CREATIVE WRITING PROF AT UH PROMOTES
CITY-WIDE READING, DISCUSSION PROGRAM
A Creative Writing Program professor at the University of Houston
is trying to get the whole city on the same page.
Ruben Martínez’s “Crossing Over: A Mexican Family
on the Migrant Trail” was selected by the Houston Public Library
(HPL) for the third annual city-wide reading program Books on the
Bayou: Houston Reads Together. The goal is to have the entire city
read it at the same time, provoking discussion among co-workers,
friends, families and classrooms.
One of several events held in conjunction with Books on the Bayou,
UH is sponsoring an interactive web chat and webcast with Martinez
2 p.m., Monday, Sept. 27. To access the online discussion, go to
http://www.uh.edu/streaming/uhchat/streamchat.htm.
The UH campus community is invited to attend the event in the Technology
Support Services suite in the basement of M.D. Anderson Library.
The entrance is on the east (back) side of the library near the
University Center. Limited seating is available.
Copies of “Crossing Over” are available in English
and Spanish. HPL customers can check out the book or visit www.houstonlibrary.org
to place it on hold at any of its 36 branch locations. Local bookstores
are also offering copies at a discount.
Martínez, Emmy Award-winning journalist, author, and musician,
is the first holder of the Mexican American Chair in Creative Writing
at UH. “Crossing Over” is a story of the Chavez family
and the people of Cherán, Mexico, a small town in the state
of Michoacan, detailing their lives in two countries. The Chicago
Tribune says, “To read ‘Crossing Over’ is to read
not the history of the foreign other, but to read the story of America.
. . . [Martínez] has depicted a deep enduring commonality
that may change the way we understand immigration.”
His other books include “The New Americans, Eastside Stories”
and “The Other Side: Notes from the New L.A., Mexico City
and Beyond.” His articles have appeared in many publications,
including The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and he has been
a guest commentator on ABC’s “Nightline,” NPR’s
“All Things Considered” and CNN. A talented musician,
Martínez is at work on a solo album.
Books on the Bayou: Houston Reads Together has been funded by the
Brown Foundation, the Cullen Foundation and the Fondren Foundation.
WHO: |
Ruben Martínez, author and Creative Writing
Program professor |
WHAT: |
Interactive web chat and webcast
http://www.uh.edu/streaming/uhchat/streamchat.htm |
WHY: |
Discussion about Books on the Bayou selection “Crossing
Over” |
WHEN: |
2 p.m., Monday, Sept. 27 |
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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