Wednesday, November 21, 6pm
Bellas Artes, Hernandez Macias 75
English with Spanish Supertitles
sanmiguelpen@gmail.com
$150

The Two Reynas: from Immigration to Transformation - talk

By Signe Hammer

Reyna Grande crossed the US border from México as an undocumented child, but her most astonishing journey was that from immigrant to author. She was only nine years old when, in 1985, she left her hometown of Iguala, Guerrero (where 43 college students disappeared in 2014) and headed north to Los Angeles to live with her father, who had left México when she was two. Once in LA, Grande discovered that her longed-for father was alcoholic and frequently abusive.

Outside the home, Grande faced all the difficulties of living between two cultures. As she puts it, “she was made to feel ashamed of who she was: a Mexican immigrant, a border-crosser, a Spanish speaker.” Growing up “torn between two cultures and two countries,” she endured “constant rejections from both US society and her Mexican community for not being American or Mexican enough,” Grande says. Not surprisingly, all this created conflicting feelings about her split identity and her place in the world.

Nevertheless, she went on to become the first in her family to graduate from college. A sympathetic teacher introduced her to the work of Sandra Cisneros and other Latina writers, and she began to win writing prizes. Eventually, she found her way as an author of both fiction and memoir and not only joined but also taught at the seminal Macondo Writers’ Workshop founded by Cisneros.

Grande’s transformation from undocumented immigrant to award-winning author, finally finding a place to call home, is the subject of her new memoir, A Dream Called Home, and of her talk at the Bellas Artes auditorium on Wednesday, November 21, at 6pm. She will speak in English with Spanish translation in supertitles. Copies of her books will be available for sale, and there will be signing after the lecture.

Grande has received awards from both sides of the cultural divide, including an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the International Latino Book Award. Her first, bestselling memoir, The Distance Between Us, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is currently at work on her third novel, set during the Mexican-American War.

San Miguel PEN is a chapter of PEN International, the organization of writers that fights for freedom of expression around the world. The 150 pesos admission helps fund local activities. Feel free to join us at dinner afterwards at Vivali, across the street at Hernandez Macias 66. Tickets available at Ticket Central in the Biblioteca or at the door. For more information, visit sanmiguelpen.com.