Bilingual Latino Literature conference to feature public readings by acclaimed writers, poets – UCSC campus November 6-8

A distinguished group of writers, editors, scholars, and publishers will converge on the UCSC campus November 6-8, for a bilingual conference on Latino Literature.

In addition to a series of academic panels, the conference will feature eight noted writers and poets who will read from their works in two evening sessions–Thursday and Friday, November 6 and 7–at the UCSC Humanities Lecture Hall beginning at 7 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Guest authors and poets appearing at the conference will include:

Daniel Alarcón: award-winning fiction writer and essayist. His most recent novel, Lost City Radio, was named a “Best Book of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times and several other publications; he is also the editor of the Lima-based Etiqueta Negra, a cross-border print/online literary journal.

Héctor Tobar: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the LA Times ( and a UCSC alumnus ). He is the author of the novel The Tattooed Soldier ( Penguin ) and the nonfiction book Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identity in the Spanish-Speaking United States.

Achy Obejas: fiction and poetry writer. She is the author of the short story collection We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?, the novels Memory Mambo, and Days of Awe, as well as a new poetry collection. Objeas edited the volume Havana Noir, and is also translating Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer-Prize winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Brenda Cárdenas: Chicago-based Chicana poet and performer. Her most recent chapbook is From the Tongues of Brick and Stone.

Luis Cortés Bargalló: poet and translator based in Baja California. He is co-editor of the two-volume bilingual poetry anthology Connecting Lines/Líneas Conectadas co-sponsored by the NEA and UNAM.

Dagoberto Gilb: acclaimed fiction writer ( The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña; Woodcuts of Women; The Flowers ), essayist ( Gritos ), and anthologist ( Hecho en Tejas: An Anthology of Texas Mexican Literature ).

Marc David Pinate: poet, playwright, and community activist. He is currently program manager at Galería de la Raza in San Francisco and is the co-founder and front man-poet of Grito Serpentino, a spoken word and music ensemble with a high profile in the slam poetry scene.

Cristina Rivera Garza: one of the leading novelists in Mexico. She is the author of the prizewinning Nadie me verá llorar, translated as No One Will See Me Cry, as well as short story and poetry collections.

Designed to explore the variety and diversity of Latino literature, the conference will also feature a lunch workshop on November 8 with secondary school teachers.

Panel discussions with writers, scholars, and librarians will take place on Friday, Nov. 7, from 9:30 am to 4 pm and on Saturday Nov. 8, from 10 am to 12:30 p.m. at UCSC’s Namaste Lounge ( Colleges 9 and 10 ).

For more information and a complete schedule of conference events, go to the Conference web site.

The conference is sponsored by the Latino Literary Cultures Project/Proyecto culturas literarias latinas, an initiative of UCSC’s Chicano/Latino Research Center ( CLRC ), with support from UC MEXUS, the Puknat Endowment of the Literature Department, El Centro/Chicano Latino Resource Center, Cowell, Kresge, Merrill, Oakes, and Stevenson Colleges, Colleges 9 and 10, and the American Studies and Latin American and Latino Studies Departments.”

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