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PHARR — Viola Canales stood before a room full of admirers here Wednesday morning.

Many held copies of her award winning book, “The Tequila Worm,” eagerly anticipating their chance to meet Canales and have their books signed.

After a brief introduction, Canales read an excerpt from her first book, “Orange Candy Slices: And Other Secret Tales.” The book, which was published in 2001, is a collection of stories that details the vibrant culture familiar to anyone who grew up near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The story she read, “The Panadería,” is a somber tale about a community uniting through its shared love of pan dulce in the wake of a tragedy.

For Canales, who was born and raised in McAllen and is currently a lecturer at Stanford Law School, the stories carry a much deeper meaning. She told the crowd that there is a need for more storytellers from border communities — a need that is rooted in passing on cultural traditions to future generations.

“I teach a creative writing course about law and the importance of literature and telling your stories,” Canales told the crowd. “What I tell the students is that every one of them is unique, and they can tell a story that no one else can tell. It’s very important to look inwards, to look at our ancestors, our memories, versus looking out every day, especially during this time when everything seems bien crazy.”

“Instead of fear or trauma, we need to tell our stories, not only to ourselves, but to each other.”

Canales’ visit to the Pharr Memorial Library was part of an effort to promote literacy in the community.

Pharr Library Director Adolfo Garcia said that the event was a collaboration between local libraries and PSJA ISD.

“We brought her down so she could explain how to write a story,” Garcia said. “By getting together, with pan dulce, everybody is able to tell the story of how they grew up. Where there’s pan dulce, there’s stories.”

The topic of pan dulce was used as a prompt to inspire those in attendance to create their own stories. Through the shared experience of gathering with friends and family over the Mexican sweet bread, Garcia said that he hoped to spark an interest in writing stories.

“It means the world because we know that there’s an interest in writing, and there’s an interest in bringing authors like Viola Canales down,” he said. “Hopefully people will get inspired to write their stories and be like Viola Canales, and then they’ll come to our libraries and tell their stories.”

Nora Alicia Galvan, the adult literacy coordinator for PSJA ISD, helped bring Canales to Pharr. She said that she developed a friendship with Canales during her previous tenure as the school district’s library director.

It was then that she noticed an interest among her students for Canales’ book, “The Tequila Worm.”

“She’s just very delightful,” Galvan said. “She really captivates the audience very well. I think I know how to choose my authors, and she is one of my favorite authors. Her books are amazing, and they talk about our culture here in the Valley.”

Many in attendance Wednesday are members of the school district’s literacy program. She said that she hoped being able to listen to Canales speak could help those individuals by inspiring them to tell their own stories.

With Canales, Galvan started an initiative to cultivate stories written by participants of her program for a future collection to be published.

“Hopefully we can continue to get our kids, our population here in the Valley, to read,” Galvan said. “There’s a lot of illiteracy here.”

She has collected nearly two dozen stories, each one describing how pan dulce has been a part of their lives and the culture.

“They need to tell their stories,” she said. “They need to do something so they can continue that trend with their children and get them to understand where they came from.”

During the event, Canales also read an excerpt from a new book she is working on that was inspired by the trial involving the Los Fresnos bakers who were accused of harboring people in the country illegally.

The story is told from the perspective of different types of pan dulce who are giving testimony in support of a panaderia. The excerpt she read featured an empanada de calabaza talking to a judge.

“Your honor, I am not the most famous. I do not sparkle. But I am tender. And I hold within me the sacred task of carrying the flavor of those we love,” she read. “Mary’s Bakery doesn’t just make pan dulce, they preserve legacy. They give people a way to grieve, a way to remember, a way to say goodbye without letting go. So yes, I crumble a little when warm, but sometimes that’s what healing looks like.”

Some in attendance wiped tears as Canales read. When she finished, she invited members of the crowd to take the mic and tell their stories. One by one, many jumped at the opportunity.

Afterward, Canales said that she could feel the excitement in the room, a clear indication that there is an interest in the stories and a community eager to engage in local literature.

“I’m looking forward to a renaissance in the Valley,” Canales said. “Sometimes in the darkest places, with all the stuff going on with immigration, you get the renaissance and the light. I think that people felt energized with the bread because it went into their past and their ancestors.

“I think that we know we have to take responsibility and start making the merienda, start having the family gatherings, and start making pan dulce,” she continued. “Our parents used to do that, and now we have to carry forth.”

She said that she is looking forward to working with Galvan in capturing stories from the community for the anthology. Seeing the joy and excitement from members of the crowd in telling their stories, she said that she feels hopeful for the project.

“We want to increase those stories and make them louder and really take charge of our culture again, through stories, through our ancestors, through our pictures, through our art, through our dancing, through our music,” she said. “We need to supplant this fear and trauma that’s going on with politics, with joy and with laughter and with community.”

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