JCLS HOSTING ROGUE READS AUTHOR TALK WITH JULIA ALVAREZ

 Jackson County Library Services is hosting a virtual author talk with featured Rogue Reads author Julia Alvarez on Thursday, February 2^nd at 5:00pm! Alvarez will go over her novel and Rogue Reads 2023-2024 selection, Afterlife.  

      Born in New York City in 1950, Julia Alvarez's parents returned to their native country, Dominican Republic, shortly after her birth. Ten years later, the family was forced to flee to the United States because of her father’s involvement in an underground plot to overthrow the dictator, Trujillo. In the hardships of assimilating to the English language and American life, Alvarez found comfort in the world of stories, fostering a love for reading and writing.  

      Alvarez has won numerous awards for her work, including the Pura Belpré and Américas Awards for her books for young readers, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature. Most recently, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. 

            She continues her work with young people through her many workshops and readings throughout the country as well as in the Dominican Republic, where she is on the advisory board of Mariposa Foundation, an organization which promotes education and training for young girls to break the cycle of generational poverty. She is also a founder of Border of Lights, a movement of Diaspora Dominican-Americans, Haitian Americans, and supporters, working to foster peace and solidarity between two neighbor countries, traditionally in conflict, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.