This Thursday, San Antonio’s World Heritage Center will host a discussion and book-release celebration centered around one of the city’s most ominous fables: the Donkey Lady.
The discussion will include the author, illustrator and publisher of the new children’s and young-adult book The Donkey Lady: A Graphic Parable (Aztlan Libre Press), which examines the enduring local legend of a horribly scarred woman who haunts the area around a South Side bridge.
Ask enough Alamo City residents, and you’re unlikely to receive the same version of the story twice. Some trace the woman’s origins to a grisly farm murder at the hands of her husband. Some blame a stranger in the night. Others don’t necessarily have a suspect pinned down but believe she emerged in her current form after being drowned beside her domesticated donkey.
The legend of the Donkey Lady is just as complicated as her origin story, according to the new title’s author, Carmen Tafolla, a former San Antonio and Texas Poet Laureate and the author of more than 40 books. She will be joined for Thursday’s discussion by illustrator Thelma Ortiz-Muraida and publisher Juan Tejeda.
The Donkey Lady: A Graphic Parable calls the premise of the entire legend into question. Even if La Callada is a “monstrosity,” does that necessarily make her evil? Why exactly does she haunt the bridge, and what goes unsaid in our retellings? Is she more human than we’ve been led to believe?
Selected portions of the book will be on view through Tuesday, June 2, for those who miss the discussion.
Free, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 28, World Heritage Center, 3106 Roosevelt Ave., (210) 207-2111, www.worldheritagesa.com.
Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
The screening of the film, known for its unconventional narrative approach, is part of Texas Public Radio’s Cinema Tuesdays series.
The downtown library will screen the Wes Anderson coming-of-age film for free this Tuesday — and even throw in camp-related activities.
The long-running jamband will play the San Antonio venue this Thursday.