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The 13th Annual Books By The Banks Cincinnati USA Book Festival will be held Saturday, October 26 the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati. Along with more than 100 authors who will talk with patrons and sign copies of their books, there will be author panels and discussions; a kids zone and teen scene with a variety of activities and entertainment; sponsor tables; and an onsite bookstore from Joseph Beth Booksellers.Cincinnati Public Radio will have a table - stop by and say hi to the hosts and staff, sign-up to win a CD or other prize, and let us know what you think about our stations! This event is free to attend, and runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.More information can be found at booksbythebanks.org.91.7 WVXU is a proud media partner.We've had the opportunity to interview, or review, many of the authors you'll meet at this year's Books by the Banks . Here's a list if you'd like to hear from one of your favorites! BBTB 2019 AUTHORS WHO HAVE BEEN ON WVXU THIS YEARConnie Dow: From A to Z with Energy! 26 Ways to Move and PlayTerry Gamble: The EulogistJessica Strawser: Forget You Know MeAlexander Watson: Saucy Boat, Stout Mates, Spotted Dog, AmericaMargaret McMullan: Where The Angels LivedCandace Ganger: Six Goodbyes We Never SaidBook Review: Dan and Judy Dourson: Wildflowers and Ferns of Red River Gorge and the Greater Red River BasinJohn Kachuba: Shapeshifters: A HistoryDan Woellert: Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable HistoryKaren Abbott: The Ghosts Of Eden ParkBook Review: Constance J. Moore and Nancy M. Broermann: Maria Longworth Storer: From Music and Art to Popes and PresidentsPauletta Hansel:When She Was Done (a Mother's Day poem)Coal Town Photograph (Father's Day poems)Sherry Stanforth and Richard Hague: Riparian: Poetry, Short Prose, and Photographs Inspired by the Ohio River (airing on November 24)Rick Kennedy: 100 Years of Reimagining Flight (Cincinnati Edition)Jack Heffron: Classic Reds: The 50 Greatest Games in Cincinnati Reds History (Cincinnati Edition)Michael Morgan: Cincinnati Beer (Cincinnati Edition)Greg Rhodes and John Erardi: Baseball Revolutionaries: How the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Rocked the Country and Made Baseball Famous (Cincinnati Edition)David Bell: LayoverWilliam Plunkett: The G-Men and the Nurse: A 1929 Washington Cold CaseJillian Scudder: Astroquizzical: A Curious Journey Through Our Cosmic Family Tree (Looking Up podcast)

Cinco De Mayo: Whose Holiday Is It, Anyway?

Members of Dance Academy of Mexico perform during last year's Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Milwaukee.
Rick Wood
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MCT/Landov
Members of Dance Academy of Mexico perform during last year's Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Milwaukee.

Across the country this weekend, Cinco de Mayo will be celebrated with festivals, music, Mexican food and plenty of bar specials.

But south of the border, the holiday merits little more than a parade in the city of Puebla, east of Mexico City. There, in 1862, outgunned Mexican troops defeated an invading French army.

Lesley Tellez writes about Mexican food and culture for The Mija Chronicles online. She says that when she moved from Southern California to Mexico City, she looked forward to Cinco de Mayo. But she was the only one looking for a party.


Interview Highlights

On her first Cinco de Mayo in Mexico City

At On the Border's Cinco de Mayo Party on May 5, 2012, in Addison, Texas.
Mike Fuentes / AP
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AP
At On the Border's Cinco de Mayo Party on May 5, 2012, in Addison, Texas.

I was ... waiting for this groundswell of something to start happening in Mexico City, and nothing ever happened! The day came and the day went.

On the origins of the holiday

It does commemorate the battle of Puebla, in which the Mexican troops were victorious over the French troops, and that's really important — in Puebla. Not really anywhere else outside of Puebla.

Mexico had put a moratorium on paying back their European debts. They basically had no money. The French wanted to get their money from Mexico, so they sent troops and they fought a battle in Puebla versus what was supposed to be a ... vastly underprepared army. ... But the Mexican troops ended up winning the battle ... and it was great. But they didn't end up winning the war, overall. They lost. But at a time, it was really a rallying cry for Mexican resistance.

On Cinco de Mayo in America

There's a couple of different stories. One is that it was homesick Mexicans that were looking for a way to celebrate their heritage. And I've also read that it was Mexicans who were living in the U.S. and wanting to identify with Mexico around the time of the [Mexican] Civil War and wanting to support what had happened in Mexico.

On making peace with Cinco de Mayo

I really view it today as a Mexican-American holiday, even though, yeah, you know, it is tied to beer and margaritas a lot of the time. I do think you could use it as a point of reflection about your own identity as a Mexican-American person. Thinking about contributions Mexican-Americans have made to the U.S., our food, really reveling in what our culture brings to the table in the U.S. I think it is a great day to do that.

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