The Center for Literary Arts 2013-2014 Season

FALL 2013

Aleksandar Hemon September 18, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, MLK 225/229 September 19, 1pm – In Conversation with Peter Orner, MLK 225/229

Aleksandar Hemon is the author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and a collection of autobiographical essays, The Book of My Lives, published in 2013. Editor of the Best European Fiction anthology, he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” and has been a finalist for the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. Born in Sarajevo, Hemon came to the U.S. in 1992, just as that city came under siege. He has lived in Chicago ever since.

Sandra Tsing Loh October 14, 8pm – Porchlight @ Litquake, Verdi Club, San Francisco October 15, 3pm – Mt. Pleasant High School October 15, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, VENUE TBA

Sandra Tsing Loh is the author of Mother on Fire, a New York Times Notable Book inspired by her hit solo show of the same name, three other books of nonfiction, and a novel, If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home by Now, named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the 100 best fiction books of 1998. A regular commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition and This American Life, Loh is contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly and was named one of the fifty most influential comedians by Variety.

Co-sponsored by Litquake

Tom Barbash October 30, 3pm – Mt. Pleasant High School October 30, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, MLK 225/229

Tom Barbash is the author of the novel, The Last Good Chance, winner of the California Book Award, and the nonfiction book On Top of the World: Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, and 9/11, a New York Times bestseller. His stories and articles have appeared in The Best American Non-Required Reading, Tin House, Bookforum, and The Believer, and have been performed on NPR’s “Selected Shorts.” His new story collection, Stay Up with Me, will be published in September, 2013.

Barbara Jane Reyes The James D. Houston Memorial Lecture November 20, 3pm – Mt. Pleasant High School November 20, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, MLK 225/229

Barbara Jane Reyes is the author of Diwata, winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry and finalist for the California Book Award. Born in the Philippines and raised in the Bay Area, she is the author of two previous collections of poetry and three chapbooks, and co-editor of Doveglion Press. Reyes teaches in the University of San Francisco’s Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program and serves on the board of Philippine American Writers and Artists. She lives in Oakland.

The 2013-2014 Steinbeck Fellows December 4, 7pm – Reading and Discussion, MLK 225/229

Join the CLA and the Steinbeck Center for readings by this year’s Steinbeck Fellows, Vanessa Hua, Tommy Mouton, and Dallas Woodburn.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Steinbeck Studies

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SPRING 2014

Cristina García The Martha Heasley Cox Lecture February 5, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, SJSU University Theatre February 6, 1pm – In Conversation with Andrew Sean Greer, MLK 225/229 February 6, 3pm – Mt. Pleasant High School

Cristina García is the author of six novels, including King of Cuba, published in 2013; The Agüero Sisters, winner of the Janet Heidiger Kafka Prize; and Dreaming in Cuban, finalist for the National Book Award. She has written three books for young readers, and a collection of poetry, The Lesser Tragedy of Death, and edited the anthologies Bordering Fires and Cubanísimo. Born in Havana and raised in New York City, García is a former bureau chief for Time Magazine and the winner of a Whiting Writers Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, and the Northern California Book Award. She lives in Northern California.

Co-sponsored by the SJSU Department of World Languages & Literatures

D. A. Powell The Lewandowski Family Poet February 19, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, MLK 225/229

D. A. Powell’s fifth collection of poetry, Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys, won the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award. His previous books include Cocktails and Chronic, both finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. His honors include the Kingsley Tufts Prize in Poetry, the California Book Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the N.E.A. A former Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard, Powell teaches at the University of San Francisco.

Co-sponsored by Graywolf Press

Rabih Alameddine April 8, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, MLK 225/229

Rabih Alameddine is the author of The Hakawati, published in ten languages, which The Wall Street Journal called “a new Arabian Nights,” as well as two previous novels and the story collection, The Perv. Born in Jordan to Lebanese parents, he trained as an engineer before moving to painting and writing; in 2002, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Alameddine’s latest novel, An Unnecessary Woman, will be published in the U.S. in early 2014.

Joy Harjo April 23, 7pm – Reading and Book Signing, MLK 225/229 April 24, 3pm – Mt. Pleasant High School

Joy Harjo is a member of the Muskoke (Creek) Nation. She has written seven books of poetry, including She Had Some Horses and The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, two books for children, and a memoir, Crazy Brave, published in 2012. Winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas, a United States Artists award, and the William Carlos Williams Award, she teaches in the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Illinois.