Contemporary sounds, film, dance & food at Mexican fest

Maite Junco
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, September 2nd 2009, 4:32 PM
Magos Herrera plays at Joe's Pub.
Magos Herrera plays at Joe's Pub.
Claudia Norman launched Celebrate Mexico Now! in 2004.
Claudia Norman launched Celebrate Mexico Now! in 2004.
Liza Monroy's reading of her debut novel "Mexican High" kicks off the festival on Sept. 8.
Liza Monroy's reading of her debut novel "Mexican High" kicks off the festival on Sept. 8.

In 2003, Claudia Norman was already the artistic director of the Queens Latino Cultural Festival and a series at Lincoln Center when she noticed a vacuum in Mexican-themed events in the city.

The Mexico City native held a meeting with 60 cultural institutions, from the Brooklyn Academy of Music to the defunct Carlito’s café in East Harlem, to see when they last had presented contemporary work from Mexico.

“There was a complete void,â€