EDTalks (But Mostly Listens): A Live Conversation Series with Ed Saavedra and Special Guests

Long before achieving institutional validation, host Ed Saavedra was interrupting dinners in at least three counties to hear directly from the artists, activists, historians, journalists, and musicians he admired most (and who for whatever reason had their numbers listed in the phone book). Decades later, in an age warped by anti-social media, where in-person, immersive conversation is a rarity even for folks whose digital avatars list thousands of “friends”, Saavedra invites audience members to join him and a guest in Southtown’s living room, Brick at Blue Star.

6:00pm Doors

6:30pm: Music

7:00pm: Introduction/Preliminary Conversation

7:35pm: Break for audience to get snacks & drinks and submit written questions

7:50pm: Conversation continues

8:40pm: Questions from the audience

9:00pm: Closing reception or another twenty to thirty minutes of conversation

SEP 4: XELENA GONZÁLEZ, Storyteller/dancer/award-winning author

This former librarian and enrolled member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation practices the healing arts through writing and movement. González’s picture books include the award-winning titles ALL AROUND US (Cinco Puntos Press, 2017), WHERE WONDER GROWS (Lee & Low, 2022), and REMEMBERING (Simon & Schuster, 2023). Her writing for adults includes poetry, essays, fiction, and screenwriting. LOTERIA REMEDIOS (Hay House, July 2024) is her collection of reflections, divinations, plant and animal medicine, and other tools for self-healing based on the time-honored game.

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Thankfully, the sound system at Brick has fared much better than the battered rotary phone Ed Saavedra was still using in the late nineties! The cord was so twisted and knotted (and the connection so scratchy) that by the time Willie Nelson rang in the fall of 1998, the subsequent 45-minute exchange almost ended before it started.

Since then, Saavedra’s artwork has been acquired by numerous private and public collections, including (here at home) the McNay Art Museum and the San Antonio Museum of Art (an institution he once called, to no avail, to speak with Jesse Treviño during the reception for the artist’s triumphant post-Smithsonian hometown retrospective).