As Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz stepped up onto the Cullen Theater stage at the Wortham Center on Monday for the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, a crowd of about 1,000 fans welcomed him to Houston with an enormous round of applause.
Diaz, author of the short story collection “Drown” and “The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao,” was coined the first Dominican author to win a Pulitzer Prize in 2008.
Diaz started off by reading a short excerpt from his new book, “This is How You Lose Her,” which hit bookstores on Sept. 11. The book received rave reviews and made the front page of Sunday’s New York Times review.
The award-winning author did not have any sense of ego or an unwillingness to talk to fans or about his personal life on stage.
Diaz talked to the audience about how much the immigrant experience and his heritage has affected his work. Born in Santo Domingo de Guzmán in the Dominican Republic and then raised in New Jersey, the trial of immigration was not a journey without struggle, considering his family lived in government-sponsored Section 8 housing and received food stamps.
Following the reading, Diaz was interviewed by Alexander Parsons from the UH Creative Writing Program and took questions from the audience of UH creative writing students.
As he answered, Diaz mostly talked about his writing style. For example, Diaz said writing in second person is a weakness of his and he plans to make it a habit to write in first person.
When an audience member asked if he had ever considered writing in Spanish, Diaz responded in the negative, saying he did not know how to read or write in Spanish very well.
The author excitedly hugged readers, introduced himself and signed books for the fans who waited hours in line.
The Inprint reading series, an independent literary arts non profit organization, and in association with the UH Creative Writing Program and Brazos Bookstore aimed toward Houston’s aspiring readers and writers.
Is so good to read nice things and learn about the achievements of a fellow Dominican, just like me and my family were are proud to come fromDR !!
Thanks for the great coverage on the 2012/2013 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series featuring Junot Diaz.
Just a few corrections: Diaz did take questions from the audience, but not just from UH creative writing students. He took questions from a variety of audience members. Also the Inprint reading series (correctly called the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series) is presented by Inprint, an independent literary arts non profit organization, and in association with the UH Creative Writing Program and Brazos Bookstore.
Thanks again!