Writer José Olivarez to present reading and workshop
Writer José Olivarez will read from his debut book of poems, "Citizen Illegal," and will present a writing workshop as part of the College of Lake County Reading Series on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
The workshop will be from 3-4:30 p.m. in Room T347, and the reading begins at 7 p.m. in Room A013, A Wing Conference Center, at CLC's Grayslake Campus. Both events are free.
Chicago author Kathleen Rooney, writing in the Chicago Tribune, has high praise for "Citizen Illegal," which was released in September by Haymarket Books.
"Olivarez's indispensable debut poetry collection, 'Citizen Illegal,' is a boisterous, empathetic, funny-yet-serious (but not self-serious) celebratory ode to Chicanx life in the contemporary United States," Rooney wrote.
The son of Mexican immigrants, Olivarez is the co-author of the book of poems "Home Court" and co-host of the poetry podcast "The Poetry Gods." A recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, Poets House, the Bronx Council on the Arts, the Poetry Foundation and the Conversation Literary Festival, his work has been published in several media. They include the BreakBeat Poets, Adroit Journal, The Rumpus and Hyperallergic. Olivarez lives in Chicago. Read more about him at www.joseolivarez.com.
At the afternoon workshop, participants will write poems that use interruptions and unreliable narrators in order to get closer to the truth.
For information, contact Kathy Kusiak, English professor, at (847) 543-2962 or kusiak@clcillinois.edu. The events are presented by CLC's Communication Arts, Humanities and Fine Arts division.
For more information about the College of Lake County, visit www.clcillinois.edu.
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