Junot Díaz, CalArts’ 2017 Katie Jacobson Writer-in-Residence. Photo by Nina Subin for High Res Photo. Click here for high resolution image.
Díaz will read from his work at CalArts on February 16 at 7 pm and at REDCAT on February 17 at 8:30 pm.
“Díaz’s standout fiction is electric with passionate observations and off-the-charts emotional and social intelligence.” – Booklist
Valencia, CA, January 30—Junot Díaz has been selected as California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) 2017 Katie Jacobson Writer-in-Residence. Díaz, who was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, will work with students in CalArts’ MFA Creative Writing Program. He will also offer public readings from his work at CalArts on February 16 at 7 pm and at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) in downtown Los Angeles on February 17 at 8:30 pm.
"We’re thrilled to have Junot Díaz come to CalArts and REDCAT as our 2017 Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence, said Maggie Nelson, director of CalArts MFA Creative Writing Program and 2016 McArthur Fellowship recipient. “We’ve been hoping that Junot could accept an invitation from us for some time now, and his acceptance couldn’t have come at a better moment. Junot is both a celebrated writer of fiction—he’s received a Guggenheim, a MacArthur, and a Pulitzer!—and also a fierce, necessary voice for resistance, hope, and fortitude in difficult political times (which is to say, all times, but especially this time)."
A new feature of the CalArts MFA Creative Writing Program, the Katie Jacobson Writer in Residence program is designed to bring a prestigious writer to campus for a public reading, a classroom visit, and to meet with our students in one-to-one sessions. The Writer in Residence Program offers a unique opportunity for students to gain hitherto unprecedented access to leaders in their field, to discuss professional working methods, and to receive feedback on their own work.
Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and PEN/O. Henry Award. A graduate of Rutgers College, Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and The Rudge, and is the Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Established in 2013, the Katie Jacobson Writer-in-Residence Program was named in memory of Creative Writing Program MFA student Katie Jacobson, and was created by the generous support of her parents Leslie Jacobson and Jeanine Caltagirone. The program launched with the residency of short fiction writer and translator Lydia Davis. Critic and novelist Samuel R. Delany was CalArts 2014 Writer-in-Residence. Click here to learn more about the residency program.
Calendar Editors Please Note:
What:
Junot Díaz, CalArts’ 2017 Katie Jacobson Writer-in-Residence, will read from this work at CalArts and REDCAT
At California Institute of the Arts (CAlArts)
When:
Thursday, February 16 at 7pm
Where:
Langley Hall on CalArts campus, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355-2340
Click here for directions
Admission:
Free
REDCAT
When:
Friday, February 17 at 8:30 pm
Where:
631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Click here for directions
Admission:
General: $10, Members: $5
Reserve tickets at REDCAT.org or call 213 237-2800
CalArts’ School of Critical Studies brings together internationally recognized writers, poets, scholars and thinkers working in both new and traditional forms across a wide variety of disciplines, extending from narrative fiction, performance and multimedia to cultural criticism and political theory. The school offers two graduate programs: the Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program and the Master of Arts Aesthetics and Politics Program. In both programs, the expertise of Institute faculty is complemented with an extensive series of readings, lectures, workshops and longer-term residencies by a diverse range of visiting writers, theorists and artists.
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) has set the pace for educating professional artists since 1970. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater—CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection, and the development of new forms and expressions. As successive generations of faculty and alumni have helped shape the landscape of contemporary arts, the Institute first envisioned by Walt Disney encompasses a vibrant, eclectic community with global reach, inviting experimentation, independent inquiry, and active collaboration and exchange among artists, artistic disciplines and cultural traditions.