FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

March 25, 2008

WRITERS@GRINNELL SERIES HOSTS TWO APRIL EVENTS

GRINNELL, IA.--Grinnell College’s Writers@Grinnell program will continue in April with readings by distinguished author Ana Castillo and disability writers Steve Kuusisto and Kenny Fries.

On April 10, Castillo will read from her latest novel, "The Guardians," about growing up in a New Mexico border town. A celebrated poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist, Castillo is considered one of the leading voices for Chicana experience. Her many awards include the American Book Award for "The Mixquiahuala Letters," the Carl Sandburg Award, the Independent Publisher Storyteller of the Year Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in fiction and poetry.

On April 17, non-fiction writer Kuusisto and poet Fries will present as part of an ongoing disability awareness series. Kuusisto, who has been blind since birth, will read from his book "Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening." He holds a dual faculty appointment at the University of Iowa where he teaches courses in creative nonfiction and serves as a public humanities scholar in the Carver Institute for Macular Degeneration.

Fries, who teaches in the creative writing program at Goddard College, will read from his most recent book, "The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin’s Theory." Fries has lectured across the country about serving those with physical and learning disabilities and been a guest on radio and TV shows about his own experiences.

The April readings, which conclude the Writers@Grinnell program for this academic year, will be held in the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101, at 8 p.m. on the Grinnell College campus. More information about the Writers@Grinnell program is available at http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/english/creative/conference/.

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