With his lush family saga, recounted in his novels The Hummingbird’s Daughter and Queen of America, Luis Urrea has vividly brought the story of his ancestor Teresita Urrea to life. Spanning two centuries and ranging from a magical, rural Mexican village to 20th-century Manhattan, these books define not only Urrea’s career but also the remarkable diversity of Latino/Latina fiction in America. In this program, Urrea, as the genre’s established voice, introduces with excitement Cristina Henriquez, whose fiction brims with promise. For Henriquez, the Latina experience is one of dualism, rooted both in her father's native Panama and in the United States. In both the novel The World in Half and the story collection Come Together, Fall Apart, she plumbs Panamanians and Panamanian-Americans’ perspectives with nuance and grace. Join Urrea and Henriquez for a wide-ranging conversation that will absorb writers and readers alike.
This program is presented in partnership with the UIC Institute for the Humanities and the Writing Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
