Luis Alberto Urrea to Speak at Santa Barbara Writers Conference From: independent.com

There was a lot that made you love San Diego in the early ’90s. And then there were Luis Alberto Urrea’s essays in the Reader. His gritty accounts of border life offered a shock-and-awe contrast to the idyllic existence north of the border. In his descriptions of the dumps, orphanages, and police precincts of Tijuana, Urrea revealed the harsh reality that resided right on our doorstep even before border books came into vogue. He has since gone on to publish his expressive voice in all literary forms. His last two books — The Devil’s Highway, a real-life account of a border crossing, and the mystically intoxicating novel, The Hummingbird’s Daughter — have secured his place among the finest contemporary writers in the nation.”*

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