Community Reading Project author among televised immigration stories

An interview with Reyna Grande, author of the book selected as Grand Valley’s 2013-2014 Community Reading Project, will air February 3.

Grande will discuss her immigration experience detailed in her book, “The Distance Between Us,” on the  program “Feel Like You Belong.” It airs on Community Television station WKTV (Comcast channel 25 and AT&T channel 99) at 8:30 p.m. and will be available on the website FeelLikeYouBelong.com following the broadcast.

Feel Like You Belong introduces guests, such as Grande, who have made the immigrant journey to the U.S. The stories, of both struggle and success, aim to help newcomers feel more confident. Earlier segments have included interviews with Michigan Board of Education member Lupe Ramos-Montigny, (now former) Detroit Tigers catcher Brayan Pena, The Right Place president and CEO Birgit Klohs and dozens of others.

The TV program is the brainchild of School of Communications associate professor Kim Roberts. She developed it as part of her sabbatical research into transmedia, which utilizes multiple forms of interactivity to engage an audience. She has since developed a course at Grand Valley.

“Each show is followed by related tips, exercises, and resources that are geared to helping newcomers feel welcome, while also giving U.S. natives some fascinating insights into their own culture and language,” said Roberts. “Most of my past creative work centered on areas of social justice, so I wanted this show to follow that spirit.”

For more information about the television program, visit http://feellikeyoubelong.com

For more information about the Community Read Project and author visit on March 24-25, visit http://www.gvsu.edu/read