‘Voices in the Monte’ Returns to TAMIU Wednesday, April 4

The Voices in the Monte Writers Series will take place at Texas A&M International University Wednesday, April 4, 2007.

This event is free of charge and open to the public. It is part of the ongoing celebration of the Smithsonian Institute’s Exhibition, “Our Journeys, Our Stories,” at the TAMIU Student Center through May 12, 2007.

Featured writer is Dagoberto Gilb, who was born and raised in Los Angeles but spent many years in El Paso, Texas. His novel, “The Flowers,” is due out in the fall with Grove Press, and he edited the just released “Hecho en Tejas: Anthology of Texas Mexican Literature.”

His previous books are “Gritos,” an essay collection that was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; “Woodcuts of Women,” “The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuna,” and “The Magic of Blood,” the winner of the 1994 PEN/Hemingway Award and a PEN Faulkner finalist. Anthologized widely, his fiction and nonfiction has appeared in a variety of magazines including The New Yorker, Harper’s, Threepenny Review, Latina, and The Texas Observer.

Gilb spent most of his adult years as a construction worker and journeyman high-rise carpenter with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. He now lives in Austin, Texas, and teaches in the MFA program at Texas State University in San Marcos.

A “Talk on Craft,” “The Strange Journey of a High-Rise Carpenter who Became a Published Writer,” will be held Wednesday, April 4 at 11 a.m. at the Student Center, room 236. A reading and book signing will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Western Hemispheric Trade Center (WHTC), room 116.

The Smithsonian’s Exhibition, its national tour and related programs are made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund. Ford Motor Company Fund has also provided support for its presentation in Laredo and for related educational programs like “The Voices in the Monte Writers Series.”

For additional information on Dagoberto Gilb’s visit, contact Randy Koch, Director of the Writing Center,Cowart Hall 203D at 956.326.2885 or e-mail rkoch@tamiu.edu

University office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

-- This story  by Seymour Walker, Student Intern Volunteer

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu