Wells College will feature award-winning novelist Helena Maria Viramontes as a guest speaker for the college's visiting writer series.
Viramontes, a professor of creative writing at Cornell University, will be speaking about her book “Their Dogs Came with Them,” which describes the lives of several young Latina women caught up in east Los Angeles gangs during the construction of the freeway system that divided several neighborhoods.
“In the novel, she is trying to bring to life the people of east Los Angeles from the 1960s to the present,” said Professor Cynthia Garret, who helped organize the event. “She portrays the homeless and the immigrants and brings the readers inside their experiences.”
Viramontes, who won the John Dos Passos Prize for literature for her book “Under the Feet of Jesus,” will also be helping students develop their skills in a writing workshop, Garret said.
Viramontes, who graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a master's degree in the fine arts writing program, had a chance to attend a workshop and learn from another prize-winning novelist. As part of the program at Irvine, Viramontes received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to attend a workshop with Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982.
The visiting novelist program, which is made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, invites eight to 10 poets, fiction and nonfiction writers a year to present readings from their work.
Students often read a poet or novelist's work in class before participating in workshops hosted by the speaker throughout the day.
“We want to introduce the students to various writers, meet the writers and talk to them about their methods,” Garret said.
Past speakers have included poet XJ Kennedy and novelist Dorothy Allison.
While turnout for the speakers varies, Garret said she expects Viramontes to bring a big drawing of people from both on and off campus. Some speakers have appealed more to college students while writers such as Kennedy appeal to the whole community, causing a large attendance.
Anyone who comes will have a chance to enjoy some light refreshments and meet with Viramontes at a reception preceding the reading.
Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net
If you go
What: Wells College Visiting Writers Series featuring Helena Viramontes
When: Reception at 7 and reading at 7:30 tonight
Where: Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall, Wells College
Cost: Free
Info: Call Cynthia Garret at 364-3250
“In the novel, she is trying to bring to life the people of east Los Angeles from the 1960s to the present,” said Professor Cynthia Garret, who helped organize the event. “She portrays the homeless and the immigrants and brings the readers inside their experiences.”
Viramontes, who won the John Dos Passos Prize for literature for her book “Under the Feet of Jesus,” will also be helping students develop their skills in a writing workshop, Garret said.
Viramontes, who graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a master's degree in the fine arts writing program, had a chance to attend a workshop and learn from another prize-winning novelist. As part of the program at Irvine, Viramontes received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to attend a workshop with Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982.
The visiting novelist program, which is made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, invites eight to 10 poets, fiction and nonfiction writers a year to present readings from their work.
Students often read a poet or novelist's work in class before participating in workshops hosted by the speaker throughout the day.
“We want to introduce the students to various writers, meet the writers and talk to them about their methods,” Garret said.
Past speakers have included poet XJ Kennedy and novelist Dorothy Allison.
While turnout for the speakers varies, Garret said she expects Viramontes to bring a big drawing of people from both on and off campus. Some speakers have appealed more to college students while writers such as Kennedy appeal to the whole community, causing a large attendance.
Anyone who comes will have a chance to enjoy some light refreshments and meet with Viramontes at a reception preceding the reading.
Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net
If you go
What: Wells College Visiting Writers Series featuring Helena Viramontes
When: Reception at 7 and reading at 7:30 tonight
Where: Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall, Wells College
Cost: Free
Info: Call Cynthia Garret at 364-3250
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