CAP UCLA Presents Viet Nguyen And Luis Alberto Urrea In Conversation

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents a conversation with prize-winning novelists Viet Thanh Nguyen and Luis Alberto Urrea on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m. at Royce Hall. Tickets for $29-$59 are available now at cap.ucla.edu, via Ticketmaster, by phone 310-825-2101, and at the UCLA Central Ticket Office.
Viet Nguyen, a Pulitzer Prize winner for his debut novel The Sympathizer, and Luis Alberto Urrea, a Pulitzer finalist and author of sixteen books, come together to share insights on the immigrant/refugee perspective in America, bicultural identity, and what it means to be an American. More than artists and authors, Nguyen and Urrea are thought leaders at a critical time in American history.

At Royce Hall, Nguyen and Urrea will share distinct perspectives gained from their personal narratives as successful writers, speakers, and educators. Their objective voices are invaluable, especially in the current socio-political climate where the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and citizens in contemporary American society has never been more important.

Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and came to the U.S. in 1975 at the close of the Vietnam war. First gaining worldwide recognition for his debut novel, Nguyen has gone on to win multiple awards and grants including being named a Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundation fellow.

Born to an American mother and a Mexican father, San Diego-native Luis Alberto Urrea earned his reputation expressing "love, loss, and triumph" in a prolific output of poetry, fiction, and essays. His diverse background includes teaching expository writing and fiction workshops in Harvard and working as a relief worker in Tijuana.
Funds provided by the Sally and William A. Rutter Endowment for the Performing Arts.

Single tickets: $29-$59 Online: cap.ucla.edu UCLA Central Ticket Office: 310-825-2101, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Royce Hall box office: open 90 minutes prior to the event start time.

Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel The Sympathizer is a New York Times bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Other honors include the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction, a Gold Medal in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association.

His other books are Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction) and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. He is a University Professor, the Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and a Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He has been interviewed by Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, Seth Meyers, and Terry Gross, among many others. His current book is the bestselling short story collection, The Refugees. Most recently he has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, and le Prix du Meilleur livre étranger (Best Foreign Book in France), for The Sympathizer. He is a critic-at-large for the Los Angeles Times and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.

Hailed by NPR as a "literary badass" and a "master storyteller with a rock and roll heart," Luis Alberto Urrea is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss, and triumph. A 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, Urrea is the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of 17 books, winning numerous awards for his poetry, fiction, and essays. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is most recognized as a border writer, though he says, "I am more interested in bridges, not borders." His newest book, The House of Broken Angels, is a novel of an American family, which happens to be from Mexico. Angel de la Cruz knows this is his last birthday and he wants to gather his progeny for a final fiesta. The novel will be released in March 2018.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) is dedicated to the advancement of the contemporary performing arts in all disciplines - dance, music, spoken word, and theater, as well as emerging digital, collaborative and cross-platforms - by leading artists from around the globe. Part of UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture, CAP UCLA curates and facilitates direct exposure to artists who are creating extraordinary works of art and fosters a vibrant learning community both on and off the UCLA campus. The organization invests in the creative process by providing artists with financial backing and time to experiment and expand their practices through strategic partnerships and collaborations. As an influential voice within the local, national and global art communities, CAP UCLA connects this generation to the next in order to preserve a living archive of our culture. CAP UCLA is also a safe harbor where cultural expression and artistic exploration can thrive, giving audiences the opportunity to experience real life through characters and stories on stage, and giving artists an avenue to challenge assumptions and advance new ways of seeing and understanding the world we live in now.

To post a comment, you must register and login.