The Hope College Visiting Writers Series will feature fiction writer Lorraine Lopez on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Lopez's collection of short stories, "Soy La Avon Lady and Other Stories," allows the reader to experience Latino culture in the United States through absurdities, poignant observations and plenty of laughter.
"Lopez is an original, and this fine collection, which won its publisher's inaugural Miguel Mármol Prize for fiction, is a thoroughgoing delight," said "Kirkus Reviews."
She has worked as an educator for more than a dozen years, teaching at the middle school, high school and college levels.
Lopez completed her undergraduate degree at California State University, Northridge, and earned her Master of Arts and doctoral degrees at the University of Georgia.
Her stories have appeared in numerous publications, including "New Letters," "The Crab Orchard Review," "The U.S. Latino Review" and "The Watershed Anthology."
She is co-founder and education programs director for the Institute for Violence Prevention in Athens, Ga., and she teaches English at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga.
Through her work, Lopez questions what it means to be different--in class, race and culture especially--and how identities can be lost in the struggle to fit in.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. 8th St. in downtown Holland. The reading will be preceded by a free performance by the Hope College jazz ensemble beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Additional information may be obtained online at www.hope.edu/vws.