News Releases

January 26, 2009
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Alberto Rios. Photo: Lupita Barron-RiosPOET  AND  AUTHOR  ALBERTO  RÍOS  COMES  TO  CALGARY  AS  THE  2009  MARKIN-FLANAGAN  DISTINGUISHED  VISITING  WRITER

The University of Calgary’s Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program in the Faculty of Humanities brings acclaimed poet and author Alberto Ríos to Calgary as this year’s Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Visiting Writer.

Ríos, a Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University, will be in Calgary from March 4 – 13, 2009.

Ríos was born and raised in Nogales, Arizona, to an English mother and a Mexican father. In his writing, Ríos draws on his own experiences growing up with the traditions and languages of two cultures, in a town that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border.

He is the author of 10 books and chapbooks of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir.

His writing has won numerous awards, including the PEN/Beyond Margins Award for The Theater of Night, a collection of poems which follows a husband and wife through their youth, marriage, and old age. The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body, his book of poetry set in a U.S.-Mexico border town, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Capirotada, his memoir about growing up in Nogales, won the Latino Literary Hall of Fame Award. It was also voted the 2009 choice for OneBook AZ, a program which encourages communities across the state of Arizona to read the same book at the same time.

Ríos is the recipient of the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award, the Arizona’s Governor’s Arts Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Walt Whitman Award, The Western States Book Award for Fiction, and six Pushcart Prizes in poetry and fiction. In 2007, he received the Arizona Literary Treasure Award.

His writing has been included in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, as well as over 200 other national and international literary anthologies. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music. 

“The Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program continues to bring writers of international stature to Calgary,” says Daniel Maher, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. “Living and writing in English and Spanish, Alberto Ríos explores the borders between countries, languages, and cultures.”

While in residence at the U of C, Ríos will give a free public reading at 7:30 pm on Monday, March 9 in MacEwan Ballroom, 3rd Floor MacEwan Students Centre, U of C. Ríos will also be available to meet with Calgary writers for free individual manuscript consultations.

Housed in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Calgary, the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program helps advance the careers of Calgary writers and enriches the local writing community through two extended residency programs: a 10-month residency for emerging Canadian writers; and residencies of varying length for writers of international distinction.

For more information or to arrange interviews with Alberto Ríos, contact 403.220.8177 or leej@ucalgary.ca. For more information about the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program, visit www.markinflanagan.com.
 
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