Dr. Serna Publishes New Book on the Writings of  Cultural Critic Gabriel Navarro

Congratulations to Dr. Laura Isabel Serna and Colin Gunckel for publishing their new book “’There Are No Hispanic Stars!’: Collected Writings of a Latino Film Critic in Hollywood, 1921–1939.”

The book presents a collection of novellas and articles written by Gabriel Navarro, a journalist living in Los Angeles in the 1920s-1930s, whose work was widely distributed across the American Southwest. The writings, translated into English for the first time, explore the lives of well-known Mexican actors, the struggles of Mexican extras, and the creation of amateur film clubs. Navarro was a cultural critic who advocated for increased Mexican inclusion in the early days of a growing film industry. The book allows readers to understand how Navarro’s work is situated in the context of Mexican-American cultural life in early twentieth century Los Angeles.

Please visit UCLA’s Chicano Research Center, or University of Washington Press to get your copy today. For more on Dr. Serna’s work, please check here. For more on Dr. Gunckel’s work, please check here.