Novelist Hinojosa to Participate in Event for Local Latin Writers

Novelist Hinojosa to Participate in Event for Local Latin Writers

RICE NEWS

April 1, 1999

Rolando Hinojosa, a leading Hispanic novelist whose memorable characters often populate a fictional county in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, will read from his works and interact with students at Rice on April 14.

Hinojosa, the Ellen Clayton Garwood Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Texas-Austin, will be joined by local writers celebrating the one-year anniversary of “Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say.” Nuestra Palabra is Houston’s first regular reading series for Latino writers. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, in Hamman Hall. It is sponsored by Rice University and the Robert Foster Cherry Endowment.

“Along with Tomas Rivera and Rudolfo Anaya, Rolando Hinojosa will always be remembered as having written literature for ‘la causa,’ for the Chicano Movement, for all those writers yet unborn, who would some day need somebody’s shoulders to stand on,” said Jose Aranda, a Rice assistant English professor. “Fortunately for us all, his shoulders have only gotten stronger over the years.”

Hinojosa will read pieces from his works, including the short story “The Gulf Oil-Can Santa Claus,” “A Remembrance of My Father,” and “The Old Man.” After each reading he will take questions from the audience.

“I’m pretty wide open–no agendas,” the novelist said. “I try to inspire [students] to write and to read more. I could not have written this material if I had not come from a family of readers.”

Hinojosa is the author of numerous works of fiction, including “Estampas del Valle,” his first novel and the winner of the Premio Quinto Sol Best Novel for 1972. His second book, “Klail City y sus alrededores,” received the Casa de Las Americas Novela award in 1976. “Dear Rafe” won the Best Writing in the Southwest award in 1981. His most recent work published in 1998 is titled “Ask a Policeman.”

He is a member of the National Research Council and a member of the College Board. He has been a member of the National Faculty since 1988. He served as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California-Los Angeles in 1981 and at the University of Kansas in 1997.

Other writers participating in the event are Tony Diaz, founder of Nuestra Palabra; Carolina Monsivais, a poet from the Latina Coalition; Alvaro Saar Rio, a fiction writer and actor; Sylvia Erhert, a poet; Sheldon Martinez from Writing About Reality; Sarah Cortez, a poet and a 1972 Rice alum; and Russel Contreras, a journalist.