Reyna Grande: From Immigration to Transformation | PEN International San Miguel Center

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  • PEN International San Miguel Center Presents:
    Reyna Grande: From Immigration to Transformation

    Wed Nov 21 2018 at 06:00 pm

    Palacio De Bellas Artes


    The Two Reynas: From Immigration to Transformation

    Reyna Grande crossed the US border from Mexico 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 Mexico when she was two. (It’s worth noting that, were this crossing to take place today, Reyna, her two siblings and their father, who took them across the border, would very likely end up in indefinite detention, if not immediately deported.)

    Once in LA, Grande discovered that her longed-for father was alcoholic and frequently abusive. And he lived with a new partner. Reyna’s mother, who had followed him to LA two years after he left, had returned to Mexico.

    Outside the house Reyna faced all the difficulties of living between two cultures. As she puts it—particularly poignantly, given the current US administration’s demonization of Mexicans—“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.” 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 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. Copies of her books will be available for sale and signing after the lecture.

    Reyna 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.

    In English with Spanish Supertitles. Admission: 150 peso contribution.


    PEN International San Miguel Center

    The San Miguel de Allende, Mexico centre of PEN International, a worldwide association of writers fighting for freedom of expression


    San Miguel PEN, one of the 145 centers of PEN International, the worldwide association of writers with centers in 104 countries, exists to promote friendship and intellectual cooperation among writers everywhere, fight for freedom of expression and represent the conscience of world literature. San Miguel PEN is in San Miguel de Allende, in the middle of Mexico on the high plateau. It was created in 1979 as a center for English-speaking writers in Latin America in hopes of unifying the English and Spanish linguistic communities within PEN. San Miguel PEN promotes the Spanish language in all its work.

    Our Programs:

    The PEN Writers in Prison Committee has been a focus of the San Miguel center for over 20 years. In 2002 San Miguel hosted the PEN Writers in Prison Committee’s international conference. This work involves answering countless calls for emergency action to aid those in legal trouble for their writing, including prison and threats of death. San Miguel PEN is also active in International PEN’s Women Writers Committee, its Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee, and the PEN Iberoamerican Foundation (a regional organization). San Miguel PEN sponsors local literary programs and a local scholarship program that helps Mexican children with limited financial resources stay in school. It participates in major Mexican literary events, such as the enormous yearly Feria Internacional del Libro in Guadalajara. PEN members travel at their own expense to represent the group at the United Nations and at international conferences. San Miguel PEN sponsors an annual Winter Lecture Series to fund local activities and help support the international organization. Contact us HERE.

    Mailing Address:
    San Miguel PEN Center Apdo. 287 37700 San Miguel de Allende, GTO Mexico
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