of the Fall and Wolf") but most likely won't know "Joaquan Castro," a local author's pseudonym.

The issue also features a short interview with Louie Perez, a member of the band Los Lobos, and a series of striking woodcuts by Leopoldo Mendez, a Mexico City artist who died in 1969.

The real gem of the issue is a hypnotic short story by Alberto Alvaro Rios entitled "Champagne Regions." A slightly surreal tale about the town baker's accidental glimpse of a young woman's breasts, this tightly composed story takes a winding path through the pangs of unrequited love and the pitfalls of guilt, self-doubt, and societal pressure. As L'zaro struggles to reconcile his internal conflicts (along with his dog, Pope Urban VIII) this charming and funny tale recounts his bizarre view of the world. Emotional states seem to become physical realities, and L'zaro's self-imposed Purgatory is characterized as "close to heaven, but very hot."

Most of the violence quota is fulfilled by Jim Harrison with his poem "Sonoran Radio (freely translated)." A series of vignettes about border life and events, this string of brutal descriptions and terse prose is a little tough to take, but has a lasting impact. He gets bonus points for mentioning goat-suckers (chupacabras).

In the "Dispatches" section of the journal, local residents report on Arizona cities (Bisbee, Oracle, Tubac) and their events in a loose, friendly manner. Columns by local writers discuss "Drinkin', Smokin', and Stayin' Awake" in three humorous and informative pieces about South-of-the-border ways of doing just that.

Overall Border Beat is an attractive package. Printed on recycled paper with a slight manila tone, the illustrations are crisp and the photographs are clean and clear. Easy to read and free of the "xerox art" look of other indie journals, Border Beat even manages to make the advertisements (of which there are few) look tasteful and composed. Small but potent, Border Beat is a rewarding glimpse into border culture, and should not be missed.

Border Beat is free if you happen to find it lying around (many local bookstores and coffee houses carry it, as well as nine Phoenix locations) or can be ordered from the publisher for $5 a copy; subscriptions (6 issues) are $25 a year. Call 321-0928 or send a check to Border Beat, 5347 E. Fort Lowell Rd., Tucson, AZ 85712