ACC’s Big Read Hosts Latinas in America Collaborative Reading

The Austin Community College District will host “Latinas in America,” a collaborative reading, Thursday (10/1/09) at the Rio Grande Campus Mainstage Theater. The event, part of ACC’s Big Read program, features National Book Award finalist Cristina Garcí­a and acclaimed Spanish-language translator Liliana Valenzuela. The pair will perform selections from their own works, including Garcí­a’s novel, “A Handbook to Luck.”

“The Latino experience straddles multiple worlds, two languages, and at least two cultures,” says Valenzuela, who translated the novel. “Authors like Garcí­a portray this world in all its diversity, complexity, and richness. Through a Spanish translation we make the novel available to entire Latino families, where some members may prefer to read it in English and others in Spanish.”

ACC partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts to bring the Big Read to Central Texas this fall. The program, which encourages reading on college campuses and throughout the community, is based around “Sun, Stone, and Shadows,” an anthology of Mexican short stories. The Big Read includes many events, including Thursday’s collaborative reading, that promote Latino heritage and culture.

The collaborative reading is free and open to the public. For information on other Big Read events, visit austincc.edu/bigread

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About the Austin Community College District (austincc.edu):

ACC, Central Texas’ community college, is the primary gateway to higher education and career training for residents in eight counties. The college provides access to affordable, quality education. ACC enrolls more than 40,000 credit students, offering university transfer courses, two-year associate degrees, certificates, Early College Start, access programs that get students “college-ready,” and continuing education. At ACC you can “Start here. Get there.”

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