Literacy returns to Sam Houston State. The departments of English and Foreign Languages are co-sponsoring a public reading by Angie Cruz today at 12 p.m. in Austin Hall.
Angie Cruz is the author of two books, Let it Rain Coffee and Soledad. In addition to her novels, she has had numerous publications, both fiction and nonfiction, in the New York Times. She is a native of New York of Dominican descent.
Cruz will visit Dr. Shemak’s Studies in World Fiction class and Dr. Kaukonen’s creative writing classes.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to bring living, breathing, publishing writers to campus to allow our students to hear other perspectives on the art and craft of fiction writing, and to serve as inspiration,” Kaukonen said. “It can be a difficult road to publishing and a career as a fiction writer (or a poet), but it can be done.”
Cruz is currently an assistant professor for Texas A&M’s English program. Her current project is a screen adaptation for her novel, Soledad, which has already been optioned by Nueva York Productions.
Bringing Cruz to SHSU provides the perfect opportunity for students to connect with a writer whose work they are reading, who deals with global issues and immigration, but who is also right here in Texas,” Shemak said.
Cruz graduated from the New York University MFA program and has contributed numerous fiction and non-fiction works to The New York Times, Latina Magazine, and Callaloo. She was awarded the Camargo Fellowship, New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship, and the Barbara Deming Fund for Women.
This event is open to all students and faculty of Sam Houston State University. Several professors are offering extra credit for attendance.