Takeout and Talk Episode 2: Xorje Olivares and Author-Illustrator Zeke Peña Bond Over Border Stories, Desert Dreams, and Lime on Tacos
Zeke Peña is a self-described “medium lime” user. He’s in luck, then, since Taquería Lucha in Fayetteville, Arkansas, supplied him with two wedges to go alongside his order of three tacos: dos de carne asada y un de al pastor. Oh, and some frijoles because “I like to have some beans on the side,” he says.
Although it was a bit earlier in the day for me in San Francisco, I decided to join the Xicano visual storyteller for some Mexican fare. I opted for chilaquiles topped with chicken tinga from Al Carajo in the famed Mission District. It’s my first time ordering the dish since I’m typically drawn to their breakfast burrito filled with, among other things, chorizo, aguacate, and tater tots. Delicious, yes, but probably a little too difficult (not to mention unattractive) to eat on camera when meeting someone for the first time. Either way, the chilaquiles prove to be an excellent choice.
And even though it is our first-ever encounter, Peña and I are almost immediately at ease with one another. In my experience, that usually happens whenever I see another fronterizo, or US-Mexico border native.
Although Peña has spent the past five years in Arkansas, he’s originally from El Paso, Texas, which is roughly an eight-hour drive away from my hometown of Eagle Pass, Texas. Considering we both no longer live there, it’s still pretty clear that we speak the cultural language of the region that bore us. I mean, look at what we ordered - the nopal is essentially tattooed on our foreheads.
Speaking of the nopal, you can see quite a bit of it in Peña’s new book Sundust, which marks his debut as both a writer and illustrator. He’s previously illustrated a number of works, including the award-winning My Papi Has a Motorcycle and Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide. He also worked on the New York Times best-selling Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel.
But Sundust brings him back to his roots in the desert, specifically the Chihuahuan desert. I should mention that this particular desert actually encompasses El Paso, which is also known as the Sun City.
Sundust, Sun City - the connections appear both strategic and nostalgic.
“The seed of the story comes from my childhood. It comes from growing up and playing in the desert,” Peña says. “It was a special time in my life.”
It’s a time he can visualize well. He can immediately think of the aforementioned nopales, as well as the creosote bush and the distinct rock wall formations that you’re bound to encounter in the area. He says each of these images needed to be in the book.
“I wanted someone to feel their scraped knee when they looked at the rock wall.”
Altogether they serve as the backdrop for this original story which follows two siblings as they embark on a fantastical journey through the desert in pursuit of something mysterious that’s fallen from the sky. Given the sci-fi nature of the book - which is designed for kids between the ages of four and eight - there isn’t much that’s truly based on the realities of Peña’s experience. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t personal.
“It’s a book about the border - it’s a border book. But it’s a border book that doesn’t just focus on one thing. It’s a border book that doesn’t flatten my city and my people into being one thing, which is about immigration or about the border so-called ‘war,’” Peña says.
“It’s about the joy of living in the space where we live and that connection that we have to it and what it does for us culturally and as individuals. And then that beautiful special relationship that everyone on our planet has with the sun, which is, it’s the giver of life, it’s the thing that gives us energy, it’s where we come from. And so, just kind of reminiscing on that a little bit.”
And we certainly did a lot of reminiscing throughout the course of our hour-long conversation, about a time and place that feels both far removed from us and ever-present. But to be clear - Sundust is for everyone, even if they’ve never been to the border or seen tumbleweeds or dirt devils first-hand.
“It’s really just trying to offer someone an experience,” Peña says. “I’m trying to invite people to go on the walk with these two characters, and it’s as simple as that. One thing I am trying to impart is just a small reminder to dream wildly, dream absurdly and fantastically.”
Listen to the Takeout & Talk Podcast
If you enjoy Takeout & Talk, don’t miss this episode and all previous ones- new episodes release on Monday following their exclusive premiere on COCINA- on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms.