ASK THE ORGANIZERS OF CITY OF GOD@25

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Pablo Alvarez is a PhD candidate who has studied and written about the work of Gil Cuadros since 2010. Kevin Martin is a writer and editor who is the executor of the Estate of Gil Cuadros. Terry Wolverton is a writer who was Cuadros’ writing instructor for eight years.

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Who was Gil Cuadros?

Born in 1962, Gil Cuadros was a Los Angeles writer whose life was cut short by the AIDS epidemic. His work addresses the varied and multiple intersections of a life shaped by being a working-class Latino queer person with AIDS. During his adult life he published numerous works on these themes, and his collection of poetry and short fiction, City of God, was published in 1994 by City Lights Press. His work has gained attention in the years following his 1996 death and is frequently taught in queer and Latinx studies programs.

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Why was City of God so significant?
Whether it was Paul Monette’s Borrowed Time or Tony Kushner’s Angels in America or the Jonathan Demme-directed film, Philadelphia, the most prominent depictions of AIDS in the United States focused on well-to-do, white gay men. The black and brown men who resisted and died alongside them were largely absent from cultural depictions. When Gil Cuadros published City of God in 1994, it was among the first literary works to document AIDS through the eyes of a poz queer Latinx writer and artist.

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In his Master’s Thesis, “Gil Cuadros' AZT-Land: a queer Chicano literary heritage,” Pablo Alvarez writes about the discovery of Cuadros' work: "I drove home that night captivated by the pages I read while waiting at red lights. ...each sentence and stanza inspired nostalgia. ...I read the pages in secret and certain stories were difficult for me to read because they spoke to my own desires and fears.”

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What is its significance today?

City of God is taught in Latinx and Chicano Studies courses throughout the United States and is the subject of a great deal of scholarly research. The issues Cuadros addresses—homophobia and violence within the Latinx communities, racism within the white LGBTQ communities, the ravages of AIDS especially in poor and communities of color, the need for activism, and the confluence of traditions that shape Latinx, queer identity are as relevant today as they were a quarter century ago.

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What is your reason for commemorating the 25th anniversary of its publication?

It is the living who keep alive the work of authors and artists who have passed on. It is important that a new generation of queer and Latinx writers be exposed and affected by City of God.

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What moved the readers and panelists to participate in these events?

As Alex Espinoza wrote in response to the invitation, “Gil Cuadros has been an inspiration of mine ever since I first encountered his work as an undergrad studying creative writing. Poet Eloise Klein Healy said, “Anything for Gil is for me, too. I loved his life, his goals for himself, and his dignity.”

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For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Kevin Martin, 323-481-4247.