Friday, September 19, 2003
Acclaimed author to speak at USI
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A best-selling author will speak at University of Southern Indiana October 2 as part of the University Core Curriculum’s Diversity Series. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, whose debut novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club, spawned a bidding war between major publishing houses before hitting the New York Times Bestseller List, will present “Breaking Stereotypes of Latina Women” as part of USI’s celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The program will begin at 7 p.m. in Mitchell Auditorium in the Health Professions Center. It is free and open to the public. Valdes-Rodriguez’s critically acclaimed novel follows six upwardly-mobile Latina friends from varied Hispanic backgrounds who meet regularly to discuss the pressures of life and the complications of love, careers, and friendship. Named one of Pages Magazine’s most promising new novelists of 2003, the New York Times heralded Valdes-Rodriguez as “the Latina Terry McMillan.” Publishers Weekly recognized The Dirty Girls Social Club as one of the hottest debut novels of 2002, and Latina Magazine named Valdes-Rodriguez one of 11 women of the year. The film rights for Dirty Girls have been optioned by Sony/Columbia Pictures with Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina, and Laura Ziskin producing. The daughter of a Cuban father and Irish-American mother, Valdes-Rodriguez is a native and resident of Albuquerque, N.M. She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, taught at University of California-Los Angeles and University of New Mexico, covered the Spanish-language music industry for the Los Angeles Times, and worked as a staff writer for the Boston Globe. She also studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and has already completed a second novel about a young female jazz saxophonist. Valdes-Rodriguez’s presentation is a part of the University’s first campus-wide diversity series called THREADS: Teaching Human Respect & Encouraging Action Diversity Series. Additional information about Valdes-Rodriguez is available on the Web: www.alisavaldesrodriguez.com. |
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