| NEWS RELEASE |
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Office of External Communications |
Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Angie Joe |
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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.
For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom. |
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