Cinco Puntos Press is an imprint of publishing company

Lee & Low Books Lee & Low Books is an independent children's book publisher focusing on diversity. History Lee & Low was founded in 1991 by Chinese Americans Tom Low and Philip Lee as a children's book publisher specializing in books featuring people of color a ...

. It is a general trade publisher that has received attention for its bilingual children's books and fiction and

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

focusing on the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

region. It was founded by novelist Lee Merrill Byrd and poet

Bobby Byrd Bobby Howard Byrd (August 15, 1934 – September 12, 2007) was an American rhythm and blues, soul and funk singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, bandleader and talent scout, who played an integral and important part in the development ...

in 1985 and sold to Lee & Low in June 2021. It is known for its multi-cultural and political focus for both children and adults.

Notable authors

Cinco Puntos Press authors include Joe Hayes, Benjamin Alire Sáenz,

Sergio Troncoso Sergio Troncoso (born 1961) is an American author of short stories, essays and novels. He often writes about the United States-Mexico border, working-class immigrants, families and fatherhood, philosophy in literature, and crossing cultural, psyc ...

Tim Tingle Tim Tingle is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma an author and storyteller of twenty books. Early life Tingle was raised on the Gulf Coast outside of Houston, Texas. He is an Oklahoma Choctaw. His great-great grandfather, John Carnes, ...

, George Ella Lyon, Dagoberto Gilb, David Romo, Lisa Sandlin, Robert Boswell,

Gary Cartwright Gary Royce Cartwright (born 20 February 1952) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Victoria River in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicamera ...

, Xavier Garza, James Carlos Blake,

Subcomandante Marcos Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente (born 19 June 1957) is a Mexican insurgent, the former military leader and spokesman for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in the ongoing Chiapas conflict,Pasztor, S. B. (2004). Marcos, Subcoman ...

, Byrd Baylor, J.L. Powers, Youme Landowne,

Paco Ignacio Taibo II Paco Ignacio Taibo II (born Francisco Ignacio Taibo Mahojo; on January 11, 1949), also known as Paco Taibo II or informally as PIT is a Spanish-Mexican writer, novelist and political activist based in Mexico City. He is most widely known as the ...

, and many others.

NEA controversy

Cinco Puntos received national notoriety when, in March 1999, it published the book '' The Story of Colors / La Historia de los colores'' written by

, the leader of the

Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (, EZLN), often referred to as the Zapatistas (Mexican ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Since ...

in Mexico.

Bill Ivey Bill Ivey is an American folklorist and author. He was the seventh chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is a past chairman of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Early life Billy Ivey was born in Detroit, Michi ...

, chairperson of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

—which had previously awarded $7,500 to Cinco Puntos Press for the publication of the story—pulled the funding on March 9, 1999 after being interviewed by Julia Preston of the

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

bureau of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. The NEA's move drew national attention to the book and Cinco Puntos when an article about the controversy was published on the front page of ''the New York Times''. The

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

provided Cinco Puntos Press with twice the amount of the lost funding and Cinco Puntos Press sold out their first printing of the book in days. Publisher Bobby Byrd made a personal statement on the Cinco Puntos Press website, stating: "It was a strange media frenzy, a true boon to Cinco Puntos. But real ideas and issues got lost in that frenzy, the most important of which is the indigenous struggle for autonomy and land in Chiapas."

Significant awards

The company has won several awards: *

, 2005—Bobby Byrd and Lee Merrill Byrd awarded Cultural Freedom Fellowships for Excellence in Publishing *

Before Columbus Foundation The Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, "dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature". The Foundation makes annual awards for books published in ...

, The

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

, 1999, for Excellence in Publishing *Rocky Mountain Publishing Association—the Dwight A. Myers Award, 1997, for Excellence in Regional Publishing * Border Regional Library Association—the Southwest Book Award, 1993, for Excellence in PublishingTaos Writers Conference: Lee and Bobby Byrd
/ref> In addition, author Benjamin Alire Sáenz won a

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living American citizens. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Fi ...

and a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in 2013 for his book '' Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club'', published by Cinco Puntos in 2012.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cinco Puntos Press Official site
Book publishing companies based in Texas Companies based in El Paso, Texas Publishing companies established in 1985 1985 establishments in Texas