NWWS “Crossing Borders: What It Means in the Life of a Child,” with keynote author Reyna Grande

Reyna Grande is the keynote author.

Browsing Room
Knight Library
1501 Kincaid St.
UO campus

5th Annual CSWS Northwest Women Writers Symposium

Friday afternoon Panel: “Crossing Borders: What It Means in the Life of a Child,” with keynote author Reyna Grande

This panel will focus on the memoir The Distance Between Us, featuring Reyna Grande reading sections from her work, with comments by community educators and University of Oregon faculty.

Reyna Grande’s novels, Across a Hundred Mountains and Dancing with Butterflies, were published to critical acclaim and have been read widely in schools across the country. In her memoir The Distance Between Us (Atria Books, 2012), Grande writes about her life before and after her undocumented border crossing as a young child from Mexico to the United States. A National Book Circle Critics Award finalist, this book was hailed by Los Angeles Times reviewer Hector Tobar as “the Angela’s Ashes of the modern Mexican immigrant experience.”

Panelists include:

• Reyna Grande, novelist and memoirist, keynote speaker.
• Moderator: Lynn Stephen, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon and co-director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS).
• Gustavo Balderas, Superintendent, Eugene School District 4J
• Lidiana Soto, UO alumna; community activist
• Carmen Urbina, Program Development and Outreach Coordinator, Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership Program, UO College of Education.

This panel will be immediately followed by a light reception. › Continue reading

Tags: Carmen Urbina, CLLAS, CSWS, Gustavo Balderas, Lynn Stephen, Reyna Grande, UO

“From Iguala to El Otro Lado: A Young Girl’s Journey to the American Dream,” NWWS Keynote Talk with author Reyna Grande

Downtown Eugene Public Library
10th and Olive
100 W. 10th St.
Eugene, OR 97401
Takes place during First Friday Art Walk
Full Schedule: 2016 CSWS Northwest Women Writers Symposium

“From Iguala to El Otro Lado: A young girl’s journey to the American Dream”

Keynote Talk with Reyna Grande followed by Q & A and book signing

Reyna Grande is an award-winning novelist and memoirist. She has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the Latino Book Award. In 2012, she was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards. Her works have been published internationally in countries such as Norway and South Korea.

Born in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, Reyna was two years old when her father left for the U.S. to find work. Her mother followed her father north two years later, leaving Reyna and her siblings behind in Mexico. In 1985, when Reyna was going on ten, she entered the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant. She later went on to become the first person in her family to graduate. After attending Pasadena City College for two years, Reyna obtained a B.A. in creative writing and film & video from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She later received her M.F.A. in creative writing from Antioch University. An active promoter of Latino literature, she is a sought-after speaker at high schools, colleges, and universities across the nation. › Continue reading

Tags: CLLAS, Crossing Borders, Northwest Women Writers Symposium, Reyna Grande, The Distance Between Us, UO

“Crossing Borders: Women’s Stories of Immigration, Migration, and Transition,” CSWS Northwest Women Writers Symposium (NWWS)

campus location: Knight Library, Browsing Rm
community location: downtown Eugene Public Library

For more complete information on this two-day series of events, go to: 5th annual CSWS Northwest Women Writers Symposium: “Crossing Borders: Women’s Stories of Immigration, Migration, and Transition”

Reyna Grande is the keynote author.

The fifth annual CSWS Northwest Women Writers Symposium will be held Friday, May 6, 2016, through Sunday, May 8, 2016. American Book Award winner Reyna Grande is the keynote author. This year’s theme is “Crossing Borders: Women’s Stories of Immigration, Migration, and Transition.” This theme promises to open conversations about border politics; poverty; racism and xenophobia; climate change; ongoing effects of colonialism and genocide; family dynamics; agricultural patterns and enslavement; overpopulation; human migratory patterns; fleeing war and abuse; moving on. How have our migrations and moves contributed to or instigated our writings? What do we move away from, and what do we go toward? What are the historical, political, and personal currents that influence our transitions—from one country to another, from one state to another, from city to country, from mountains to sea, from one marriage or partnership to another, from one career to another, from one self-view to another? “Crossing Borders” is a multi-layered theme that will open the door to fruitful discussions of craft, creativity, challenges of survival, making room for others, and community.

Hosted by the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon in cooperation with Eugene Pubic Library, this symposium is generously cosponsored by Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies; Department of Women’s and Gender Studies; Department of English; School of Journalism and Communication; UO Libraries; and the University Health Center.

Keynote speaker: Reyna Grande

The Distance Between Us (Atria, 2012), finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009)
Across a Hundred Mountains (Atria Press, 2006), winner of an American Book Award
From her website: http://reynagrande.com/ › Continue reading

Tags: Crossing Borders, Northwest Women Writers Symposium, Reyna Grande, UO