Our Team
Elizabeth Quila
Chairman of the Board
Elizabeth Quila is a writer, journalist, psychologist and psychoanalyst. Now, living in Houston for the last ten years, she is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Casa Cultural de las Américas, in Houston, Texas a Non-profit Organization.
In her country, Ecuador, she was General Editor of Agencia Literaria El Conjuro, Guayaquil; Creative Director of Citra Publicidad, Quito; Creative Director of MS & S Agencia de Publicidad, Guayaquil.
In the area of education Elizabeth has teached at: Universidad Del Salvador, Buenos Aires; UDLA, Quito; Universidad Autónoma de Quito; Escuela Superior Politecnica, ESPOL, Guayaquil; Fundacion Teleducando, Guayaquil; and ITV, Guayaquil. She also gives workshops and conferences around the world for prevention of child abuse, female emotional intelligence and therapy through the arts.
She has obtained awards in Madrid, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Houston, both for her literary work as well as her work as a psychotherapist and pioneer of social projects in education and health.
Publications in chronological order are: “La mirada ciega” (short stories), “Conjuros y Maldiciones”(novel), “Cristina”(novel), “Travesti de Almas”(short stories), “El Culto”(novel), “Oblivion” (poems), “El amante despiadado” (novel), “El pueblo de los ahogados”(novel), El Cadaver que envejece dentro de su tumba (novel).
Elizabeth Quila
Chairman of the Board
713-647-1777
Luis Armenta-Malpica
President
Diploma in Literature by the Association of Authors Literalia, A.C. He obtained the Juan Grijalbo & Caniem edition scholarship in 1997. Poet, essayist and director of Mantis Editores. National Poetry Prize Aguascalientes (1996), National Poetry Prize Ramón López Velarde (1999), National Poetry Prize Efraín Huerta (1999), Jalisco Prize in Literature (2008), José Emilio Pacheco National Poetry Prize (2011), Prize of Poetry at the International Literature Contest Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (2013), tribute and Prize at the III Encounter of Poets Enrique González León (2016), Diplôme d'Excellence Librex at the Iaşi Book Fair, Romania and Jaime Sabines-Gatien Lapointe Prize, Canada-Mexico (2017). He was declared a Humanist and Illustrious Visitor by the Mayor of Esmeraldas, Ecuador (2015), Cavaler al Poeziei Capitalei Marii Uniri Iaşi, during the Poetry International Festival at Iaşi, Romania (2018), and finalist of the Letterario Internazionale Camaiore Award (Italy) 2019 (received by recognized poets as Evgenij Evtusenko, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bernard Noël, Ana Blandiana, Jorge Boccanera, Ernesto Cardenal, Seamus Heaney, Homero Aridjis, Claribel Alegría or Nuno Júdice), among many other recognitions.
Author of twenty-five books of poems, the most recent being Llámenme Ismael (FOEM, 2014), The Drunkenness of God (Medio Siglo, USA, 2015), Götterdämmerung. Antología personal (El Ángel Editor, Ecuador, 2015; Praxis, Mexico, 2017), Götterdämmerung. Antologie minime (Écrits des Forges and Ministry of Culture of Jalisco, Quebec, 2015), Greetings to the Family (Vaso Roto, Spain, 2016), Voinţa luminii (CronEdit, Romania, 2017), Chiamatemi Ismaele (Fili d'Aquilone, Italy, 2019) and Enola Gay (Vaso Roto, Spain, 2019). Books and poems of his authorship have been translated into German, Arabic, Catalan, French, Galician, English, Italian, Mayan, Dutch, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian.
For his editorial work he received the Silver Pen (Patronato de las Fiestas de Octubre, Guadalajara, México) in 2006, and in 2014, the Nichita Stànescu Prize for the promotion of contemporary Romanian literature, during the Chisinev International Book Fair (Republic of Moldova). Trece mantis en un jardín germano, selection of Luis Armenta Malpica (bilingual Spanish-German edition, Mantis Editores, 2013) received the Best Book Award for Poetry 2013 during the V Independent Book Fair organized by the FCE and the AEMI in 2014. Finalist of the Caballo Verde Prize 2018, awarded to the best independent publisher in Mexico. In addition, three other books by Mantis Editores have been awarded the prestigious Sabines-Gatien Prize for poets Anthony Phelps, Louise Dupré and Paul Bélanger.
Luis Armenta Malpica
Jorge Humberto Chavez
Vice President
Jorge Humberto Chávez, Ciudad Juárez, 1959.
Studied Philosophy, Social Sciences and he’s also a poet.
His publications are:
DE 5 A 7 PM, Fonapas Nuevo León, 1980; LA OTRA CARA DEL VIDRIO, Praxis-Dosfilos, 1984; NUNCA SERA LA MEDIANOCHE, Premiá Editora, 1987; LA LLUVIA DESDE EL PUENTE, Boldó i Climent Editors, 1992; EL LIBRO DE LOS POEMAS, Co-edition Dosfilos-Ponciano Arriaga 1996; BAR PAPILLON, UNAM, Col, El Ala del Tigre, 1999; BAR PAPILLON, La sociedad de la mano fría, Corrected Edition and numbered, 2001; THE CITY AND ENDLESSS JOURNEY, Personal Anthology 1980-2000, University of Texas at San Antonio-Instituto de México, U.S.A, bilingual edition 2003; BAR PAPILLON ET LE POEME TRISTE, Écrite des Forges-Mantis Editors, bilingual edition, Quebec, 2004; ANGEL, Mantis Editors, Col. Limiar, Illustrated by Fermín Gutiérrez; ANGELO, Quaderni di Proa, Sentieri Meridiani Edizioni, Traduzione di Emilio Coco, 2011, Italy.
Special mention at the Premio Nacional de Poesía Aguascalientes in 1981. In that same year with a jury that included Alí Chumacero, Víctor Sandoval, Jaime Labastida, Juan Bañuelos and Carlos Montemayor he was awarded the Premio Nacional de Poesía Colima. Salvador Gallardo Poetry Award in 1982. Founder of the Encuentro Nacional de Escritores Tierra Adentro. Founder of the Chihuahua International Festival in Ciudad Juárez. Founder and Coordinator of the Encuentro Internacional de Escritores Literatura en el Bravo. Curator for the Festival Internacional Letras San Luis. Winner of Premio Bellas Artes de Poesía Aguascalientes 2013 granted by Hugo Gutiérrez Vega, Efraín Bartolomé and the Cuban Poet Nelson Simón with the book TE DIRÍA QUE FUÉRAMOS AL RIO BRAVO A LLORAR PERO DEBES SABER QUE YA NO HAY RÍO NI LLANTO published by the Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 2013. Reprints on 2013 and 2018. His work has been partially translated to English, French, Italian, Japanese, Arab, Portuguese and Romanian. Jorge Humberto was a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte del Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes de México (2013-2016).
His last publications are the English editions for the Premio Bellas Artes de Poesía Aguascalientes with the title I’D ASK YOU TO JOIN ME BY THE RIO BRAVO AND WEEP BUT YOU SHOULD KNOW NEITHER RIVER NO TEARS REMAIN published by Shearsman Books Ltd Bristol U.K/Vaso Roto in 2018; a corrected re-edition for the EL LIBRO DE LOS POEMAS , by the editorial seal from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, in 2018; The book CIUDAD NEGRA, ANTOLOGÍA DE POETAS DE CIUDAD JUÁREZ 1982-2012, co-edition between Bonobos Editors and the UACJ, 2018 and UN ROSARIO DE HUESOS, Col. Libro Mayor, Editions from the UAQ, May 2020. Included for second occasion to the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte de México.
He currently resides in San Luis Potosi and he’s currently a curator for the Festival Internacional de Novela Negra Huellas del Crimen.
Jorge Humberto Chavez
Mauricio Hussmann
Vice President Public Relations
Born and raised in Buenos Aires where he owned a Ladies Boutique in a fashionable avenue, studied Theatre and acting before coming to Houston in 1973. Started a restaurant career at the then very famous Brennan's, Restaurant in Downtown Houston, that ended in 1999 with the Ninfa’s restaurant chain, where he acted as, Director of training, Purchasing, and Real Estate, among other duties assigned by the President of the Company
From 1999 to 2005 was sales adviser at Advantage BMW, where he resigned being a part at a national level of the company’s Professional Sales Council.
In 2006, created with two partners and was president of Night-Bright, a company dedicated to manufacture and distribute Photoluminiscent exit signs and emergency evacuation systems, where he retired in 2012.
As a founding member of CCA, in August 2012, he now is the VP of public relations and fund raiser of the Organization.
Mauricio Hussmann
V.P. Public Relations
713-443-4407
Andrea E. Lichfield
Treasurer
Andrea Elizabeth Lichfield, was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She has a graduate degree in Business Administration and Economics.
She is an experienced financial professional and part of the Institute of Management accountants and the Houston CMA Branch. Andrea has over 8 years of experience collaborating in her field with companies from Italy, Ecuador and United States.
She also loves art, and is herself an advanced impressionist oil painter.
Andrea Elizabeth Lichfield
Jocelyne Flores
Secretary
Jocelyne Flores, Mexican, raised in Morelia, where she studied International Trading and lived for 28 years. Specialized in Supply Chain since 2016, Jocelyne worked for the movie theater industry on a multinational company based in Mexico, leading the logistic strategy for 14 countries from 2010 until 2018 before she decided to focus her logistic expertise to the humanitarian cause. She volunteered to work on a project in South Sudan with Doctors Without Borders on March 2018, implementing the supply strategy for the hospitals and clinics across the country, which was a life changing experience both personally and professionally. Jocelyne married the love of her life in 2018 and moved to Houston where she continues her studies of French and Portuguese and pursuits her dream of being a writer. Devoted reader of Latin American literature joined Casa Cultural de las Americas in 2019.
Jocelyne Flores
Secretary
Humberto Tancredi
General Coordination
Bachelor in Communications with solid experience as events coordinator, Radio and TV sales executive, radio personality in the media industry in Venezuela. Main capabilities: talent on voicing for Commercials (Radio and TV), e-learning, natural entertainer event host and master of ceremony. Skilled in Protool and Audio Vault.
Humberto Tancredi
Guiomar Barrios
Art Coordination
Born in the small town of Mariquita, Colombia, Barrios has a realistic painting style, with a specialty in murals. She is known for letting her inner talents break any boundary the canvas may have by transforming a blank space into a wonderful work of art. Barrios considers herself a self-taught artist. Through the development of her own painting style and complete originality, she is able to reflect and become inspired by elements of nature which leave her clients in awe. Through wood, fabrics, wires, and metals, Barrios is able to create wonders with a mixture of textures, colors, and emotions.
Her passion for art didn't go unnoticed and she was commissioned to paint a portrait of the President of Colombia at the time, Andres Pastrana. Barrios' art was displayed in the Orlando Museum of Art and throughout various art festivals in Florida and Georgia.
Barrios is regarded as a professional art designer that lets her paintbrush flow with her imagination as she paints to express herself with an open heart.
Guiomar Barrios
Elsa Yomaira Torres
Education Director
An intuitive, discipline, and committed professional who anticipates what no one else can imagine. Regardless of what goes right and what goes wrong, her enthusiasm and passion brings about creativity and generates excitement which leads every event or life event to success...
Elsa graduated from the University of Caracas “José María Vargas.“ She received a degree in Special Education in 1992; she worked in the education arena for the Venezuelan government for several years before emigrating to the U.S.
Elsa Torres has 12 years of experience in management, operations and event production with expertise in middle-scale event production. She studied Theater, Motion Graphics in TV/Video, Graphic Designs, and worked in the entertainment industry since 2006 in Houston. She is a Licensed Real Estate Agent and also the owner and CEO of one real estate investment company, Grand Saman Property, LLC; company founded by Elsa and her husband in 2011. She has 10 years of experience in investing, remodeling, and flipping houses in the greater Houston area. As well as helping buyers and sellers with their real estate transactions.
Helping charitable organizations to help others pursue or discover their love for art is one of her passions. Therefore, Elsa has spent more than 7 years as the Director of Events for Casa Cultural de las Americas organizing it's well-respected and well-run high-quality experience signature event, the International Literature Festival in Houston, an event that last year attracted more than 600 attendees and invited the 2010 Nobel prize recipient in Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, as the main guest.
To keep current on latest trends and technology, she continues to attend real estate and event planning related seminars and conferences. She spends her free time enjoying cooking, dancing Zumba, and walking with her daughter and husband.
Elsa Yomaira Torres
Maria Tancredi
Youth Press
Maria Tancredi is a 16 year old student at Obra D. Tompkins High School, Katy, TX 2019-2023. She is ambitious, intelligent, demanding, generous and sensitive to social causes, to which she is passionately committed. When she was very young, she emigrated with her parents to the United States and although she is very identified with the American culture, she is proud of her Latin roots. That is why she went out of her way to preserve her mother tongue: Spanish, a language that she speaks and writes as well as English.
Maria has been part of the Katy ISD School District Gifted and Talented program since she was 7 years old. In Junior High and High School she has been a member of the National Honor Society chapters at her school. She was a youth volunteer coordinator at a Foundation called “Apóyate Venezuela”, which provides logistical and educational support to Venezuelan immigrants who have just arrived in Katy, Texas.
Her sensitivity to the arts has led her to study theater and dance. She belongs to the Crimson Pride Dance Company, and the Junior National Thespian Society. She has had several public performances on various stages inside and outside the school.
For two years she was part of the editorial team of the School Yearbook, responsible for the writing, design and editing of the texts. She is currently a copywriter for various websites and social networks.
Today, Maria takes on this new challenge with great enthusiasm at Casa Cultural de las Américas, as Youth Press, a volunteer service that will be an enriching experience and a great opportunity for learning.
Maria Tancredi
Jaqueline Perez-Guevara
Ambassador of Mexico
Jaqueline Pérez-Guevara
Chihuahua, México, 1993
She studied Latin American Literature at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico
City. She obtained the State Prize for Youth in Artistic Expression, and a prize in
Queretaro, Mexico. She was Elected by Foro We as one of the 60 outstanding
young women. She has written for national and international media such as
Nexos, El Universal, Grupo Imagen, El Heraldo de Chihuahua, El Diario, Altertexto,
Punto en Línea, Harpers Bazaar and Esquire Latin America and Spain.
She was a Qualifying Jury in the Juan Rulfo National tale contest.
She has given lectures and presentations on literature and cultural management.
She had interviewed dozens of illustrious characters of art and culture with the
desire to show the world their great work.
She went to the School of El País- Autonomous University of Madrid, in Madrid,
Spain in order to complete her academic life, in addition she studied Cultural
Management at the University of Salamanca in Spain in conjunction with UNAM.
She currently writes for various media jointly she is a founding partner of Olbios
publishing house and has a cultural network called Casa Fábula.
Jaqueline Perez-Guevara