Beyond Heroes and Holidays – A Busboys and Poets and Teaching for Change
Date and Time
Sep 24, 2025 6:30 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Sep 24, 2025 6:30 pm
14th & V
Join us on September 24 at 6:30pm at Busboys and Poets (14th & V) to hear from author Pablo Leon on his new YA graphic novel, Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan Genocide. In this moving intergenerational tale, Eisner-nominated creator Pablo Leon combines historical research of the Guatemalan Civil War with his own experiences as a Guatemalan immigrant to depict a powerful story of family, sacrifice, survival, and hope.
Leon will be interviewed by children’s book author Anna Lapera. This event is part of the Beyond Heroes & Holidays series, co-hosted by Busboys and Poets and Teaching for Change. It is one of the activities we are hosting to prepare for Teach Central America Week and is a part of Busboys and Poets’ 20th anniversary events.
Silenced Voices (and Anna Lapera’s book) will be available for purchase and signing. Food and drinks can be purchased from the Busboys and Poets menu throughout the event.
Pablo Leon is an author and artist from Guatemala, currently living in Los Angeles and jumping between TV animation and comics. He’s an Eisner Award Nominee for his original comic “The Journey,” an account of an unaccompanied child coming from Central America to the United States, and he was the illustrator for the exciting middle grade graphic novel series “Miles Morales” at Scholastic. His passion for capturing historical memory in his art and stories has led him to his writer/artist debut “Silenced Voices” at Harper Alley, and his first animated short film “Remember Us”, which qualified for consideration for Best Animated Short Film for the Academy Awards. When he’s not working, he enjoys cooking alongside his helper cats, Agave, Moth and Midna.
Anna Lapera is a Guatemalan-American author and educator. Her debut novel, Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice, is an International Latino Book Award winner, the 2025 International Literacy Association Honor Book, and was named one of the Best of 2024 by the School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and others. She is a middle school teacher by day, and is currently working on a young adult coming-of-age novel set in 1978 Guatemala City.
Sep 16, 2025 6:00 pm
