January 20, 2005

Media Contacts:
Monica Arciga
(858)534-6050
marciga@ucsd.edu

Poet and Professor Juan Felipe Herrera, will be the featured artist in a workshop aimed at middle school and high school teachers and librarians on Saturday, January 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Institute of the Americas Complex on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. The free program is presented by the UCSD Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies and sponsored by a grant from the US Department of Education.

Juan Felipe Herrera will present the poetry of eight major Latin American poets and in some cases artist-poets (Neruda, Parra, Dalton, Vallejo, Castellanos, Borges, Agustini & Kahlo). This workshop will benefit teachers with students that experience "writing burn," and would rather avoid poetry, creative writing and writing in general. The workshop includes a presentation by PhD candidates Ashley Lucas and Marissa Raigoza on Latino Performance and Practice in the U.S.

Juan Felipe Herrera is Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. During the last three decades Professor Herrera has received numerous awards and fellowships including two National Endowment for the Arts Writers' Fellowships, four California Arts Council grants, two Latino Hall of Fame Poetry Awards, and the Américas Award. In the last decade Herrera has authored fourteen collections of poetry, prose, short stories, young adult novels and picture books for children.

Those interested may reserve a seat by sending an email to Monica Arciga, marciga@ucsd.edu, or by phoning (858) 534-6050.