Arte Público Press Founder Nicolás Kanellos Steps Down After 46 Years

For almost five decades, Arte Público Press has amplified Latino voices, becoming the nation’s oldest and largest publisher of Latino literature.

Based at the University of Houston, the nonprofit press’ stories have centered around literary themes such as identity, immigration, loss of land and culture, and — most commonly — community. The tales, rarely told by mainstream publishers, are rooted in regions like the plains of the Rio Grande Valley or Loisaida, a Puerto Rican neighborhood in New York.

“For us, regional is not a negative word, it’s a positive word,” founder and director Nicolás Kanellos said. “Because everybody lives in a region, and they deserve to have their culture come into print.”

This belief has fueled a broader mission: building a scholarly community dedicated to recovering lost Latino stories. Through the press and its sister initiative, the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Program, Kanellos cultivated a network of researchers archiving forgotten literature, letters, newspapers and photographs — much of which has found its way into academic course catalogs across the country.

“I guess that was my contribution: not genius, just hard work and bringing people together,” he said.

After 46 years, Kanellos stepped down Sept. 1 to focus on organizing materials from both programs within UH’s Special Collections.

Succeeding him is deputy director Gabriela Baeza Ventura, a UH alum and longtime fixture at Arte Público Press, who also became director for the recovery program earlier this year.

Baeza Ventura, who has read all 700-plus books published by the press, said the work helped her reclaim and understand parts of her own identity. Kanellos’ colleagues described the work in similar terms — as a kind of “coming home.”

“I thought if I read all this stuff, I’m going to fill in all these gaps that I have in my identity that I didn’t know how to fill before,” Baeza Ventura said.

This belief has fueled a broader mission: building a scholarly community dedicated to recovering lost Latino stories. Through the press and its sister initiative, the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Program, Kanellos cultivated a network of researchers archiving forgotten literature, letters, newspapers and photographs — much of which has found its way into academic course catalogs across the country.

“I guess that was my contribution: not genius, just hard work and bringing people together,” he said.

After 46 years, Kanellos stepped down Sept. 1 to focus on organizing materials from both programs within UH’s Special Collections.

Succeeding him is deputy director Gabriela Baeza Ventura, a UH alum and longtime fixture at Arte Público Press, who also became director for the recovery program earlier this year.

Baeza Ventura, who has read all 700-plus books published by the press, said the work helped her reclaim and understand parts of her own identity. Kanellos’ colleagues described the work in similar terms — as a kind of “coming home.”

“I thought if I read all this stuff, I’m going to fill in all these gaps that I have in my identity that I didn’t know how to fill before,” Baeza Ventura said.

Accolades

Arte Público Press published acclaimed writers such as Sandra Cisneros, Luis Valdez, Victor Villaseñor and Isabel Allende

Arte Público Press won the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle in January 2019

Affiliated scholars have published more than 140 books at university presses using the recovery program’s materials

Kanellos was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden in October 2024

THE VISION

Kanellos speaks at a dinner in the early 1980s.

Kanellos speaks at a dinner in the early 1980s.

Arte Público Press was born in 1979 from the popularity of Revista Chicano-Riqueña, a Latino literary magazine published in 1973 by Kanellos and friend Luis Dávila. In 1980, Kanellos took a teaching job at UH in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, bringing the press with him.

Under Kanellos’ leadership, Arte Público Press has released a diverse range of stories for adults and children that reflect the complexity of Latino communities, including fiction, poetry and biographies.

Among its notable offerings is the Luis Montez Mystery series by Manuel Ramos, centered on a weary Latino attorney in Colorado. Ramos’s first novel with Arte Público Press, “Desperado: A Mile High Noir,” published in 2012, and he has since published 10 titles with the publishing house.

In October, Kanellos negotiated a licensing deal with Warner Bros. Television to option nine of Ramos’ novels and a story collection for possible film or television series adaptations.

“As a Chicano writer who does Chicano noir and mysteries, it’s not always easy to be pinned down with certain labels. Dr. Kanellos helped me understand how to package it,” Ramos said.

Kanellos and friend Luis Davilla printed the first Revista Chicano-Riqueña edition in 1979.

Kanellos and friend Luis Davilla printed the first Revista Chicano-Riqueña edition in 1979.

Dedicated to nurturing new voices, Arte Público Press maintains an over-the-transom policy, referring to aspiring authors slipping unsolicited manuscripts through the window above doors, circa 1950s. This model, rare in the industry, leads to the nonprofit publisher receiving about 2,000 manuscripts annually and publishing only about 25 to 30 books.

Additionally, the press’ nonprofit status allows it to prioritize developing underrepresented writers, said José Aranda, professor at Rice University and board member of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Program.

Aranda, who has collaborated with Kanellos for over 30 years, praised Kanellos for his long-term vision and “encyclopedia” of knowledge. This vision and innate curiosity have allowed other scholars to champion Latino voices and preserve centuries of literary history.

“Dr. Kanellos very smartly understood that having a press wasn't only about helping people make careers as writers but establishing the long-term understanding that the writing by Hispanic people had been going on for centuries,” Aranda said.

THE FUTURE

Baeza Ventura enrolled at UH in 1997 to gain her doctorate in Latin American literature, beginning her journey as a research assistant with the recovery program. Over the years, she steadily rose through the ranks of Arte Público Press — moving from research assistant to managing editor, then executive editor and ultimately to deputy director.

“The best thing I’ve noticed over the years is her collaborative nature and how she brings people together,” Kanellos said. “She took on leadership without my having to push her or mentor her. There were no two thoughts about it — it was just obvious.”

Now, as the director, Baeza Ventura remains committed to uplifting Latino authors, particularly stories centered on women, father-son relationships and young male characters who are empowered about their heritage and identity.

However, readership trends and the publishing industry are shifting. Kanellos said people are reading fewer books, and funding for public media initiatives that promote child literacy is dwindling.

In response, Baeza Ventura plans to launch a mentorship program to train and empower the next generation of young Latino editors.

Innovation continues through the recovery program’s U.S. Latino Digital Humanities Center, where Baeza Ventura and co-director Carolina Villarroel create digital projects with archived and contemporary materials to make Latino history more accessible. A scholarship program, launched in 2019, supports young researchers as they develop these digital projects — nurturing future literary leaders.

“The most valuable thing Dr. Kanellos gave me is the resilience and the patience to understand that things do change,” Baeza Ventura said. “In the world of Latino publishing, we are constantly working against all kinds of odds.”

Despite the shifting cultural landscape, Kanellos remains optimistic about the future and encouraged young Latino artists to stay persistent.

“Don’t give up. That’s another thing we’ve done — we don’t give up,” he said.

hand on stack of literature with colorful post-its

Baeza Ventura received some of the literature Kanellos has collected over the years, which are flagged with Post-it notations.

dr. nicolas kanellos and dr. gabriela baeza ventura stand next to each other

Baeza Ventura has worked with Kanellos since joining the recovery program in 1997.

Baeza Ventura enrolled at UH in 1997 to begin her doctorate in Latin American literature, beginning her journey as a research assistant with the recovery program. Over the years, she steadily rose through the ranks of Arte Público Press — moving from research assistant to managing editor, then executive editor and ultimately to deputy director.