Writers Series presents Emmy Award-winning journalist

An Emmy Award-winning journalist will share his work and experiences with the Grand Valley community February 24 as the Grand Valley Writers Series continues with Rubén Martínez.

Martínez will present "Browning Heartland: Transnational Communities and Imagination" from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. in the Grand River Room in Kirkhof Center (room 2250). This presentation will be followed by a craft talk from 4:30-5:45 p.m. in Kirkhof Center, room 2263, and a reading and book signing from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in Cook-DeWitt Center.

Aside from finding success in writing, Martínez, a native of Los Angeles, is also a performer and teacher. Martínez currently holds the Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature and Writing position at Loyola Marymount University, and also functions as an artist-in-residence at Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts. He is the author of Desert America: A Journey Across Our Most Divided Landscape, Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail, The New Americans, and The Other Side: Notes from the New L.A., Mexico City and Beyond.

With two decades of experience in print, broadcast and online media, Martínez's essays, opinions and reports have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Salon and Village Voice, among others. He also hosted and co-wrote the feature-length documentary film "When Words Collide" for PBS. As a musician, Martínez has collaborated with The Roches, Los Illegals and Concrete Blonde.

The event is being sponsored by the Latin America Studies program within the Area Studies Department and School of Communications.

For more information about the Grand Valley Writers Series, contact Mukherjee, series coordinator, at [email protected] or (616) 331-8034.